Actual "Health Equity" Can Be Yours
"Health equity" is defined by the CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease
Control) as "the state (as in "condition", "situation",
"circumstance"---not a POLITICAL state, province or country) in which
everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain their highest level
of health". It is usually associated with social justice movements
---- with good health being considered a fundamental human right.
What a beautifully noble, seemingly simple and
straightforward concept to have such enormous potential for
complication! Not just Social and Political complexities; but even
more, in definition, perception and objective. TRULY-better "health",
for example, does not come from more or "better" medicine. REAL
health is not merely "prompt, temporary relief" of the most widespread
dis--ease symptoms, but, rather, the fullness of the biological
processes that constitute life (just as true peace is much more than
the absence of open conflict).
Some years ago, The World Health Organization was quoted as
saying [apparently referring to things we have done AND things we have
neglected]: "We have inflicted wounds on ourselves, in the belief
that science, doctors and hospitals would find a cure, instead of
preventing the very causes of illness in the first place. Of course
we cannot do without the medical care facilities that actually save
life, but let us be clear that they do not add to our health ---they
stop us dying. ..." ----[POSTPONE dying, actually ---ed.]
While the "right medicine" at the "right time" MIGHT
TEMPORARILY "cure" a "dis--ease" (the distressing outward
manifestations of an illness) but not the illness itself, truly
equitable OPPORTUNITY to attain our "highest level of health" (and
especially the ACTUAL attainment of such) depends on our willingness
to genuinely think, reason, learn and work in harmony with the true
biological source of true health --- the "natural" world and its
cycles and processes that humans USED to be a part of. Even now,
the "fair and just OPPORTUNITY" to do so is not nearly so elusive or
complicated as it might seem. As it turns out, simple basic REAL food
(LIVE food, as in "live music"), simply and MINIMALLY prepared, is
actually your body's BEST (and ONLY truly sufficient) source of the
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS it needs to carry out it's marvelous internal
self-healing, self-renewing functions. (To have REAL health --- which
is to stay as fully alive and functional as possible --- your body
must "re-construct" itself constantly.) So the more "modern",
"refined" and "sophisticated" the "cuisine" the less of those
essential elements are still biologically available ----- often,
little more than in the seemingly cheaper and more convenient "fast
food" on the OTHER end of the culinary spectrum --- with the resulting
biological damage to the human body and the consequent Medical costs
eventually proving neither cheap NOR convenient, of course.
While we may congratulate ourselves that our ability to reason on
"abstract" (intangible or not here-and-now) concepts, to "look ahead"
and to plan for or to avoid certain eventualities makes us superior
to the "lower forms of life", our human nature's live-for-the-moment
tendency typically concentrates on treating dis--ease and leaving the
real illness "out-of-sight-out-of-mind"; much like throwing a plastic
tarp over a damaged roof and considering the repair complete.
True attainment of REAL "health equity" requires a certain
personal involvement --- not political or social involvement ---
actual conscious, purposeful involvement in the real needs of our own
body and its biological life-functions --- not just its pleasure or
other biologically external superficial qualities. We can neither
wishfully nor protestingly look to any human government or other
agency to fulfill those needs. Ultimately WE have to "take the bull
by the horns" (our own old habits and thought patterns often being the
most "bull-headed" part) and "wrestle the beast down". Our real
biological quality of life has to be more important to us than any
emotional or other biologically external elements of our life (such as
Pleasure, Convenience, Popular Opinion, etc.) that we might tend to
thoughtlessly and momentarily prioritize.
Affordable Health Care ---- All Natural?
Are you looking for REAL health care?
Or only sickness care?
If we're more concerned
with the unpleasant EFFECTS of an ailment
than with its causes,
it is not Health Care
--- it is Sickness Care.
If we care enough to do something about it
only when we're sick
it is not Health Care
--- it is Sickness Care.
Think about it from this standpoint ---
Do you prefer to have control of your own life or to let something or
someone else control it for you? Until we pause, "step back" and take
a good hard look at the "mindset" of our "modern" so-called
civilization, we cannot fathom just how much of our personal life we
have ALREADY ALLOWED to be taken "out of our control" --- most of it,
psychologically not forcibly (physically, legally. or otherwise). For
now, at least, it is neither illegal, immoral, nor unethical in any
other way to take control of one's own life. But in "Western Society"
there appears to be a sort of unwritten, unspoken "gentlemen's
agreement" that each person must be an "expert" in his or her chosen
"field" and almost totally helpless in any other field of knowledge or
endeavor in order to be "a success", "important", have self-worth, and
be "useful to society" or "a productive member of society". It
remains unclear exactly WHAT we're expected to actually "produce" ---
except, perhaps, "fodder" for the ego of those who HAVE "succeeded" in
dominating others with their narrow, often questionable "expertise"
--- and who, themselves, in turn, are dominated in other areas of
THEIR life by this SAME mindset of selective, willingly uninformed
helplessness.
An ancient wise King (reputedly the wisest of ancient times) once
remarked that "man has dominated man to his harm". (Not as a
gender-bias comment; simply referring to the human race as a whole)
Such domination does not have to be by force. The King also added, in
one of his widely known (at the time) proverbs, that the person "who
thinks things out is hated" [as in: disregarded, despised, ridiculed].
