I'm afraid of women like Sarah Palin. Who wakes up and feels like shooting at a moose from a helicopter? Who does that?????

I'm afraid of religious zealots and radical people that use religion as an excuse to act like maniacs. I'm afraid of the man or woman who shoots up an abortion clinic because they are against what they consider "murder". These are the things that terrify me.

I'm proud of being an American, there is truly no other place that I'd like to call home. We have more opportunity than any other country but we also have the greatest potential to f-it up.

I remember reading one of your posts about your son having to have so many root canals and the first thing I thought of was: how are they going to afford all of those?? In my head, I'm thinking 4-5 root canals = $6,0000 plus additional costs...holy cow. We don't even have dental insurance so we pay for every single cleaning, cavity, etc. I'm having surgery on Monday and I had to request a letter from my doctor that I would not be responsible for any charges that my insurance company didn't cover. You don't have time to focus on the medical issue because you're too busy worrying about how you're going to pay for it.

When Americans don't like the way that things are going they say "I'm moving to Canada", it's a running joke/saying, but I'm starting to think that people really might do it. I'm remember saying that if McCain won, I'd turn into a Canook.

I don't know what the answer is? Socialized medicine sounds good to me in theory but people say that the quality of the care suffers. I don't know and I don't pretend to. What I do know is that what we have is not working and a change has to be made. Whether or not it will be for the better remains to be seen but unless we try it, how will we ever know? Better to try and have it fail and then we'll know that we need to come up with another plan.

There is a lot of good in America too (which I know that you are aware of) but unfortunately our health care system leaves a big stain on our country's image.

I just want to shout YES! after reading this. I am totally in bafflement, and cannot seem to articulate it. At all.

I'm interested in knowing why Allison believes that you have more opportunity than any other country. Out of 195 countries in the world, America is the best? I'm not disputing it, I'm just wondering why you believe that, other than that's what you've been told during election campaigns. :)

as an American ... I think you're spot on. we look totally ridiculous, don't we.

YES. As a horrified American, you are absolutely right with this post. It's disgraceful and sad.

Alison - just a small clarification that was my mistake from the dental drama post. Some provinces cover dental work, and some don't. Nova Scotia does, if you don't have dental insurance. So as far as dental, it's not a given.

And as much as I don't want this to turn into a debate of American versus Canadian healthcare, I think that given the rest of the civilized world has universal healthcare - with America being the last holdout by a long shot - the concern about degraded quality is overstated in order to heighten fear.

Did you read my most recent post? There's a funny video (brief) on it re: teabaggers dialect. I am an American and I am embarrassed to tell the truth, geesh!

I'm mystified too. I keep wondering if these people don't have better things to do or feel good about?

I fear the grim reaper. The real one, not the metaphoric death panel one, or the puppet one that assuredly turned up in holding some liptons in a march over the past few weekends. I wonder what these yahoos would fear if they got the NICU bills that we did.

Starrlife - if it's not okay that I post this, comment and say OMG DON'T POST THAT! But I have to. This was spot-on, and hilarious. You know. The sad sort of hilarious.

http://starrlife.wordpress.com/2010/03/24/dare-i-say-it-or-will-they-have-a-name-for-me/

Tash, I know. I can't imagine having to think about money with a kid in intensive care. It's deeply offensive to me that you had to - and that you might still be dealing with the financial fallout of it all.

Oh, Kate, I love you so. You put it to words so much better then I ever could.

What am I afraid of? I love the fact that America is the crazy, freedom of speech loving place where anyone can say anything. In the past, the crazies were sorted out by the public and the media and weren't given a national voice to spew their hate - just because you have the RIGHT to say it doesn't mean it needs to be or should be broadcast over the airwaves. But I'm fearful that some of the truly insane are given so much air time and credibilty by the media today. And these people are actully publiclly calling for voilence (Palin, Beck, et all) and no one is calling them out for it.

gesh... I typed that way to fast, please excuse all the typos in that last comment.

As an American, I think you are right on with your frustration. I look around me and see a lot of people using fear as a motivator. Obama was speaking to a gathering of Republican Congressmen and women just after the State of the Union. He said something that I found very powerful. He asked them why they show up to the ribbon cutting ceremonies of programs they believe represent "too much government." Basically, you take the credit for all the good it's doing, but tell the public at other times that it's wrong. What if we woke up tomorrow and we didn't have electricity (as regulated by the government) or clean water, or paved roads? All government is not bad. And certainly not government that provides the opportunity to buy affordable health care.

