Universal Health Care
"When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use.
When diet is right, medicine is of no need."
Health is a Human Right
Why would we not want all people to be healthy? The point of a society is for all people to live their fullest potential, and at the core, this begins with our health. We should do everything in our power to make sure that ALL our people have full access to all methods healing and wellness. We must take a holistic approach, focus on preventive measures so we can ensure people begin a healthy life and can easily sustain that good habit. It is our responsibility as a collective to design a system that works for all people, regardless of how much money someone has.
Health as an Industry is a Failure
When something becomes an industry, profit is the primary motivation and quality always goes down. Companies are driven to cut corners in order to boost their margins, and this truth of capitalism manifests in the most disgusting way when it comes to our medical system. Unfortunately, money has dominated whether or not people live or die; not only is this immoral, but it places artificial pressures on the medical experts providing care by increasing their costs of 'doing business', which adds stress to their practice and limits their ability to provide all-encompassing healing to patients in need. We must begin the crucial work now of redesigning a system that is not motivated and controlled by money, but is actually based on the social imperative to ensure everyone is their healthiest self.
It's time we acknowledge that the health insurance industry is completely unnecessary and a disgrace to our species. Most people buy plans that they can't even end up using because of ridiculous restrictions and high hidden costs. Single payer systems already prove that the administrative costs fall dramatically when insurance is eliminated. Let's design a new system that increases doctors ability to deliver care directly to their patients, where that sacred relationship becomes strengthened, and where money is not longer a barrier to accessing health solutions.
Food Is Medicine
The most obvious way to become healthier is to start with food. We must acknowledge that our food system is broken as well, that most of what we eat is pure poison, and that GMO lobby groups have distorted our connection to the most basic and fundamental practice of humanity: organic gardening.
When we eat whole, living, organic foods, and when we spend time with nature, everything improves as a result of eliminating inflammation in the body. Inflammation is the root cause of every disease, and we can easily resolve this through healthy foods and stress-free environment in nature.
The problem has been that healthy foods are somehow cheaper than processed poison foods, since largely these chemical foods are subsidized by our federal government. The FDA has been wrong for many years, and it's time we realize that.
The first priority should be our children. We MUST ban GMO and processed foods in our school system, and make sure every child in our city gets full access to organic foods, everyday. This should be our top initiative, and we must do everything in our power to make this happen.
This is the preventative approach we need, to make sure we do not raise another generation burdened by the food mistakes of our ancestors lack of vision, weighed down by cancer, diabetes, obesity, and depression.
Environment Matters
We must focus on healing our natural ecology in our city. Clean air, clean water, and clean soil are essential to making sure we have positive health outcomes. We need to study what toxins may still exist in our water supply, examine what chemicals are being pumped into our atmosphere by petrochemical companies, revise our methods of waste management, and absolutely must institute an aggressive incentive program toward switching to electric, zero emissions transportation.
We do not want poison engulfing our people.
Plants are Not Drugs
It's widely known that Americans are addicted to pharmaceutical drugs, such as anti-depressants, opioid pain-killers, and many more. It's not widely known that an alternative to these drugs is the use of plants as our healing method. Many emerging studies have shown that cannabis, mushrooms, ayahuasca, and other 'psychedelics' are extremely useful when treating many illnesses of the mind, body and spirit. Yet, these drugs are illegal and demonized by our DEA. This is wrong and counterintuitive to our fundamental freedoms as organic creatures of the Earth. Why should something that grows in the ground be illegal, but something made in a lab subsidized by our government? Do you see what is flawed with this picture?
I believe it's time to declare our municipality a plant-safe sovereign-zone, where all humans are granted their full freedom rights to use plant medicines to heal. With the use of plants comes great responsibility, so we must be very specific about understanding and respecting the power of plants. Spiritual guides and experts are needed to operate healing facilities specialized in the medication and administering of such plants.
This is not about 'getting high', this is about declaring our right to heal ourselves in any way we see fit based on our sovereign rights as people on Earth. Nor are we attacking the rights of pharmaceutical industries to create and market drugs they believe will save lives.
This is all about freedom and choice.
One Plan, Full Access
I believe we are capable of designing a system of health care where:
(a) We Pay Less
(b) We Receive More
(c) Everyone is Included
(d) Health Workers are Valued
We are smart, creative, and willful enough to manifest this reality. I beleive in the power of Austin when we come together, and I know the time is right for us to make this a priority; no longer can we wait on the US Congress or the Insurance lobby to do the right thing; no longer can we wait on them while our people need us to step up NOW.
Austin Health Summit 2019
In 2019, we will host the first Austin Universal Health Summit, where we invite the most brilliant health care minds on the planet to come audit our current city health care data to figure out the real truth behind what we're paying now verses the actual outcomes we receive. Together with their genius, and the collective genius of our citizens, we will craft a policy that meets the objectives of our One Plan, Full Access strategy, and ensure that ALL people of Austin live in the healthiest place on Earth.
Obviously this is a complex issue with dynamic solutions. Please share your ideas with me.