Letters to the editor Dec. 13

We are individuals; so are they

I recently read the following: When asked how she could work with those dirty, sick people on the streets of India, Mother Teresa replied, “Every one of them is Jesus in a different disguise.”

What struck me, besides, of course, the amazingly selfless gift of such a saint, was Mother Teresa’s use of the words, “Every one.” The single word, “ONE” is of particular significance. Mother Teresa did not look at those sufferers in the gutters as a mass. Rather, she saw them as individual human beings, and, seeing them as such, it was, for her, a simple matter of caring for each one separately.

It might behoove us to recognize the individuality of those who tread this earth with us. It is perilously easy to become alarmed or threatened when we lump our fellow humans into groups. That is why we FEAR a caravan of migrants, or DISTRUST Muslims or Jews, or ASSERT that those on government assistance are lazy, or CATEGORIZE people of a different color as less intelligent or less ambitious or less responsible, or ASSUME that all who suffer from mental illness are dangerous, or DERIDE those whose politics differ from ours.

It has been proven in some experiments over the years that gathering together sworn individual enemies from radically opposed groups can produce profound realizations of commonality and shared values. Groups we assume that we dislike are composed of single persons whose history and needs and hearts and very humanity are probably much like ours. Certainly, Mother Teresa set an impossibly high bar; however, isn’t her recognition of the intrinsic value of each of her fellow humans worthy of our consideration?

—Jeanne Welty Southwood, Bigfork

Counting votes

Mark Agather’s letter on Nov. 22 is six years too late. Senator Tester got more votes this year than the Republican and the Libertarian combined. Therefore the Libertarian did not cost the Republican party the election.

­—Fred Frost, Whitefish

Health-care conundrum

Wow! Today’s health-care conundrum. In my growing up years on our Wisconsin farm, I had chicken pox, whooping cough, measles, mumps and bad bumps. Doctor Doughty was immediately there. All medical bills were handled directly between Dad and the provider of the care. It was all handled even with our limited cash flow.

After World War II, this all changed. Health care has grown into an unaffordable, complicated system fueled by big-money interests. It seems that the best care is too often available only to those with the money to pay for it.

We have thousands of insurance companies who all negotiate different prices with different customers for different plans. The billing gets really messy. About 30 percent of every health care dollar spent in this multi-payer system goes into the administration, paperwork and profits. It is very confusing and inefficient.

Interestingly, under our “universal healthcare” banner are “socialized medicine” and “single-payer” systems. Socialized medicine means the government owns the hospitals and employs all employees and physicians. Examples of socialized medicine in the U.S. are the Veterans Administration; the Indian Health Services; and the Prison Health System. In the single-payer system, all the bills are paid through a single entity. Our Medicare System is a perfect example.

So, where are we toady? Good question. I do know this. Last week a lady came into a local hospital with an untreated cancer. Her mother had had the same thing and ran up thousands of dollars in bills that haunted and nagged her ‘til she died. The daughter wanted to avoid all that. She chose to ignore early diagnosis and treatment. She now has just a few weeks to live.

Does this true story indicate where we are today with our big-money controlled, complicated and too often cruel healthcare system? I think it does, in spades.

—Bob McClellan, Polson

Laws are there for a reason

I have to agree with Angie McCrorie’s Dec. 9 letter “Attention dog owners.”

I live right by a park in Kalispell. There is a woman who brings her van and daily unloads her four dogs and lets them run uncontrolled. They have run to my little dog on heart meds. I have to pick her up. One black lab jumps up and scratches my truck. The park department and the sheriff’s office have contacted her. She will not listen to either one. She has no control over her dogs.

It is posted all dogs must be leashed. Laws are there for a reason. Obey them.

—Sandy Bancroft, Kalispell