Gillian, I think that I believe that Americans have more opportunities than the rest of the world because of the freedoms that we have and the ability to use the country's resources to our advantage. Of course, there's also a sense of patriotism thrown in with that comment after living here for 33+ years.

When you're from America there is a sense of the world is at your fingertips and it's yours for the taking, if you're willing to work for it. When you watch the news and see that there are people that would literally try to come to America in an innertube or try to hide themselves in trunk of a car just to get here, I have to believe that there is something to this great place.

It's easy for Americans to complain about America because we have no idea how difficult it is in other countries. I am very guilty of that but when I try to imagine myself living elsewhere, I can't. I consider myself a "Liberal Democrat" and I've been called a socialist by a family member or two. I believe in universal healthcare but I don't know how we should set it up.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Alison, patriotism is fine, but every other country in the western world offers opportunity and resources aplenty, you know that, right? Every other country has refugees and immigrants, and people scrambling to join. And strong social programs, education, and level playing fields for growing business as well as families.

It's one thing to be happy with your birthright. It's another to think that the benefits of that birthright are exclusive to your country.

This isn't meant combatively. It's just to say that your story is shared by billions of other people from countless other places, and I think that's important to know.

Mary, while I don't completely agree with your view, I do acknowledge that my story is shared by billions of people.

I do have respectfully remove myself from this debate...off to buy shoes with a 2 year old and a 4 year old...which could actually be harder than solving our problem of universal healthcare.

I love that this country is full of contradictions. I fear the day that we are no longer allowed to think differently or be unsexy and unpopular in our thinking...and it appears that day is approaching. It wasn't too long ago that some crazy dudes decided to start their own country, full of free-thinking crazy people. It wasn't sexy or cool. It was freedom from oppression. Oddly enough, that's what we've fought for all these years, and that's what's happening again. Anyone who speaks out in opposition to the leadership is quickly called insane, ignorant, redneck. How sad is that?

Alison - if I were American and someone called me a socialist I'd totally pull the trigger. The metaphorical one. You know. The hockey one.

Either that or I'd start muttering under my breath about death squads. While rubbing my palms together excitedly.

And Jen - from here, which is admittedly not the States, it doesn't look like everyone who speaks out or expresses concern is automatically called a redneck. I've spoken with Americans who had justifiable concerns, and who expressed them sensibly and calmly. The CBC has been trying, with mixed results, to find those sensible voices, and make sense of it.

I think it's just the ones who hold signs that say 'BLACK HITLER' that end up getting called ignorant rednecks. Which is fair. And those who, when asked to explain what exactly they're protesting, can't articulate it beyond the laughable, Palin-brand nonsense they parrot. They're getting off on righteous indignance and fear. That's not revolutionary or free thinking. That's unthinking. And that's sad, because the Americans I know are so much smarter than that. It's such a huge hit on the credibility of all those with reasonably informed concerns.

oh sigh. The entire thing just makes my head hurt like it did when I was 12 and Stacey L. didn't invite me to her party. Makes no sense, and ultimately seems counter productive.

As someone who hugs her paranoia to her chest, I fear it all. The possibility that seems so close, of that country going rogue, of swallowing us up, of us as the potenial collateral damage.

But I'm paranoid. Somedays tho, I worry that I'm not paranoid enough. Death threats over health care? Sigh. Makes me sad.

My personal opinion is that American politics and government have become too polarized. Oddly, it's not a polarization of policy ideas. It's a weird cliquishness based on personalities and political identities, but not for the most part, on actual governance. (Government spending is a perfect example of that, I think. Everyone spends, just on different things.) It seems the only people who are really heard (if anyone truly is) are the polemicists. It's irrational and ineffective. Worse, it's destructive. When Obama came into office, he seemed committed to bi-partisanship. All that seemed to do is undermine him and drain his credibility. If he couldn't do it, I don't know if it can be done. I can't tell you how depressed that makes me.

What I am afraid of has nothing to do with government or even the broader society. My fears are all quite personal and deal with my many inadequacies. I am afraid of screwing up my kids mostly.

@Jen - I'm not sure if you were responding to my earlier comment, but I want to clarify. I love that we have freedom of speech and that dissenting opinions are expressed openly in the US and even encouraged by our Constitution. I have participated in my fair share of protests - most specifically against going to war in Iraq. Protest and dissent are very large and useful tools in a Democracy and I don’t want them to go away.

However, right now we have national figures calling for actual violence; which no, I’m not ok with. And in the past, the media wouldn’t have dared given them voice let alone given them TV shows; because let’s face it – they are kind of nuts.

