Here is the text of my guest column in the Valdosta Daily Times yesterday. The Barbershop Rule A person coming into a medical office is there to receive treatment for a physical condition, not to be harangued by the doctors political views and those of his staff. I have heard from a number of acquaintances, and have experienced it myself, of being confronted in local medical facilities with much bloviating against the Affordable Care Act and all things socialist. Putting aside the gross hypocrisy that these rants are coming from people whose waiting rooms are crammed with patients on Medicare (representing a large portion of the practices total revenue), such behavior is unprofessional to say the least. I have seen and experienced this at Valdosta doctors offices, the hospital, and at physical therapy clinics. Everyone is entitled to express his or her opinion in this great country of ours, but common sense and common courtesy would seem to indicate that it is not in anyones best interest to mix professional service with political bias. I have determined to register my objections and not to return to establishments where this takes place. The Hippocratic Oath does not specify that the patient be forced to agree with the political views of the doctor. But there is a broader phenomenon at work. We have become so polarized that it is nearly impossible to communicate one-on-one without first classifying each others political orientation and then allowing that assessment to color all ensuing dialog. Whatever happened to mutual respect, acceptance of one another on the basis that we are all Gods children, and recognition that honorable people can disagree without being disagreeable? Barbershops have an unwritten rule, made compelling by the presence of straight razors, that arguments about religion and politics are banned. Medical practices need to adopt the same principle. I long for a return to mutually respectful political discourse in this country. I have friends on every wavelength of the political spectrum and greatly enjoy exchanging views with all of them. However, there is a strong tendency, exhibited by those on the far reaches of both the left and right, to disrespect each other to the extent that real exchanges of views are impossible. This is what has happened to the U.S. Congress, which has fallen captive to the most extreme views on either side. Those having moderate and independent views are rejected by both sides, the idea of compromise being anathema to each. For this reason, the current congressional approval rating of 12% is richly deserved. The framers of the U.S. Constitution were not unanimous in their view of what a new government of the United States should look like. They finally appointed a committee to come up with a draft and then, article by article, they debated and hammered out the text through horse trading and compromise. Though in the end some refused to sign, the result was the miracle that has lasted 225 years so far. We need a return to this spirit of our founders.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 10:47:17 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015