I am very sad that my choice to be a MOTHER has put me into the category of 'not-deserving-because-I-didn't-pull-my-financial-weight'. I am very sad our society has caused women to have to choose work over the non-paying job of raising their children for the sole purpose of receiving health benefits. I know many women who work only for the benefits because their husband's job has no benefits. Their paycheck goes towards paying the daycare.

I do not find the obligation to work at a job you are not gifted/called to as being a productive part of society. Working where you are not 'satisfied' only causes other problems.

I am sad to see my husband suffer because he is working a job that does not fulfill him. When he was unemployed for 8 months, he was a new man, free from those bondages of society, happily looking for a job that suited him. Now that he's back to work at his former employer (jobs are scarce in MI), I do not know him any longer. My 'job' right now is to BE a mother. I've worked here & there, but found no satisfaction because I am SUPPOSED to be a mother right now.

Our world is filled with misery because of these 'obligations'. How many of us are treated by doctors/specialists that don't like being a doctor or that is not their calling? Many are doctors because of the $$ and status that goes with it. They are HORRIBLE caregivers and actually cause a LOT of misery! I'm not saying this would allow people to do nothing... as I believe that 99% of people would do SOMETHING if given a real choice to be productive in their talent/giftings.

I know society doesn't allow for any of this to happen, but that is my dream world... My brain isn't fully explaining itself right now!

<<<<< another note>>>>>

Too bad the health care industry has priced care out of reach of most of us. My husband has an injured arm, it looks to be cracked or a torn ligament/tendon. He can hardly move it:

His choices:

~ use the free govt VA care... which means call today, wait for an appt that may be a month later.

~ go to our civilian doc, pay $95 for initial visit, pay for x-rays ($45+), pay $90 for a follow up doc visit and miss many hours of work. She does not take insurance.

~ go to an accute care clinic that may or may not take our insurance.

I don't know. I just wish the doctors wouldn't charge so much money for basic care. I wish there would be a cap on those fees. Maybe if the colleges were to lower their costs, people wouldn't have such debt from school to pay off.

There's no reason a doc should get paid $95 for a 1/2 hour visit! Does it really have to cost $270 to drain a small abcess? or $32 to draw a vial of blood? or $40 to get a shot of antibiotics? And honestly, does it REALLY need to cost $2000 a month for my daughter's growth hormone shots? Those prices, I feel, are over-inflated.

Why? because society has a standard of living that won't budge. Dr's have to keep their standard up, same as insurance companies, bankers, etc. Those that are at the top of the consumer food chain easily take advantage of the people on the bottom because there are more of us to feed 'them'. We are caught btwn a rock and a hard place and we lose every time.

Sadly, to eat healthy is very expensive. So we eat crappy food (Mac & cheese & hotdogs) which cause illness and disease, which needs a dr care, which takes up a lot of money, which takes away from healthier food/lifestyles, etc, etc, etc....

I do not believe in total gov't run healthcare (I participate in several forms of it and there's always a catch somewhere which makes me worried). I do like the option that we have for our daughter called children's special health care which is for middle income families for their child/ren with specific health problems that need a specialist's care. Nephrologist, neurologist, endocrinologist, etc. THAT, I am thankful for, although I am 'forced' into therapies I am not comfortable with.

I do not believe that I should have to pay for other's health problems. I have enough to care for in my own family!

well, those are my rambling thoughts on this no-win situation.

Maybe there will arise better options than raising our taxes even more to pay for something nobody can afford. Maybe the whole system has to be broken apart and start anew, starting with the expense of colleges......

~ Trudi: homeschooling mom to 6: 16,14,11,9,7, 6 mos