My biggest takeaway from the Presidential Debate on Tuesday night was pertaining to our (broken) healthcare system…..go figure.
At one point, the candidates were discussing what they plan to do with C-19 policies after the election. Joe Biden was pretty clear on the fact that he thinks we need more shut downs, where Donald Trump was clear that he wanted to open the economy back up.
There were two statements from Biden that really got me thinking (might not be direct quotes, this is just how I remember hearing them)…..
1. “before we can fix the economic crisis, we have to solve the C-19 crisis”…..
2. “1 in 1,000 African Americans have died from C-19, if we don’t do something about, soon it will be 1 in 500″…
I haven’t fact-checked his math, so I’m not verifying those numbers, but if he’s right, that’s terribly sad. I’m certainly not ok with that outcome. But I couldn’t help but think about all the other health conditions that are impacting us at a far higher rate, but never get mentioned by any Presidential Candidate.
- What about the fact that 1 in 36 boys in America right now are on the Autism Spectrum?
- What about the fact that 50% of children are overweight or have a chronic illness?
- What about the fact that suicide, depression, and anxiety rates are all climbing, yet no one is talking about it. (We’ve had 3 suicides in Laramie County in 3 days, yet we’re cutting mental health funding?) *remember to check on your family and friends*
- What about the fact that 80 % of Americans are suffering with chronic diseases, most of which are LIFESTYLE induced? We lose close to a million people every year from heart disease and obesity.
- Do these Presidential candidates know that Americans make up 5% of the World’s population, yet consume 65-70% of the World’s Pharmaceutical drugs?
- Why are we chipping away at the tip of the iceberg when the real threat is underneath the surface?
- When will we have a leader that stands up for HEALTHcare instead of SICKcare?
- What do masks, hand sanitizer, harsh chemical cleaning products, and “social distancing” do for the REAL health crisis we have in our Country? NOTHING. Except potentially make it WORSE….. increasing our mental health struggles, dampening our immune systems, and having no emotional connection to our communities.
We will never outlive or outsmart every single virus in this world. BUT we can and we DO know how to crush some of these other health issues plaguing America! And getting yourself healthier actually increases your odds of beating C-19 too!
Maybe that should be the narrative that our leaders are talking about?! We’ll see what happens in a month, but most of us are tired of waiting for truth and real solutions to BIGGER problems.
