HALF A MILLIONAIRE

History shows that every empire has an end, and I believe that American domination on the international stage has been weakened by China. And, although the Asian giant is still about 100 years behind the U.S., it will catch up and eventually take the lead in the long run because:

1. The growing pain that China is currently bearing is exactly the same pain which the U.S. had to go through during its industrial revolution period. However, China saves a lot of time and money on scientific research, which the U.S. and other nations have done.  

2. China is America’s largest creditor. And, personally, I don’t believe in “good debt” because debt weakens our nation. Many argue that the debt is small compared to the national GDP and that America can still handle it. In my opinion, it is the most ridiculous and irresponsible excuse. When we are in debt, our voice is no longer the strongest, and it shows during President Obama’s tour of Asia.

3. America is not being led by strong leadership, and I am not just blaming it on President Obama. I am calling out everyone in Washington DC. Turn on the TV and we can see how they fight each other for political gain. They do not really care for the American people. Most of them care about personal legacy and their own pockets.  

4. Chinese leaders are tough-minded. They learn from the collapse of the Soviet Union, so they are slowly reforming their country. Of course, many in the Western world have been criticizing China’s human rights record for years, but the Chinese leaders never give in. They hear the complaints, and they solve the problems behind closed doors. They are not afraid of external influence because they know that the problems are theirs and that no one can tell them what to do. We all must remember that China is not the United States of America. It has thousands years of history. Its society is governed by a different set of values. We, Americans, should be more careful and sensitive when we attempt to introduce our democracy to others.

5. On the other hand, President Obama is trying really hard to please the world because he believes that America’s image has been destroyed by the previous administration. In my opinion, it is a waste of time. Why do we have to care so much about what others think of us? I believe that his first priority is to create jobs for Americans. Why did he have to tour Asia during this time? I listened to his speech in Tokyo, and, as always, it sounded really good. He told the world what he would do to fix America. However, the speech would have been more meaningful if he had actually succeeded in fixing America’s problems, in my opinion. If I were him, I would have stayed home and worked tirelessly to create jobs for Americans. And, I would have let the results speak for me.  

6. We, Americans, complain about everything because we never feel satisfied with what we have. We borrow money against our house to purchase things that we do not really need. Now, we want free healthcare when the national unemployment is over 10%. However, we must remember that nothing is “free” in life. How will we fund for universal healthcare? If we print more money, the value of the dollar will go down even more. If we finance the cost of healthcare by borrowing from China, how will we pay it back?

7. China has the largest labor force, and everyone wants to improve their livelihood. Therefore, they all are willing to work hard. Americans on the other hand always demand a higher standard of living, so the cost of doing business in America is higher. Thus, jobs will leave our shores. Bankers, engineers and doctors will do fine, but those without high education will struggle to find work. The gap between the rich and poor will widen. The poor can no longer afford the things that they used to. Frustration and anger will peak, and riots will break out.

Although the momentum is on China’s side, the Asian country will be facing many serious problems in the future that can potentially hurt it. For example, environmental pollution is slowly killing the Chinese people. After having tasted the fruit of their labor, they will begin to seek political freedom and democracy, which can lead to unrest. However, in my opinion, learning from the mistakes made by the Soviet Union and the U.S., the Chinese leaders are ready for these challenges. They will continue to rake in the money by doing business with the West, but at the same time they will keep a tight grip on their people. Regardless if we like it or not, it is their country, and they have the right to do whatever they want to do. Most importantly, we must remember to keep our mouth shut because China has a leash of debt around our neck.

The physician: I have spent twelve years in high school, four years for undergraduate study, four years in medical school and two years in residency, so I have the right to charge you whatever I want. My student loans total about $300,000, so I have the right to charge you whatever I want. This clinic costs me thousands to operate, so I have the right to charge you whatever I want. My malpractice insurance costs me about $100,000 per year, so I have the right to charge you whatever I want. If I make a mistake, you can take me to court. And, probably, you will be awarded millions. I did have passion when I was in school. But, in the real world, I must protect myself. And, I have the right to make a lot of money because I am a licensed professional. Not everyone can do what I do. You pay a high price to see me because I am one of the best. That is how capitalism works. You can seek another doctor if you want to save some money.

The patient: (silent)

The insurance company: If you read section IV, Part 3, Paragraph (i), Point (a), it tells you that your condition is not covered by your current plan because it is classified as a pre-existing disease, meaning you had had it for years before you bought our product. We understand that you possibly did not know about it. Or, perhaps, you did know about the disease but lied to us when you purchased our product. Honestly, had you told us about your condition, I am assuming that if you had known, we would not have sold our product to you in the first place anyway. Sorry, we are in this business to make a profit. 