Beck has been calling on his viewers for awhile now to declare war against Progressivism – he wants it [and by extension, Progressives themselves] “eradicated”. But now that people are actually sending death threats to Congress he’s all of a sudden back tracking on those comments. Palin has repeatedly used gun-related terms in encouraging dissent - "put them in your crosshairs” and “reload”. There are images of a shot-to-hell donkey circulating Tea Party websites and newsletters with the words “Liberal Hunting License – No Limit”. Mike Vanderboegh called for, and got, property destruction.

I am more then okay with discourse, debate and dialogue. People can protest their hearts out with words if they don’t like something. I have a thick skin, so people can call me all the names they want (believe me; I was called some good ones when I attended anti-war rallies). But save the “crosshairs” for the ballot box.

Oh boy have you stoked me this morning Kate! Where to start... First and foremost please never, never credit God for "fluffing" idiotic behavior. He does not.

With that part out of the way I want to offer a few thoughts from way down here, where all of what you are talking about is my everyday. I hear it, see it, have friends on FB that joined the group. I am conservative, love capatilism and voted for McCain and if you aren't too disgusted already let me go on. I have a brain, I really do and I resent the left side that implies I don't and the right side that doesn't understand where me and it part ways.

So way down here in the south in a city called Dallas, I am sure as a Canadian, you are aware your country has a lot of deflectors, people who did not want to give the government an obscene amount of their pay every paycheck, people who wanted more take home pay in general. I've heard that side, it weighed in on some of my healthcare opinions, but so did your often complimentary takes on the care you got in the NICU, I was impressed. We have been self employed for years, medical debt has handicapped us financially and I can't imagine being denied treatment that you needed but it does happen.

So what do I want? Well after going into debt, being denied a house loan and paying upwards of $700 per month to get health coverage and still having to pay every cent of the cost of the birth of my second child ($15,000) I want reform. (BTW, my husband is employed with a southern baptist church and we now have wonderful healthcare) I'm just not sure I want the government running the healthcare system, which right now, if I read it right, they won't, but that is the fear and I see it as a valid concern. I want the government to protect our rights not control them. Is that fair? Is that stupid of me to want that? Now back to fear mongers and the like... most of them have one fear and that is Obama succeeding at anything, it would ruin their careers.

But don't pretend the same wasn't true when Bush was the pres. There weren't many dems that wanted him to succeed at all. I won't say how and what I know but that family is one of the most decent sets of people you could know. Really and truly, I'm not a worshiper of his, he could be a jerk but he was sincere and people tore him down like he was some mass murderer, which was fear mongering too. It exist on both sides and the hick with his truck tuned to Rush Limbaugh is no more ignorant than the doobie smoking college grad that thinks everything Republican reaks of stupidity.

Now here is an interesting thought... why aren't there more independents. My best and dearest friends are all registered that way. We leave the ballet open to our own understanding and intelligence. We can be right and really wrong but we vote what we think and if we like healthcare reform we will vote that way in the future, but man does all of this right and left and "fear" and blah blah blah just tick me off! And Kate, really, "fear of the black man" come on! Even down here in the deep south where I am perfectly sad to admit race is still a problem it isn't the problem with Obama. I didn't want him to be president and I didn't want McCain to be, for most of us it was a "lesser of two evils" decision and there were many Obama supporters right within the walls of our large southern baptist church. People just had to make their own calls.

So I guess what I am saying is give some room for both sides to be fear mongering, they can't afford for the other side to be right, and leave a little room for two sides to the opinion. I've chosen to stay at home with my kids, I have really good friends who don't. There isn't a right and wrong thing to do there but I had to choose what I wanted and so did my friend and so do all of us down here when we vote for healthcare. We really do understand both sides to the argument, we even want to be swayed to it, but we have to make sure it is right for us. Give us time and don't believe everything you see on TV!


I'll be fair and say if I had one big criticism of the Republican party (I have more than one) healthcare would be my one, so I'm not trying to invalidate your observations... just tweaking your conclusions a little :)

Sorry for the tirade and just so you know I adore your liberal self and just finished Dread Crew and adore it too! Jack can't wait to hear more about Eric and Phezzie in the next book! :) Sincerest love, Jen

Jen, I'd never credit God for fluffing. It's the bearer of the fear boner who backs up that fear boner with Godliness and righteousness. It's all intertwined, tangled. This is why God buries his face in an Archie comic.

As for fear of the black man, I'd love to believe that's the case, but there's so much racial venom injected into the debate. It's in the insistence that Obama isn't a Christian, isn't American, is Hitler, has disrespectful feet. It's in the violence behind the rhetoric. From here, it reads as racism. I wish it didn't come off that way. But when screaming hoards carry signs that use the word n*gger, and when media pulls out the old monkey cartoon to express its disagreement, I can't come to any other conclusion. Again, though, it's good and hopeful that you don't see things that way.

