us and for tlie generations to come. Decay and appalling qualityrnof services are characteristic not only of “barbarous” Russiarnand other Eastern European nations, but of other nations whornsuffer a government monopoly on health care, hi England, forrnexample, the waiting list for surgerv is nearly 800,000 out of arnpopulation of 55 million. State-of-the-art equipment is nonexistentrnin most British hospitals. Only 10 percent of health carernspending is derived from private sources. Britain was a pioneerrnin kidney dialysis technology, and yet the country has one ofrnthe lowest dialysis rates in the world. The Brookings histitutionrn(‘erv far from being a free market) found that 7,000 Britons inrnneed of hip replacements, 4,000 to 20,000 in need of coronaryrnbvpass surgerv, and 10,000 to 15,000 in need of cancerrnchcmotherapv are denied medical attention in Britain eachrnvear.rnAge discrimination is particularly apparent in all government-rnrun or heavily regulated systems of health care. In Russia,rnpatients over age 60 are considered worthless parasites andrnthose oer 70 are often denied even elementary forms of healthrncare. In the United Kingdom, 55-year-olds were refused treatmentrnat ^ 5 percent of dialysis centers and 45 percent of 65-yearoldsrnwere denied any treatment; patients 75 or older rarelyrnreceived any medical attention. In Canada, the population isrndivided into three age groups—below 45; 45-65; and over 65—rnin terms of access to health care. It is needless to say that thernfirst group (let us call them “active taxpayers”) enjoys priorityrntreatment. 1 lere in the United States, though a svstem of fullyrnsocialized medicine is not yet complete, we can already observerna “parallel” system of health care for bureaucrats. Referringrnto this system, Stuart Butler says: “Why reinvent thernwheel? If a working health-care system already exists that’srngood enough for official Washington, why not use it as ourrnmodel, improve upon it and let the rest of America enjoy thernsame kind of program as members of Congress and Clinton’srnWhite House staff.”rn”The characteristic feature of this age of destructie wars andrnsocial disintegration is the revolt against economies,” statedrnLudwig von Mises. The failure of socialism in Russia and thernenormous suffering and hardship of the people of Eastern Europernshould be clear signs of the inherent danger of increasedrnstatism.rnIIii;hRiskrnby Dun Mus;iinssonrn(In (.iratitiide: Cnisudcr (clinic, ami Dr. (Airia Orliqiic)rnIn the light of I lie Scanner,rnours, 20-25 times lo follow cmr littlt; girl,rnsuch llie Iiisuline Flowing round aiid nearrnher haidening headrn(it’s where Ihe hiiig.s grow when- (he breath can catchrnin these final dasrnmoving towarti all of our ilelieraiKc:).rntheneecssil thai .she wakes.rnthe bri.-ik, litlle kick into the quiet airrnto raise the writing on the graph,rnanother heartache into our uonual pain again.rnWhen she doesn’t wakernI take my hither’s hands across the mother’s waistrncaressing earetully, ninnnur, growl.rntalk (1 am already bonded), to uiv little girlrnwho kicks into the k.neliness air ol allrnuntil she’s iinalK born . . . .rnand the niir.ses nod. rather n.^ed to ihis.rnRather tired ot the kicking inside mv wife,rnI want my child in mv arms, m sight!rnPamela has become more beautihilrnthan even I could make herrnit I was into the oi”dinar cosmeticsrnwhich seem the w hole wodd now.rnIlierc’s a \ar-(;od underfoot.rnliNstena is jireeniiig in a darkening mirror.rnWe’ve .1 .sense oi starving .is if we’re never tull,rnIhe normal laws of |-ullness. strangeK lost . . .rnOur historical choir does not sing iireseiving kings!rnlreed(jm and IXinioeracy no longer abortable twins!rnlor myself 1 shall soon wijx’ an innocent tearrnfrom another kind of mirror.rnjireparc’ lo hug anotiier childrninto another kind, and kinder const ioiisness.rnlUNE 1994/23rnrnrn