COGITO ERGO . . .

After President Obama's speech last night, the two sides of the health care argument, the insurance companies and their lackeys, and everyone else, became crystal clear. They have, of course, been obvious for some time now, especially to those of us (physicians) who have had to deal with the health insurance companies for years, trying to get appropriate care for our patients. Then, too, Joe Wilson, who heckled Obama in front of a world-wide audience last night,  is an ignorant buffoon whom we could easily dismiss if he were not emblematic of a much larger systemic problem that exists in this country.

People attend meetings, yell into microphones both in person and in the Media, and write interminable “tweets,” Facebook entries, etc., about issues they’ve only heard about from someone else; either a Media miscreant, an already owned politician, or a television commercial from the insurance industry. Hardly ever do these people read the bills, check their facts, or even question the people they heard them from.

It is axiomatic that for democracy to flourish, there needs to be an informed electorate. How can we expect our government to be held accountable when the people who vote our representatives into office are uninformed and, in some cases, proud of it?

Our children need to be taught, from the earliest age possible, to question everything and everyone. Never accept a statement as true or accurate merely because it comes from a respected source; whether that source is a teacher, a textbook, a clergyman, or a parent. We need to constantly encourage intellectual curiousity and critical thinking.

Teaching children these things is hard and time consuming, and demands that we each be prepared to defend what we say to them ourselves. The two most important words a child can learn today are, “PROVE IT.” If I cannot prove what I say, then it is opinion only and need not be accepted. We are all entitled to our opinions, but when our children learn to accept those opinions as fact, I fear our Republic cannot long endure.