Teamsteria and Amaria, a fantasy essay about health freedom.

[Guest guest]

An archived newsletter* at http://jonbarron.org

explains how the AMA originated: as a trade union,

to support allopathic doctors in their fight against

homeopaths and other natural healers.

 

That got my imagination going...

 

Imagine a country where the Union of Professional

Chauffeurs is so powerful that the use of private

cars is outlawed and bicycles are severely restricted.

 

We'll call the place Teamsteria.

Most Teamsterians see nothing wrong with their

society.

 

They agree with their government that driving is

a serious, potentially dangerous business.

Of course nobody should be allowed to do it without

extensive training. Imagine the chaos if every Tom,

Dick and Mary could get a license. People might get

hurt or even killed by insufficiently skilled drivers!

 

Some Teamsterians hate waiting for buses or cabs

and prefer getting around as they please on bicycles.

They make the point that bicycles are healthier and

better for the Earth.

 

The authorities complain that bicycles interfere with

the proper functioning of car traffic.

Every accident between a bike and a car is automatically

blamed on the bicycle and widely publicized to boot.

Life is made harder for bicycle users all the time.

The chauffeurs' lobby would like them to be totally

outlawed.

 

Some Teamsterian radicals propose that everyone

should be allowed to get a drivers' license.

They are considered a dangerous lunatic fringe.

 

To bolster its arguments the Teamsterian government

points to the chaos and carnage in the neighbouring country,

Amaria. In Amaria every private citizen over 16 is

allowed to drive. Every year large numbers of Amarians

get killed or maimed in traffic accidents.

 

Amarians love being able to travel as they please,

and consider the daily death toll a price worth paying

for the sake of freedom.

Amarians look upon their cab-bound neighbours with

a mixture of pity and contempt.

They wonder why Teamsterians don't rise up and

demand the freedom to move around as they please!

 

However, in Amaria the government is in thrall to

another professional union. The Amarian Medical

Association has convinced the public that care of

the human body is best left to a certain kind of

professional. The kind that requires an expensive

industry. We are all familiar with it.

 

Amarians are free to kill themselves on the road,

but the government decides what they can put into

their bodies.

 

Teamsterians are utterly appalled at the thought

that control over their own bodies could be any less

than 100%.

Do some Teamsterians make wrong health decisions?

Of course! Teamsterians consider it a price worth

paying for the sake of freedom...

 

Which society is crazier? Why do we all put up with it?

How come health freedom has never been an election

issue yet?

 

*June 21, 2004

" Why Your Doctors Do You Like They DO. "