More independents makes sense. That's more of how it is in Canada. Most people I know suss out the ideas being presented with each election, and vote for the person whose ideas seem to be the best ones. It's much less partisan, from what I understand.

I don't think everything Republican reeks of stupidity, and I do know that Americans wanted to drink beer with George W Bush, but is he not thicker than bricks? Can that be argued? I don't think that's fear-mongering or people not wanting him to succeed. (I don't think he ever had any issue with doing whatever he wanted.) But I do think he's thicker than bricks. Good-natured is great, but I think an American President has to be more than that.

I would also like to know what you have against doobies.
(cough)
(kidding)

Not a tirade at all. Happy to hear from you. Interesting, and well put. Thanks.

This doesn't sit entirely comfortably with me, although I appreciate your viewpoint. What you are commenting on is the media's portrayal of these events. Most Americans are not fear boners, that's what you are meant to believe. Riddiculous things happen everywhere by riddiculous people. You just happen to have a front row seat and the opportunity to see if magnified times 1000. We have real problems in the US- just like everyone else and fifty reporters trying to make a buck for every one.

(and what was that about the non consensual pelvic exams in Canada?)

when it comes to the current political climate here in the US the word embarrassed doesn't even touch it for me...appalled, agog, head scritching, "how can i stop this insanity?" gets a LITTLE closer. i wish i had the answers to your questions, dear kate...or, perhaps, i should just move far far north and vote absentee...

Allison: Clearly the quality of care does not suffer, since Canadians have a longer life expectancy than Americans, and America has one of the highest infant death rates among first world countries. People also say that the wait lines go up with nationalized health care. Now, I don't know how long wait-longs are in American Emergency Rooms, so I don't know.

The longest I have ever had to wait in an emergency room is an hour. I went there because I had a bad cold, and my family doctor was three hours away, and I didn't know where I could find a walk-in clinic in this town. So I went to the ER for antibiotics. They saw me, but I had to wait an hour.

Is that a long wait, by American standards? If you went to the hospital with just a cold, how long would you wait? To be fair, the time I went with the sprained ankle, and the time I went with a friend having an asthma attack, we were both seen within 20 minutes.

I do think that Americans are wrapped in a culture of fear. Even many of the people who KNOW they have a culture of fear are still afraid. Afraid of trying the medical system that the rest of the civilized world uses. Afraid of saving money on a system that the Budget Office has calculated to save America 40-60% of their current government spending on medical care. Afraid of stricter gun laws. Afraid of change.

I sympathize. As someone with generalized anxiety disorder, I fear change too. I too am afflicted by the "what if..."s.

But thank Gawd, in Canada, I don't worry about crime, or my health. I just get hiffy when our government decides not to tell immigrants that it's okay for them to marry homosexually here. Even though it IS.

Binkytown, that's cool, and of course I'm not talking about general dissent, or Americans, but behaviour and discourse. That said, is the media falsifying those protest signs? The crosshairs? The rocks thrown through windows? The inciting of violence by leaders and right-wing media? Is all that not happening? It's pretty sensational. It's intended to be sensational. It's intended to heighten the atmosphere of division and fear and venom, and that's the baffling part.

I'd never claim that Americans have a monopoly on ridiculousness. The non consensual pelvic exam thing is a perfect example of a Canadian fear boner. Besides - the articles I saw said it's common practice in the United States, the U.K. and Canada - just that the fine print on consent forms differed. But it happened to be the Canadian Globe & Mail that reported on it, followed by various clarifications by the medical community.

Actually, I was crossing the street the other day and a roving gang of socialist gynecologists pinned me down to check out my cervix. It was totally hot.

I love Archie and God must too :)

I'm not saying racism doesn't exist but more implying that maybe the racism you are seeing is being furnished by people who want you to believe that is the underlying cause behind a dislike of Obama and not that maybe we don't think he has enough qualifications (many of us secretly hope that it will be just this that shakes this country out of it's bad habits) etc.

And I didn't say a nice guy makes a good president, he was way too partisan in my opinion, Bush, but I don't believe he sent men and women into combat lightly, nor do I believe it was for oil money etc. I really don't buy that image (thicker than bricks) anyways. He and his father just aren't what they seem at all up close and in person. And yes, there was fear mongering involved because Al Gore and the likes wouldn't be "succesful" if Bush was. That is the political game that is played over here on both sides, sadly.

