A Crisis Of Culture

"A somewhat more liberal and sympathetic examination of mankind will convince us that the cross is even older than the gibbet, that voluntary suffering was before and independent of compulsory; and in short that in most important matters a man has always been free to ruin himself if he chose." ~ G. K. Chesterton

I found this on Facebook. I have no idea whether it is a factual letter. I understand that the letter was written to the editor of a newspaper and not President Obama, but the sentiment contained therein remains accurate.

Pictured below is a young physician by the name of Dr. Roger Starner Jones. His short two-paragraph letter to the White House accurately puts the blame on a "Culture Crisis" instead of a "Health Care Crisis".



It's worth a quick read:

Dear Mr. President:

During my shift in the Emergency Room last night, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient whose smile revealed an expensive shiny gold tooth, whose body was adorned with a wide assortment of elaborate and costly tattoos, who wore a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and who chatted on a new cellular telephone equipped with a popular R&B ringtone.

While glancing over her patient chart, I happened to notice that her payer status was listed as "Medicaid"!

During my examination of her, the patient informed me that she smokes more than one pack of cigarettes every day, eats only at fast-food take-outs, and somehow still has money to buy pretzels and beer.

And, you and our Congress expect me to pay for this woman's health care? I contend that our nation's "health care crisis" is not the result of a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. Rather, it is the result of a "crisis of culture", a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on luxuries and vices while refusing to take care of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance.

It is a culture based in the irresponsible credo that "I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me". Once you fix this "culture crisis" that rewards irresponsibility and dependency, you'll be amazed at how quickly our nation's health care difficulties will disappear.

Respectfully,
ROGER STARNER JONES, MD

Note from your humble friend and blogger:

I call this "Crisis of Culture" an "Entitlement Mentality", and coming as I do, from a substantially less elite background than your average physician, I have had considerably more experience observing this attitude, and it is much more pervasive than the good doctor could ever imagine. In fact, this "Crisis of Culture" extends well past health care, and permeates nearly every facet of the average welfare recipients life. They get, besides free health care, free education, free food, free transportation, etc, and it's all paid for by you. The American tax payer.

Of the hundreds of welfare recipients I have personally known, perhaps 1% or less have pulled themselves out of the welfare system by taking responsibility for themselves, and refusing to settle for the status quo.

Including yours truly.

It isn't easy, but with perseverance and hard work, it can be done.

The rest remain beholden to a Government which continues, through government hand-outs and entitlement programs, to keep the poor enslaved in economic chains. Unfortunately, these same slaves to the welfare system are the same people who continue to vote, year after year, election after election, for the very people who have oppressed them.

The cycle will not end until we educate the people and elect responsible, incorruptible, freedom-loving patriots to the positions of power in our government.