A Real Litmus Test for Political Candidates

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Alternative Medicine

You Don't Have to be Sick: On the Edge with Burton

Goldberg

 

A Real Litmus Test for Political Candidates

 

 

In our toxic world, dominated by a medical system of

" disease-care, " taking care of our health can no

longer be a private matter-- we must get politically

involved

 

Imagine it's a fewyears after the election. Things

seem pretty good. The United States is at peace abroad

and crime is down domestically. The test scores for

the schools in your district are improving. The

economy is good, your job issecure. The federal

deficit is going down, social security reserves are

going up.

 

Imagine that you live next to a nice family we'll call

the Johnsons. The Johnsons should also be enjoying the

benefits of peace and prosperity. Unfortunately,

little Jeffrey Johnson isn't one of those kids who's

doing better in school. He has ADHD-- Attention

Deficitand Hyperactivity Disorder-- which makes it

hard for him to pay attentionin class. His school put

him on the prescription drug Ritalin, and he is less

unruly in class. But he is more prone to outbursts now

at home, and also suffers anxiety and heart

palpitations as side effects. These don't do his

asthma any good, which is too bad, because he used to

enjoy running around outside so much. But now, with so

many days of smog alerts, he hasto stay inside,

anyway.

 

His sister, Jennifer, does better academically. She

just turned 18 and has been accepted to the State

University. She's happy about that, of course, except

for one thing.Jennifer's obesity is a real social

trial for her, and overcoming that stigma in a new

environment is a real ordeal.

 

Jennifer's dad, Jim, is doing as well as his doctors

expected, after his prostate operation. His physicians

assured him that all his lab tests show him right on

target for five-year survival. He will probably always

regard the incontinence the surgery caused as a real

nuisance, but he has become resigned to his impotence.

After all, his wife, Janet, just hasn't been the same

in bed after her mastectomy-- in spite of all of Jim's

assurances that he still found her desirable. And now,

with her severe menopausal symptoms-- well, her

doctors assured her that going on hormone replacement

therapy would make her feel better, and that she

didn't have to worry too much aboutthis causing

ovarian or another new cancer. This occurs in only a

small percentage of women using hormones, and besides,

because of the danger, the doctors would be looking

for the earliest signs of any recurrence,which usually

makes it easier to cure.

 

Sometimes Jim wishedhis dad, Jerome, was still around

to talk with, but he was taken by that massive stroke

so many years ago. At least his mother, Justine,

wasn't burdened with his family's health problems: in

that way, he thought, her Alzheimer's was a

blessing...

 

What people considerthe most important issues in their

lives can make a political candidate's stand on these

concerns a " litmus test. " There are emotionally

charged issues, such as abortion and gun control. On

these politicians will be either pro or con.

Otherwise, you don't find many political candidates

not in favor of lowering taxes, improving education

and ensuring national security. Where they disagree is

on what the best programs are to accomplishthese

goals.

 

And one hears a lot of rhetoric about healthcare. The

debate, however, is almost always overwho is going to

pay for the staggering amount of medical care that our

citizens increasingly require. I, for one, wish they

would focus just on health itself. For without health,

it's impossible to enjoy any of the other benefits our

society can offer. Why aren't the politicians

questioning why we are so sick, and why our medical

establishment has been unable toprevent or cure our

illnesses in the first place?

 

It's great if Jeffreygets an " A " in school, but not

when that " A " is asthma, and he has to struggle just

to breathe. And Jim is not going to get many

promotions in his company if he's laid up in the

hospital-- and what kind of compensation can his firm

offer him for not being able to make love to his wife?

What good is practically anything if you are in

constant pain, or debilitated--or dead?

 

The closest that political candidates get to

addressing this is to pledge more government funds for

" research. " Like the " War on Cancer, " started by

President Nixon. After more a quarter of a century of

spending $2 billion dollars per year--now up to $3

billion-- the incidence of cancer is higher than ever.

We don't need moreof such " research. " We know what

causes the cancers that kill a million Americans each

year. We know what causes the heart disease that kills

amillion more. We know what causes the arthritis that

40 million Americans suffer from. We know what causes

the Diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis, mental illness and

the host of other chronic degenerative diseases that

affect practically every family in America.

 

Why aren't politicians questioning why we are so sick,

and why our medical establishment has been unable to

prevent or cure illness in the first place?

 

The answer is simple: we're being poisoned to death.

When toxicology analysis is performed on breast cancer

and prostate cancer tumors, concentrated amounts of

toxins such as pesticides are found. Over a lifetime,

the average American will be exposed to about 50,000

chemicals, only a tiny fraction of which have been

tested for their effect on the human body--and with

virtually no testing on how they act in combination.

Every person on earth, if they were fully tested for

heavy metals, radionuclides and synthetic chemicals

would find no less than 250 toxins in significant

amounts. Besides exposure to the pollutants in our air

and water, we poison ourselves with additives in our

food, allergens in our household cleaners, mercury in

our dental fillings and pharmaceutical drugs that

outright kill over 200,000 Americans every year.

 

No wonder that our immune systems are completely

compromised, trying to put out a thousand fires at

once. No wonder that they can't mount an adequate

defense against invading viruses or mutated cells-- or

that they actually get so dysfunctional that they

attack our own bodies. Toxins wreak havoc in our

endocrine system, our digestive tract, our liver, our

brain-- in every organ, in every cell of our body.

They create nutritional deficiencies, inhibit our

body's ability to detoxify, destroy enzymes, upset

hormone balance and alter DNA.

 

Where do these toxins come from? They come from the

industries that contribute by far the most money to

political campaigns, especially for national offices.

Is campaign reform an answer? It could be, except that

to enact reform, legislationneeds to be crafted and

passed by officials who gained--and can only

maintain--their present position due to amassing as

much campaign money as possible.

 

We, the people, need o get politically involved

because we are truly an endangered species. As

individual citizens we might not have much of an

effect on Presidential policy, but we can have

significantly more influence on our Congressmen, and

even more on the state legislators for our

district--or even on ourcity councilmen.

 

The Internet is a fabulous resource for finding

activist organizations involved in the same concerns

that you have, and whose approach and methods most

appeal to you. A good starting point is Citizens for

Health (www.citizens.org) because they keep track of

legislation affecting medical freedom--that is, the

right for doctors to practice and for patients to have

access to preventative medicine and nontoxic,

effective healthcare, as an alternative to our present

system of self-perpetuating disease-care. Citizens for

Health also followsfood safety and environmental

issues, with links to many other more specialized

organizations. Many of these tell you which

legislators are on key committees,and what their

voting records are.

 

A litmus test is an apt phrase to describe an issue of

overriding importance in supporting a political

candidate. Litmus is a type of specially treated paper

that turns red if put into an acid solution, or blue

if put into something alkaline. Red and blue--very

patriotic colors, indeed. The next time it rains, take

a piece of litmus paper outside and see what color it

becomes. If it's red from acid rain, this will give

you a hint as to why the trees in your neighborhood

don't look so good, and why you see fewer birds than

you used to. If the life around you is dying, why do

you think that you will be spared?

 

If you are going to have a " litmus test " for political

candidates, let itbe for those committed to cleaning

up our environment: these will also be the ones better

able to see how our present pharmaceutically

dominatedmedical system is polluting our internal

environment. Do you think that modern medicine will

come up with genetic therapy or artificial replacement

organs so that you could survive in an overwhelmingly

toxic environment? They won't, they can't-- and would

you want to live in such a world, anyway?