And worst of all is that you thought I had anything against doobies! Although I feel quite grown up and away from the "doobie" days I won't confirm the rumor, but maybe imply, that this might be an area where me and the Publican party part ways. But that's just a rumor... (cough) (and I'm not kidding) I mean I am kidding... who knows really :)

have a beautiful day and one day tell me what Nova Scotia Dulse is? cuz I drank some the other day...

I'm really afraid of the far right fringe

I'm afraid of losing my health insurance if I'm laid off.

There's a very real possibility that I'll be laid off within the next few months unless this job that I'm eyeing comes through for me.

I have 7 year old twins who were preemies and had lung issues and therefore, have pre-existing conditions.
I have a husband who suffers from clinical depression unless he's on his meds.
I have high cholesterol and low thyroid - all completely manageable as long as I'm on my meds.
One of my twins was just diagnosed with ADD and now must be on medication. A heart-wrenching process to go through.

I am mostly afraid of losing my health coverage.

And I'm furious that the Republican party cares more about opposing this President than it does about making this better.

To all the Europeans and Canadians out there who have National Health Care - keep your fingers crossed that our very wobbly first step towards coverage in the US will lead us to a stronger and stronger health care policy.

Wow, Kate. I love this. I'm linking this post from my blog because you have said it so absofuckingloutely right ON!!! My husband and I constantly laugh at the fear mongering going on in this country. We laugh and are astounded all at once. It is scary though-the fear mongering itself. It is so scary because it makes people we actually know into hateful, scary people.

Again, I am reminded of just why I stop everything I'm doing when I see a new post of yours.

Ohmygod...I'm laughing at your "socialist gynecologists" comment. Sometimes, I'd give a million dollars to live in your brain for 15 minutes. Or forever. :)

The amount of times I wake up to a facebook announcement that says "such and such as joined <insert ignorant baffoon-y group that you think you have to join because you're a Christian> is astounding. It's like loving Jesus goes hand-in-hand with trying to destroy Obama's cause. And if not 'destroy', at least 'slander and ignore, never jumping on ANY band wagon of support for fear of what Jesus would think of me if I was seen riding a donkey and not an elephant.

I struggle too, you know. I lived in the US. I have family, and friends, all incredible. But when I tell my 'she'll be right, mate' blokey friends in Australia that I lived in the US, or that I am visiting, they tell me how obnoxious they think the 'Yanks' are; how Americans don't care about anyone but themselves; how George Bush was a total f#ckwit.... And I get kind of unsure about how to respond to that, because the faces of all the incredible Americans pop into my head.

Then I think of someone like, say, oh, I don't know, my uncle, who goes on and on and on with mindless and actually kind of embarrassing jumble, never able to substantiate a claim. Just, as we'd say, 'waffling'. "Oh, I thought that President was supposed to SAVE us! I thought he was going to get us OUT OF this mess. I thought we were supposed to be SAVED. And I JUST. DON'T. GET. IT! I really don't!"

Everyone else in the car, his wife and son, used to hearing the same old shit, don't say anything. I have come to expect it and just sit quietly, because no one will ever turn him around.

I love Barack Obama. Australia loves Barack Obama. The majority of my American friends love him too. But there are a whoooole group of people for which he was doomed from the friggin' start, and he's never going to get a chance with them. That saddens me.

Australians had made themselves numb to American politics for 8 years. And then Obama was elected and we rejoiced. Australians would like to think that'd be as easy as electing someone with a clue, and then everything ignorant or obnoxious or dare I say it "Christian" would go away.

"I bet we can find 1,000,000+ people who object to the Health Care Bill". A group on facebook. They were at around 750,000 yesterday. And then what? You get your 1,000,000? Look at what you achieved! Yay! Guess what, douchbags? There's still a bill.

I am afraid that I will not be able to raise my children up to see/think/feel/experience/question/create/imagine/trust/love/play/dream/examine. I mean, I can only do my best to make that happen. But it's everyone else I worry about. Those crazies out there are busy making more little crazies, who will someday be the peers of my babes.

(Now, these children of mine haven't been born yet, or even conceived. But yeah...I worry.)

I'm a Canadian by birth living in the U.S. Which at times makes me both tear my hair out in frustration (depending on the issue at hand) and proud to also hold citizenship in the country of my daughter's birth (who at six is as patriotic as they come).

