Serrated Prose

Wow, totally stunned. Not much to say here.... As one Canadian put it, "Congratulations, US. Welcome to the developed world!" I completely agree. It's time the US moved away from the social Darwinism model of "Survival of the Richest" and move to a more civil and just model. The law still needs tweaking and will be debated for years to come, but for all those out there who have been bankrupted by healthcare, this is a step in the right direction. For the detractors, here are some of the obvious arguments. And at the risk of pulling a "Limbaugh," I'll argue with myself: "How will we afford it?" We'll find a way. There are provisions in the bill for allaying the cost, but as we all know, costs are always at least double whatever has been projected where politicians are concerned. This is important, though. This isn't a mandate forcing everyone to have a widget in their shoe; it's truly a matter of life and death to some an...

"Greed is good," said Gordon Gecko in the movie Wall Street. It's one of the most famous movie quotes in decades -- not only because it's got that alliteration thing going for it, but because Gecko laid out a very believable, solid argument for naked avarice. Greed and wealth know no party boundaries, but advocates of greed or something akin to economical Darwinism is espoused by the Republicans -- shamelessly espoused. They claim it to be the cornerstone of Capitalism, as a matter of fact. Not only do they champion "winner-take-all" mentality, but they tend to say that everyone is subject to this. Everyone wants more. Everyone will step over each other to make that extra dollar. OK, maybe I'm generalizing a bit, but the Republicans tend to be a more lockstep-message party than the Democrats (by a small, but measurable degree). But the championing of greed wouldn't be so amusing if not for championing the 2,000-year-old philosophy of Christianity a...