The patient: That is ridiculous. I have been paying a very high premium. And, now, when I need it most, you deny to take care of me. Honest to God, I did not know anything about the condition. I am not a doctor, you know. But, the reason I buy insurance is to protect me in a situation like this one. Is there anything that I can do? Can I appeal?

The insurance company: We have to charge you a high premium to cover our costs. Again, we are a publicly traded company, so we must make a profit. Also, when you have time, take a look at your bill, last month you had a cataract surgery on your left eye, your doctor charged us ten thousands dollars. There are doctors out there who are very greedy and dishonest. They overcharged us. And, many of them even charge money for procedures that they do not perform. To answer your question, I do not know exactly how the appealing process works, but I will be glad to find out. Can I call you back in a few days?

The patient (confused and lost): Yes, please. Bye now.

President Obama: I am deeply sorry to hear your story. I know that many others are facing the same problem as you are. I want everyone to have health coverage because I believe that it is one of the fundamental rights promised to us and that is that we all have the right to pursue “happiness”. To be happy, we must feel secured about our job, our family, our retirement, our health, etc. My idea is to insert into our current healthcare system a public option that is more affordable and most importantly covers all members and their dependents without the pre-existing condition bull, please excuse my language. But, there are many cowboys and hotshots in Congress who oppose my plan because they think it will cost too much money to run. They are afraid that the government will fail because everything the government touches turns into cow dung. I just want to do it because we have been waiting for too long. So many have been suffering. Let us use tax payers’ money to take care of tax payers. I know the line will be long when you go to the hospital, but at least you know you will receive care. The doctors might not be the best and brightest, but they would be good enough to get the job done. I know that many will abuse the system to steal money from tax payers. But, hey, no system is perfect. I will fix it as I go. I hope I will be re-elected because there are so many things that I want to do for you. And, I need more than four years. And, I need your support to bring changes to America. I promise you that.

The patient (smiled and felt comforted): Thank you.

My personal opinion

I support the public option because my heart tells me that it is the right thing to do. I am willing to pay higher taxes to take care of my less fortunate neighbors. I am not trying to be a hero. Simply, I just believe that because life is short, we all need to be less greedy and more compassionate. However, I will not stop fighting to become wealthy because although money cannot buy happiness, it can buy me a lot of time. And, time is what I value the most.

As usual, President Obama’s healthcare speech sounded very good tonight. I felt very emotional when he talked about Senator Ted Kennedy’s lifelong dream, universal healthcare for all Americans. In my heart, I was yelling: “yes, let’s do it.” However, my head disagreed because I was skeptical about his plan. Simply, I do not think we can afford it.

Some argue that if France, Norway, Canada and many other socialist nations are able to provide universal healthcare to their citizens, then we should be able to do the same. For me, I believe that it is easy said than done. For example, to cover healthcare cost, in Norway, the income tax rate is aboout 48 percent. There is also something called “tax on net wealth”, which means that the government can tax its rich citizens one additional time for having accumulated wealth, because it wants to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor. When they are sick, they just go to a hospital and a doctor will treat them. Similarly, Canadians are very proud of their healthcare system because it covers everyone. In my opinion, the U.S. cannot afford universal healthcare (although I wish that we can) because we have a larger population (300 million) compared to Canada (33 million) and Norway (4.6 million).

Universal healthcare is nice, but it is not free. How do we finance the program? We can cut other programs to free up some money. We can apply for an interest-only loan with the China bank. We can just print more money, disregarding inflation. We can raise taxes on everyone because taxing just the rich will not generate enough money to support the program.  

In his speech, President Obama did not specifically point out what he would do to gather up enough money to fulfill his promise. I felt as though he just wanted us to trust him. I felt as though he just wanted us to do it, and we would deal with the financial consequences later when they arrive. As an American, he has it in his blood like all of us, the risk-taking spirit. We financed our houses with interest only loans and we successfully brought down our economy. Although we do not know exactly what the universal healthcare plan will bring down next, we are Americans and therefore we are not afraid to dream the American dream.

Personally, I am torn by the issue. Sometimes, I just want to follow my heart and prepare for the next economic crisis; if the dream becomes a reality, I will be happy and scared at the same time. obviously, I do not want to wish that universal healthcare will always be a dream because I know many Americans need it. All I can do is to hope that they will do the right thing because it is out of my hands.