I don't think the whole healthcare issue has much to do with healthcare to be honest. People are afraid of change, yes. The media is blowing it all way out of proportion, yes. But the American political system is like a dog chewing ferociously on its own tail - whatever the issue is, someone (holding an opposing viewpoint) will take the complete and opposite standpoint just because. Because they don't want the other side to "win". Because they think they could do it better. Because they're afraid they'll look bad in the eyes of their constituents. Because God forbid someone might have an idea that is better than theirs.

It's a sad commentary on society.

Me, I don't think the healthcare plan goes nearly far enough (but I'm Canadian!). But I'm willing to be hesitantly optimistic that at least we're taking a step in the right direction and that further progress can be made once people shut the f&$%# up and allow change to happen.

I'm getting more afraid of my extended family, who, even though I live in a "Muslim country," still send me horrible anti-Muslim forwards, call Muslims terrorists, and never, *ever* ask me about the Muslims I know, live with, work with, and care about (and most of them are about as Muslim as a Christian back home, sittin' in bed on Sunday morning and drinking coffee, reading the paper.) This has got to be some version of double-think.

There are some things I dread about going home to the U.S. to visit. Fear *is* a defining characteristic of our national psyche. Grandma fears getting ripped off by the cashier at the drug store; Dad fears any random guy on the street because someone's always out to "get" us; Mom fears that something bad will happen to her almost middle-aged kids; Sis fears for *her* kid; and goddam, I seem to be the only one who's ever happy when I'm there.

What, what, what IS this?

and with that you made me laugh so hard I forgot my original point. You win! XO

What am I afraid of? I'm afraid of all the people who are AFRAID!! Right now I want to leave America and move to an island where there are no politics, no controversies, none of this crap going on....I'm so sick of it. Universal health care - well, it's a fantastic thing. Is it perfect? No. Is going to the emergency room "health care" as my mother claims?

I am so tired of people not thinking. America has been dumbed down beyond belief. Where have all the thinkers gone? Where is the logic? I don't know, and it terrifies me.

Kate- Well thought out, well observed and beautifully articulated. Thank you for allowing some of us to feel less lonely.

Well, I used to be fearful of roving gynecologists but it sounds like I can scratch that one off my "What I am Fearful Of" list. Starting to sound like a "Scaredy Squirrel" story...

My struggle lately has been in letting go of my fears and sorting through my beliefs. Crazy hard to do but I am making progress. It is easy for me to get stuck in my routines and until something shakes me up, I am pretty content to go with the flow. This was made super clear to me yesterday, in the hospital psych ward. I went to sit with a friend who had tried to commit suicide. Emotionally, she is done at this point, but even yet she still doesn't want anyone to know what happened-- she is fearful of what they might say. So many would want to help and aren't allowed to do so because of fear/control issues. Fear, I am realizing, is a soul sucker and it robs us of real connection.

I have fear. My fear is if these preterm labor signals at 27 weeks turn into preterm labor and I have this baby too soon, that my $250,000 lifetime health insurance cap on any costs associated with anything health related will quickly expire as he ticks down the days in the NICU, and then my husband and I will max out every credit card we own to keep him alive, and then we will declare bankruptcy because we already owe $120,000 in student loans that we're struggling to pay, and then we will never be able to buy a car or a house or anything. Not to mention the fear of what would happen to my baby if he was born in such dramatic circumstances.
That's my fear. And it's a shameful fear, in such a wealthy country. Especially one that has seen this awful recession, seen good people like me and my husband unable to get jobs that have healthcare, so we have to scrape by on these crappy cheap policies. We aren't lazy. We're desperate.
Anyway. I have a lot of friends and family who are tea party members, who declare that Obama is destroying democracy in America, and I wonder where they were when we said torture was ok? Because I think that's a much bigger democracy destroyer than giving healthcare to poor people.

One day I'll be a lawyer and my husband will be a professor, and we just may nudge into that $250,000 income bracket that is bearing a higher tax to pay for the healthcare subsidies, and we will remember what it was like to be us now, terrified at every menstrual-like cramp or back pressure pain, not just that our baby will be born compromised but that it will ruin us financially, forever, and I can tell you I won't give a damn if you take an extra 7%.

This is an exciting day in blogdom for me because I get to disagree with you... somewhat. Much like in blogging, the loudest people get the attention, and most Americans are not running around with guns or throwing tea parties. I also think this craziness is less about fear than control. Everybody wants to run the world -- their way.

Our political culture has become so stale that the Democrats and Republicans have become like baseball teams in a bitter rivalry, neither seeing any humanity in the other. It's gotten to the point where no one can think for himself or be considered a traitor to his party. Not one Republican thought the health care bill was good? Will a Democrat on Twitter ever dare to criticize Obama? I hardly read political blog posts because I already know what the person is going to say -- just by knowing their political identification. American political life has become a team sport, with winners and losers being more important than legislation. And the media, and bloggers, love the drama of the fight. It sells.

