From time to time, while bored, hope rears its ugly head and I go searching the interweb for information to help me vote. The process usually hands hope a slow, painful bludgeoning, whereupon it hides in the corner playing video games and licking its wounds. If the discussion is not a freehanded, predestined, lopsided and completely interested interpretation of the latest vaguely reported news story, then it no doubt will involve the invocation of "common sense;" an all-encompassing and quite tidy ideal and abstract political theory; some form of a well-rehearsed narrative stereotyping: ("Republican Corporate Whores" and "Fascist Liberal Democrats" and now I am quoting--"hell bent on the destruction of the REPUBLIC!"*); or, 53% of the time, unsourced statistics without even a reference towards methodology or ambiguity.
So, it's kinda nice when you actually stumble upon that bane of the college freshman's existence, a Primary Source--a firsthand, comparative account of two health-care systems (British and American), with their strengths and weaknesses. Ahh, now there's a breath of fresh aire...
Both experiences underscored something for me: my growing belief that if something is important and needs to be done right, and it can't be done yourself, you better keep a close eye on the process. No one takes care of you like...you!
*(Seriously...do you really think they are out there, plotting the downfall of the nation? Because that's treason...)
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