[Section Editor’s Note: The following contains an excerpt from “Torchlight for America,” Chapter 7, “Ending the Healthcare Crisis, pages 123-124.]
At about $750 billion (now $4.3 trillion) in spending, America spends more on health-care than any other country. However, very little of this money is spent on preventive care. If America seriously hopes to end its crisis in health-care, it must redirect its attention to preventive care.
While I support a reasonable universal health-care coverage plan, making America healthy must become the personal responsibility of each citizen, and not the responsibility of government, except in those cases where preventive care is not adequate.
This approach would require that each individual becomes more knowledgeable, and that leadership in the food industry, medical community and government become more responsible in providing and teaching the people the truth about caring for the human body.
The greatest gift that we have been given is the gift of life. The essence of our very being is housed within this magnificent creation of flesh and blood known as our bodies. Unfortunately, we live in a society that misdirects us and misinforms us in such a way that we place our own bodies at risk. We take care of our clothes, our pets and our material possessions better than we take care of our own bodies.
Knowledge is the principle resource that can help us take better care of our bodies and our health. God, the Creator and Sustainer of all life, has given us direction for taking care of our health. However, we live in a society that is in opposition to the directions from the Giver of life, and as a result we suffer.
It is sad that buying material possessions is valued more than getting a simple yearly checkup by a competent doctor. It is sad that watching television several hours a day takes precedence over scheduling a few minutes of exercise that would help keep our bodies and our minds fit.
It is sad that we put more emphasis on going to movies and listening to music feeding our minds through the reading of proper books and literature. And it’s a tragedy that we overeat, eat the wrong foods, smoke, take drugs, drink alcohol, and take an excessive amount of pills to cope with life’s stresses instead of developing the core values and self-control to protect ourselves from these addictions.
Here again, the airwaves can be used to promote a healthy lifestyle among the people.
