奧巴馬的醫療改革是在「養懶人」？

給我的一位美國朋友的信：

我是在 2000 年才來美國的，之前在香港，看國際新聞時有聽聞過克林頓的醫療改革（後來無法獲得通過）。當時我的反應是，西方社會真不同，政府連這種「小事」也要管。其實，我是身在福中不知福。香港一直都有公立醫療制度。我那時從未聽說過有人會因生病而破產的。

後來我在 1996 年到美國當了一年的訪問學者。來美之前，有熟悉美國情況的朋友閒談中提醒我，「你到美國記得要有醫療保險啊！」我唯唯諾諾，但心想這也是對的，我在美國是外國人，政府自然不會有任何保險給我－－我當時並不知道美國作為一個全球最富裕的國家，是有幾千萬人國民（超過十分一）是沒有任何醫療保險的。（幸好我的僱主 CMU 大學，的確有為所有僱員購買醫保，包括訪問學者。所以我很輕鬆地解決了這個問題。）

後來奧巴馬推動醫療改革，我有留意到有關的辯論，才開始了解克林頓和奧巴馬想解決的，並不是「小事」。要明白並判斷這場改革是否合理和合宜，要明白很多數據，也要比較美國和其他先進社會（如英、日、德、加拿大、甚至台灣）對這問題的處理方法。但當時令我印象最深刻的，是這一個有血有肉的故事，是在這個電台對談節目（十四分鐘）中聽到的：

The Under-Insured: 'Health-Care Crisis Hits Home'

其中的主人翁（被訪者的弟弟），是否人們心目中的「懶人」、「窮人」、或者「不負責任的人」，諸位可以自行判斷。

March 11, 2009

When Karen Tumulty's brother Patrick was diagnosed with kidney disease, the Time magazine correspondent thought her 15 years of experience covering health policy would enable her to solve his insurance problems. But Tumulty soon realized that the health care crisis is more complicated — and severe — than she thought.

As Tumulty notes in her Mar. 5, 2009 Time article, "The Health-Care Crisis Hits Home," her brother had subscribed for six years to a short-term health insurance policy, which he renewed every six months. But, she writes, the short-term policy meant that "each successive policy treated him as a brand-new customer." When he was diagnosed with kidney disease, the insurance company labeled his illness a "preexisting condition" and refused to pay for the costly diagnosis and treatment.

Tumulty explains that many Americans are under-insured, and they may not even know it: Health policies that seem generous for healthy people may actually be unable to cover costs if a serious illness arises. She writes that "just about anyone could be one bad diagnosis away from financial ruin."

方便大哂！？

奧地利某家超市認為，對它的顧客來說，剝香蕉是很麻煩的事。為了「提高」服務，超市決定推出新產品－－預先剝好皮的香蕉，再用發泡膠和保鮮紙來把它包好出售。（請見原來的　新聞報導）

我們真的變得這麼懶惰了嗎？連剝香蕉也嫌麻煩，要別人代勞？！即使因此我們要用上成千上萬的千年不腐的發泡膠托盤，留在堆填區，甚至在大海中漂浮？

朋友，也許您會嘲笑這家超市的荒謬。但細心想想，我們其他的一些生活習慣，又合理嗎？

1. 在飯堂，我們每天用上一個發泡膠杯，用完即棄。
2. 出外時，我們購買樽裝水。每飲一樽水便製造了一個膠樽垃圾。
3. 到超市購物時，我們隨手拿上十個八個的即用即棄的塑膠購物袋。（按）

我們又可否有想過，這些行為製造了大量的塑膠垃圾，它們郤是本來十分容易避免的。比如說，只要：

1. 我們去飯堂時帶上自已的水杯。
2. 出外時，我們帶上水壺。
3. 到超市購物時，我們帶上可以無限次重用的布袋和購物籃。（按）

這些垃圾完全可以避免。但我們不會這樣做，因為我們要方便，「方便大哂！」

其實，我們是否在「五十步笑一百步」呢？

回到文首的那間超市，如果公眾對這家超市不作出強列抗議的話，習以為常，「預先剝皮香蕉」，很快會成為潮流。大家慢慢的也會見怪不怪了。

如果真是這樣的話，我們也就只能祝我們的下一代好運了！

（按：香港自 2009 年實施膠袋徵費後，情況大為改善。但在美國大部份人仍然是不會自備購物袋的。）

But I need the convenience !

There was a supermarket who thinks peeling banana is too tedious for their customers (see the news report here), so they decided to sell bananas pre-peeled, and then wrapped the bananas on a Styrofoam plate topped with plastic wrap.

This is how lazy we as a society has become. So we want the convenience of avoiding the "chore" of peeling a banana ? Even though that means we are going to trash tons of Styrofoam plates that will take thousands of years, if not more, to bio-degrade ... ?

My friends, you may laugh at the supermarket. But if you think more carefully about the issue, many of our other commonly accepted habits are not significantly less ridiculous.  Think about these:

1. we use Styroform cups in our cafeteria
2. we buy bottled water when we are outside of our home
3. we get five to ten plastic shopping bags for every grocery trip

We could have avoided the waste by:

1. bringing our own mugs to the cafeteria, 
2. pre-filling a reusable water bottle with tap water before we go out, 
3. bringing a reusable shopping bags or baskets to groceries. 

But we say we need the convenience!

It is just that we have been having these other wasteful habits for a longer time.  But this does not make them less ridiculous.

So if this supermarket's idea survives the public outcry (luckily there have been quite some), soon I think we can see these pre-peeled bananas sold in every supermarket. Good luck to our future generations!