These traits that you associate with Americans are not uniquely American. Political culture is complex in every country. America has a history as a melting pot, and may have certain problems that are different than homogeneous countries, such as Iceland. As European countries become more integrated with their large Muslim population, you are seeing the same type of problems showing up in Denmark as they do in America. Sure, Europe seems more "humane" in their socialized medicine than America, but it wasn't too long ago that European governments were burning people alive -- so maybe the political cultures are just moving at a different pace. We are still stuck in a World War 2 model where we have to be the protector of the world, with billions of dollars going to defense. Is this bad or good? It is unclear. Do we keep the world safer from evil or do we create it?

We all love Canada, and joke about how much better you guys are than America, but we also know that this is somewhat a myth. Tribal nations have been treated in Canada as poorly as they have in America, and there is racism in your country. Africville, Nova Scotia? Now that I know so many Canadians through blogging, I have been reading more of your news. It is not always a pretty sight.

This is not to say that the insanity here isn't American homegrown. But I also think it is healthier to see these control and fear issues everywhere -- in every country and in every person, because that brings us closer to overcoming it.

That's why storytelling is important. It focuses on individuals, where the truth really lies, rather than political ideology.

Just had to come back and say I like Allison's post so, SO much. Well put about the FB groups! Good gravy it drives me looney these e-mails and all the anti-Muslim stuff... I don't understand how you can be an active "fill in religious preference" and slander an entire group of people like that and then get heated if the same is done to you! Amen Jess and well put Allison. :)

Wow, great comment Neil. A few things to respond to. Very true that the loudest get the attention - but in this case, a sensible, measured opposition (government representatives, political commentators, media) needs to tell the venomous fringe to back the f*ck up. Loudly. They should be scrambling to distance themselves from the racist and homophobic and violence-inciting venom. The people I've heard interviewed so far - on the CBC, for instance - have condoned the mob's behaviour by saying See? Just How Angry We The People Are About Obama The Hitler Tyrant.

I don't associate the culture of fear and righteous indignance with Americans only. It's all of us - but right now, the American scene is just completely over the top.

I also don't require anyone in particular to love Canada, or to think that any one country is "better" than any other. Never said that. Every country has its problems, and racism is worldwide. That said, the spectacle of American politics right now is extraordinary. And over healthcare, of all things. Over an intention to help people. The American insistence that universal healthcare is a dangerous and wrong and evil and ineffective thing - given that virtually all other developed nations have it along with healthier life expectancies, abortion rates, and infant mortality - it's puzzling. Even more puzzling, though, is the way that opposition is being expressed. It's like the civil war re-enactors are in charge. And they've all got big ol' boners. I can't believe it's being taken seriously. It's tragic for decent, thoughtful Republicans.

It gets reduced, for me, to fear. Fear of the unknown, of change, of socialist bogeymen. Which, yes, and absolutely - is everywhere. But right now, the parade is south, and I've never seen anything like it in my lifetime.

What a great comment. All of them - am juggling kids today but I'm reading all with fascination and really appreciate everyone here.

Also, mosey along - that was an amazing comment too. So much insight here. And Jenn, and Gillian....

I'm here and I'm bewildered.

Like, Me-Too bewildered? Or Why-The-Heck-Would-I-Shell-Out-$16.95-For-A-Book-Soon-To-Be-Released-In-America-But-Written-By-A-Socialist-Tyrant-Loving-Author bewildered?

The night I first spoke to my now-husband by telephone was April 19, 1995, the day of the Oklahoma City bombings. He was a few hundred miles from OKC, in his homestate of Arkansas, where I've lived for 13 years now. I couldn't fathom what had happened, or why. I still can't fathom it, or extremists anywhere, except in the most clinical, "oh, look, there goes the collective unconsciousness constellating again" kind of way. That unconscious element still freaks me out when it gets whirling, like the storms that roll through this alleyway where I live. Sometimes, usually, it blows over, and occasionally, it wreaks havoc.

But I do have to say that my perspective from inside the country is considerably more dimensional than it was when I lived in Canada. Even here in the bible belt, there are scads of extreme liberals and social justice christians and smart, educated conservatives, and libertarians, and every other flavor of politics you can think of.

The few are loud, and they look like many when you see them on the 20 inch screen, but they don't represent the real America. Not by a long shot. This is, afterall, the country that elected Barack Obama. Whilst -- ahem -- Canada elected Harper. Heh. Sorry, couldn't resist! ;-)

Such an interesting discussion in your comments (great one from Neil). I'll be following!