And, truly, in today's pleasure-oriented, anti-think culture, the
IDEA of "thinking for oneself" IS popular, but serious reasoning
actually is not. For the most part, we have allowed this culture to
convince us that we're "too stupid" to understand "important matters
of life" and need "experts" to do that thinking for us. Of course,
truly good advice can be priceless. The wise King acknowledged that
"there is accomplishment through many advisers." There needs to be a
balance, though; not an abdication of all personal responsibility. In
today's society, however, whether intentionally or unintentionally, we
have almost completely relinquished control of the most important
aspects of our life --- including our health and well being.
Granted, real thinking requires some time and mental energy that we
may PREFER to spend on something we IMAGINE we'd enjoy more. But
taking control of our life doesn't HAVE to be an "anxiety trip". It
CAN be a beautiful, fascinating, exhilarating journey; just as life
itself is a journey. We don't have to figure everything out today,
anymore than we can "see all the scenery" in five minutes. But would
we take a scenic cruise with our eyes closed or holed up below deck
playing video games --- and "hire" someone else to "see the scenery
for us"? Of course, if you truly VALUE momentary pleasures more than
you VALUE having control of your life, this may not be the thing for
you; but don't we usually ENJOY thinking about things that interest
us? And what could be more enjoyable (and thus "interesting") than a
feeling of well being at least most of the time ---not just
momentarily when we have some kind of pleasure to take our mind off
reality or a medicine to deaden our sensibilities and forcibly modify
our body's responses to it's normal needs for internal cellular
renewal?
An Awesome Advantage ---
Plan for REAL Healing --- Naturally
Not just relief from pain, suffering, distress or other annoyance
--- preservation and even restoration of real health
with the feeling of being truly alive
and more in control of your own biological "destiny"
than you ever believed possible ---
--- NOT from something you can BUY ---
--- Something YOU can be empowered to DO for yourself ---
You know, of course --- We cannot BUY health anymore than we can buy
"smarts". They're not COMMODITIES to BE bought and sold. They're
QUALITIES to be CULTIVATED. And no one else --- no matter how
"professional", persuasive, or psychologically intimidating --- can do
that for you --- or even "sell" you a GENUINE shortcut. (There are
many proposed, but none that actually "deliver".) When we can fully
accept this basic "fact of life" (not just intellectually, but deeply,
emotionally) and determine to actually do something about it (in a
calm, rational, informed manner) we will have taken a giant step
toward taking possession and control of one of the most potentially
rewarding aspects of our life.
Actually, the English words "health" and "whole" share a common root
word that implies unbroken unity; not diminished in any way. To
"heal", therefore, is to RESTORE that "unity" of undiminished health
---- the "wholeness" or fullness of the biological processes that
constitute life. It is similar to the repair and restoration of your
home after serious damage; which COULD be from a storm or other
disaster, but, in the case of our bodies, is more often like the
gradual deterioration of a house or other building --- from (for
example) water damage that goes unnoticed for years until much of the
structure has rotted away or the foundation has settled unevenly and
the building is literally "pulling apart at the seams". When suddenly
one day we become aware of the damage and start realizing its extent,
is our first thought to install new carpet, wallpaper or siding to
cover it up? Of course not. We want the STRUCTURE to be sound ---
not collapse with us in it!
While, for typical storm-damage, much of the underlying roof STRUCTURE
will most likely need repairing/replacing/rebuilding, in normal home
MAINTENANCE only the roof COVERING (the waterproofing --- such as
shingles) will need replacing. If that has been done regularly, WHEN
and HOW it NEEDS to be done, the roof STRUCTURE will still be sound,
not water-damaged, decayed/rotted, or othewise falling apart.
Is a sick/damaged human body any different? Only in this way: We
can't do it's repair/rebuilding (healing) FOR IT. For true healing,
the living organism must do its OWN repairing/rebuilding on the
cellular, bio-molecular level. No surgery can do that; and no drug
can "force" it to accomplish that real healing --- after all, it
already has the correct agenda pre-programmed in it's DNA. Of course,
EITHER medical intervention at a crucial moment COULD "save a life"
---or, more accurately, postpone death a bit longer. (Usually, by the
time we reach that "crucial moment" --- unless it's the result of a
sudden, catastrophic accident --- our body has already been on a STEEP
decline toward death for SOME TIME --- whether we noticed it or not.)
But, whether it's the "family home" or your very, very
personal biological "home" (your body) you don't want the damage just
covered up, do you? You want it cleared away ---- and actually
repaired/replaced/rebuilt. Those functions require "building
materials" ---like lumber, roofing, siding, bricks, etc. in the case
of a house--- as well as appropriate "cleaning equipment" or --- in
the case of our bodies --- biological cleaning MATERIALS. Medicine
and other Medical procedures provide the biological equivalent of
NEITHER. Essentially, in the long-range scheme of things, they
function more like a blue poly tarp. Indeed, the most astute and
caring medical professionals in "Western civilization" are indicating
that, essentially, most of our illnesses ARE being treated roughly
equivalent to fastening a temporary waterproof covering (such as
plastic sheeting or the ubiquitous blue poly tarp) over a damaged roof
and thinking no more about it as long as the rain doesn't drip inside
the living areas of the house. Sadly, their warnings are being
largely ignored, covered up, and even hidden (archived away from
public view) because it is not what the majority prefer to hear ---
so, of course, it is "not good for business".
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"Forgive me my nonsense,
as I also forgive the nonsense
of those who think they talk sense."
--- Robert Frost
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Rutilio_Manetti_-_Sant%27Ambrogio_
(hands_writing_with_quill_pen_detail).jpg
original by Italian painter
Pietro Antonio Rotari
(1707 - 1762)
This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a
two-dimensional work of art in the public domain in its
country of origin (and other countries and areas where
the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years).
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