Tuesday, February 10, 2004
Either/or...
I wish I could see things in black and white. My life would be so much easier. When Colin Powell speaks, I believe what he says, yet I know much of it is what he is being pressured into saying. When I see the mass graves in Iraq and the misery caused by the Saddam regime, I think we did a good thing in removing him, but part of me fears we are not up for the job (and shouldn't be) of changing a culture. And as tired I am of the phrase "Weapons of Mass Destruction," I hate when it is trivialized by using the acronym "WMD". (Maybe trivialized is the wrong word, but using "WMD" seems to remove some reality of the danger.)
But, back to my original thought of not able to discern the right/wrong, black/white of things. My new frustration is with the cost of drugs, and I don't mean the fun kind. This Medicare prescription thing isn't "good" or "bad," but good and bad, for I worry about the cost to our country and to the next generation. And who is to blame? I realize that high drug costs are in part due to necessary years of research and advances, but I am so tired of all the advertising and pushing of the new and improved yuppie drug of the day. And yet I cannot say that I haven't benefited from all this research. I've been a diabetic for 18 years, and during that time have been on and off insulin (which they say can never happen.) The newest drugs even enabled me (for a while) to control the diabetes with pills alone. Eventually I went back to injections, but the quality and types of insulin have improved so much that I can stay in better control than ever. I genuinely can't believe the medical advances just in the past decade. When I was pregnant I had to go to the lab four times a week to have my blood checked. Now I check it myself, as often as I like. And I know that my newly diagnosed nephew will be amazed at the changes in the next 10 years. His prospects for a healthy, long life will be much better. And at this rate, I predict that either a cure will be found for diabetes or at least the effects from it will be minimal.
So here again, I am torn, wishing that I could simply see the issue as politicians seem to, as good or bad, right or wrong. But then, no one is waiting for my advice, wants my advice, or would care if they heard it, so I guess I can go to the mall and have fun shopping.
I wish I could see things in black and white. My life would be so much easier. When Colin Powell speaks, I believe what he says, yet I know much of it is what he is being pressured into saying. When I see the mass graves in Iraq and the misery caused by the Saddam regime, I think we did a good thing in removing him, but part of me fears we are not up for the job (and shouldn't be) of changing a culture. And as tired I am of the phrase "Weapons of Mass Destruction," I hate when it is trivialized by using the acronym "WMD". (Maybe trivialized is the wrong word, but using "WMD" seems to remove some reality of the danger.)
But, back to my original thought of not able to discern the right/wrong, black/white of things. My new frustration is with the cost of drugs, and I don't mean the fun kind. This Medicare prescription thing isn't "good" or "bad," but good and bad, for I worry about the cost to our country and to the next generation. And who is to blame? I realize that high drug costs are in part due to necessary years of research and advances, but I am so tired of all the advertising and pushing of the new and improved yuppie drug of the day. And yet I cannot say that I haven't benefited from all this research. I've been a diabetic for 18 years, and during that time have been on and off insulin (which they say can never happen.) The newest drugs even enabled me (for a while) to control the diabetes with pills alone. Eventually I went back to injections, but the quality and types of insulin have improved so much that I can stay in better control than ever. I genuinely can't believe the medical advances just in the past decade. When I was pregnant I had to go to the lab four times a week to have my blood checked. Now I check it myself, as often as I like. And I know that my newly diagnosed nephew will be amazed at the changes in the next 10 years. His prospects for a healthy, long life will be much better. And at this rate, I predict that either a cure will be found for diabetes or at least the effects from it will be minimal.
So here again, I am torn, wishing that I could simply see the issue as politicians seem to, as good or bad, right or wrong. But then, no one is waiting for my advice, wants my advice, or would care if they heard it, so I guess I can go to the mall and have fun shopping.
