To those following the health care reform debate raging in the United States of America from outside the borders of the “world’s only hyperpower”, are amused how most of the discussion on public issues gets narrowed down to “good versus evil”, “socialism versus capitalism”, “liberalism versus conservatism”, and so on…Let public good/interest be dammed.
In the current US debate, allegations are flowing thick and fast about media manipulation by the concerned parties to create further confusion among the public. Meanwhile here is another interesting take from Britain…
Christina Patterson writes in The Independent: “An internal memo of the Republican National Committee, leaked to the Huffington Post, has urged its members to ‘engage in every activity’ to block the reform, which, it says, is ‘a grave threat to America’s healthcare, and America’s health’.
“Quite how reforms aimed at ensuring that Americans who suffer the misfortune of sudden illness or accident might have treatment beyond the limited emergency service the state provides might be regarded as a ‘threat’ to ‘America’s health’ remains unexplained.
“Or, indeed, how a system rated 37th out of 191 by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in terms of overall performance, and 72nd out of 191 in terms of the overall level of health, couldn’t find a little room for improvement.
“But the Americans who might benefit, I forgot to say, are uninsured Americans. About 17 per cent of the population, and a rather higher percentage (one assumes) of the audience for I Survived a Japanese Game Show or America’s Got Talent.
“These, of course, are not proper Americans. They’re failed Americans, Americans who let the side down. These are Americans who are insufficiently ambitious and insufficiently motivated, Americans who somehow Dreamed a Dream of being ugly, poor and fat.
“There is no greater sin in America than being poor, unless it’s being on the side of the poor. There is no greater sin than standing up against the eternal, damn-near constitutional right to wreak profit, at whatever cost. Speak against this, and, as I recently discovered, you will feel it.” More here…
Meanwhile NPR reports: “The White House has released excerpts of the statement President Barack Obama will give before he takes reporters’ questions at tonight’s press conference.
“From the excerpts, it’s clear the president will be appealing to Americans to understand that health care reform is about more than health care, that it’s also about the economy which is being increasingly weighed down by rising health care costs that are crowding out other areas in the economy that require investment.
“Obama will say: So let me be clear: if we do not control these costs, we will not be able to control our deficit. If we do not reform health care, your premiums and out-of-pocket costs will continue to skyrocket.
“And Obama also paints his opponents as petty political players who are opposing Democratic reform proposals for reasons of partisanship not principle.” More here…
Here’s the transcript of Barack Obama’s press conference on the subject…
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.