Happiness Through Humanism: basic health care

There is no area of life where critical thinking is more important than in your health care choices.

Unfortunately, cutting through the clutter to the science is not easy. I am a member of a woo free mom’s group online. A group of moms who are dedicated to ensuring we make science based choices for our families and ourselves when it comes to health decisions. And we struggle with it.

The most often asked question is – is this woo or not. (Woo is information that looks sciencey – but isn’t). If we have trouble figuring it out, it’s not easy.

So why make the effort? Because your life may depend on it. Is salt good or bad for you? How much fat can or should you eat? Who can we trust when the science seems to change all the time! First fat is bad, then it’s good then it’s only sort of good but only if it’s certain types of fat – but wait – isn’t coconut oil good, maybe not – depends on what you are using it for and whether you have heart health problems. (sigh)

My husband recently had to have some heart stents put in. Ok – so I research them. Find out well yes, the new stents that prevent reclosing of the artery also increase risks of blood clots slightly – which is why you have to take blood thinners for at least a year afterwards.

Why risk this? Because with no stent, the arteries reclose 30% of the time and with non-medicated stents 25% of the time, but with the new medicated stents they reclose only 10% of the time. So in the risk reward analysis – the slight increase risk of blood clots is outweighed by the benefit of reduced likelihood of needing to do the procedure again.

Of course, if you really want to improve your chances, you have to eat right too otherwise your heart disease will continue to be a problem.

So – what have I learned from our recent medical journey? That I need to trust the doctors! I can do all the research I want and totally freak myself out with fear and confusion, or ... I could just ask the doctor who is actually trained on these things and understands the science because – that’s his rather specialized job (I am saying he because my husband’s cardiologist is a he). Asking this doctor questions taught me more than all of my own research.

I’m not saying don’t educate yourself. I’m saying Doctor Googles isn’t always reliable. (see http://io9.com/i-fooled-millions-into-thinking-chocolate-helps-weight-1707251800) If you are confused after consulting Doctor Googles, which you probably will be, consult an actual professional. They really do know more than you do.

What does freedom mean to you?

I suspect different people have different definitions. For me, freedom is about choice. If I don’t have a choice, I don’t have freedom. Because while I may not be actively oppressed, I also don’t have the ability to change things either.

Humanism, to me, is a life philosophy aimed at the reduction of unnecessary suffering. Accept the things you can’t change, change the things you can. It seems to me that in any given life, there are things we can change and things we can’t.

The freedom that is of most concern to me is where I am restricted in my choices arbitrarily for no good purpose. So – for instance - women not having access to birth control. That restricts freedom unnecessarily, because it restricts choice, unnecessarily.

Money is another thing that restricts freedom. Sure, I am free to travel, but right now I don’t have the ability to – so I can’t exercise that freedom. Which is why poverty is so devastating to freedom. Poverty restricts choices because it restricts access to options. It restricts access to education in places where education is not paid for by the state. It restricts access to health care, where health care is not guaranteed by the state. Poverty even restricts access to clean water in most places in the world.

If you do not have the means to secure the basics of life, you aren’t free to do anything but subsist. Freedom, at that point, is a meaningless concept.

I’m not saying we should set up a welfare state, or that we need equality of outcome to be fair. What I am saying is that ensuring that everyone has access to the basic necessities of life is an essential first step to ensuring freedom for individuals to pursue whatever it is they want to pursue in life.

At a minimum, children should have access to a free secular education everywhere. Without an education, they’re life choices are severely restricted and their freedom diminished.

People should have access to free clean water, at no cost (aside from the taxes that pay for this service). This means privatizing the water supply is not acceptable. Allowing private industry to pollute our common water supply is also not acceptable.

People must have access to a basic level of health care necessary to ensure their survival and minimum level of health so that they can pursue whatever goals in life they have. And this must be affordable to everyone.

Living wages – people, who work, should receive a minimum wage that is sufficient to ensure they have enough money to survive. Whether they can earn more to be able to thrive is another matter.

Open immigration and migration. We must stop restricting the movement of people over national borders. Yes, states have a right to keep out criminals, but people looking for work, should be allowed to move to where there is work. Keeping people locked into an arbitrary geographic area to the benefit of the rulers of those geographic areas is not my idea of freedom. People should be free to seek a better life wherever and however, they choose.

What do you think are the necessary minimal support people need to be free?