The shitty thing is is that it really doesn't have to be some team sport thing. It's very, very true that it IS that way in the US, but people to align themselves with a party (a team!) instead of going "well, what do I actually THINK?" Imagine!

And while people generally seem to feel okay thinking that one baseball player from one team is cool, (I'm not a sports person) and that another baseball player from another team is equally cool, people seem to lose their shit if they're confronted with the dilemma of believing in something from each of the [Democrat/Republican] camps. It comes across as a very 'all or nothing' kind of thing, I think, and it gets to the point where people won't even fraternise with the other, because Heaven forbid they couldn't agree on something. And what would Jesus say if he saw you hanging out with a democrat?

I mean, these hardcore, dead-set, serious Christian Republicans, join these groups, and have these opinions that they're really, truly not substantiating with anything at all. Okay, you started a facebook group. Good. You're exhibiting your right to express yourself and to gather with likeminded people. And that's fantastic. But you're never saying anything about WHY you're so mad. It's masked with all kinds of emptiness, and that's where, Kate, I think you're right. It's fear.

I had a good friend say yesterday that she couldn't understand why so many people, Christians particularly, were hating on this bill, when, providing and caring for people and their health is amongst the most Christ-like things that someone could do! I really don't want to turn this into a religion thing, seriously. But, come on! Republicanism and Christianity seem to be going hand-in-hand, and I wonder how much of that is happening from behind the curtain. "You believe in God, and God says THIS. So, by default, you have this political standpoint, and that's the end of it."

Democrats have a lot of shit they need to get together too. And there are certainly brainwashed on that side, but, my goodness.. From the perspective of an outsider who has spent a LOT of time on the inside, it just doesn't have to be this way. Thinking, figuring out, expressing, speaking, loving... this stuff is foundational to productive and thoughtful people. Getting stuck on a side because you think you have to. That is not.

The best part? I don't even know who I'm talking to! And I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with anyone here! There's a real...fluidity and peacefulness in just being able to say what I'm thinking... not aligned with a party or a side or a team. Just thoughts. You're all excellent, though. Good conversation starter, Kate. As always.

came back (again) to see all the comments and I must say it's a really good discussion you’ve got going on here.

@Carol - you asked about ER wait times in the US. I work for a huge hospital system in the Midwest. I have awesome "Cadillac" insurance. I am incredibly lucky and I know that. About 1 1/2 years ago I woke up in the middle of the night in awful pain and went to the ER at one of our top-tier, well staffed hospitals in an affluent area. Keep in mind our hospitals have been touted by several organizations as having the most efficient cost and best patient care structures (I won’t name it for fear of corporate lawyers searching the internet). I waited 6 hours. The pain was gone by the time I was seen by a doc - turns out I was having a gallbladder attack.

Because I work for the same hospital system I got the scoop from the staff on why it took so long and was told it was because they were overwhelmed with "clinic care" visits. That was their term for non-emergency/non-trauma patients seeking help for colds, bronchitis, pneumonia and the like that were starting to spread with the winter weather. People who *should* be seeing a primary care doctor but without insurance the ER was their only choice.

I eventually had to have my gallbladder removed but had to wait *3 months* to get on the surgery schedule. Total cost for all my care, which included a hospital stay due to a complication? $57,000. What I paid out of pocket (other then my usual monthly premiums)? $0. I. AM. LUCKY.

One other note: the hospital system I work for provided $175 million in uncompensated care in 2009. Someone has to pay for that – and we all do, be it through higher insurance premiums and co-pays or taxes. That’s the reason healthcare cost is so high. More insured = less uncompensated care *should*= less cost for all.

Thank you, Kate.

I am an American, a cancer survivor, somewhere near a socialist, and a liberal Christian.

I'm afraid of the American politicians who listen to the wing-nuts afraid of Canadian healthcare. And I'm afraid of the politicians who let insurance companies buy them.

i'm american. cascadian, really. anarchist. and not afraid of jack shit. except not being able to love. as long as i can love, i'm good.

it's all an illusion, an evolutionary snag that's about to get unstuck. we're all fine. nobody said it didn't get hard and heavy when a baby is about to be born. we are on the cusp of a great shift. fear is definitely one of the tools for transformation, but remember to use it as a road, not something you carry it in your bag. Otherwise the chance of history repeating....no bueno.

i appreciate hearing the authenticity of all the fears and at the same time my authentic self says....woa....holy shit...really? really? REALLY? God, I am really ready for a Universal Orgasm. Fuck healthcare.