Music Friday with Alicia Keys

A song for our times. How you doing out there?



On a completely different note, Fran Lebowitz is wickedly smart and wildly funny. Here is part of an interview with her. "Medicare for All—which used to be called socialized medicine—is something that, of course, can be done. They have it all over Europe. Can it be done quickly in this country? No. But it’s an absurd idea that hospitals should be businesses. People say, “If you love your health insurance”—who is that? Who loves their health insurance? No one really wants health insurance. People want health care. It’s, like, no one wants car insurance. They want a car."

I've been thinking about this during the pandemic. So many have lost their jobs, and for most Americans, the ability to access health care is through their jobs where they pay for employer based health insurance. Now, not only have they lost their jobs, they've lost their insurance. I've always been so grateful for my employer based insurance, which carried over into my retirement. I've also been skeptical that in this country we could bust up the health insurance industry and embark on socialized medicine. I wonder if the nation will change it's collective mind now that people have lost their insurance as they lose their jobs. This seems an insanity to me. We could do it, if we had the will. Would it be a difficult task? Of course. Those who profit off the insurance and medical industries will fight it to their last breath. But one of the biggest errors that is being exposed by this pandemic is the lack of health care for all. I want this to begin a serious national conversation about the issue. Would Joe carry the torch? Be well. Stay safe. Hang in there.