Green is the New Black

Morning conversations over coffee can be wake up calls. Let me reflect on what's in my head this fine morning.





Consider this scenario: A secretary with 2 kids making $22K/yr whose husband lost job drives into work and spends $100/wk on gas. That's 22K/yr and $5K goes to gas.

How about a medical patient who postpones a checkup because of transportation costs? The gas for the round trip to the doctor's office costs $50. She asks if the checkup can be postponed until after payday.

Then there's the woman whose husband has cancer. He's terminal now, but because chemo had to stop. He ran out of insurance benefits. Now they are making the rounds and saying goodbye because he's terminal. It's end of life time. And, she's doing her best to make ends meet. Would her husband have been OK if the chemo continued? Why did the chemo stop? There may have been a lifetime cap on benefits. Once the cap is reached, the chemo still has to be paid for. And, no money meant no more chemo. No more chemo meant the cancer progressed. Alternate scenario: husband got so sick he couldn't work anymore. No job means no medical benefits. No benefits equals no more chemotherapy. That's it. End of life.

We have bear markets every 5 or so years, historically. The new economy, the revaluation of the dot-com boom 5 years ago, was bad but it was the mainly tech sector. This economic crisis is across the board. GM lost even more stock value yesterday.

Meanwhile, health benefits are so important. But, I hear that physical education has been stopped in many schools here in the US. At least the buzz is about green living. Organic lifestyles. Kids go to school and eat hamburgers on white bread with french fries and ketchup full of sugar. And, you wonder why they can't concentrate.

So, it's time to consider our values. There's a problem when good business interferes with good judgement. Insurance, pharmaceutical and health related companies have to consider the stockholders best interest, but profits are not the only priority. Providing adequate health service is equally important. Whether we have nationalized health or the status quo, we have to balance profit motivation with good sense.

What's the takeaway? Well, for me it's to consider the issues carefully as the election nears. And, the fact that "green is the new black" is such a wonderful thing. So much of success boils down to good health. So, I am looking carefully at nutritional content of the foods I eat. I am glad to have a circle of friends who place a high value on organic living.