What would you do, sir, if terrorists were killing 45,000 people every year in this country? Well, the current health care system, the insurance companies, and those who support them are doing just that. [...] Because they die individually because of disease and not disaster, [radio host] Neal Boortz and all those who ape him approve this. Forty five thousand a year in America. Remind me again, who are the terrorists?
Interpretation
The quote highlights the hidden crisis of healthcare deaths compared to terrorist attacks, challenging the perception of what constitutes a threat.
In this quote, Keith Olbermann draws a stark comparison between the deaths caused by the current healthcare system and those typically associated with terrorism. By stating that 45,000 people die annually due to inadequate healthcare, he underscores the urgency of addressing healthcare issues, suggesting that the systemic failures are more damaging than external threats. The quote provocatively invokes the idea that neglecting these health crises could be seen as a form of terrorism itself, urging society to rethink its values and priorities regarding health.
In practice
In a speech about healthcare reform, one might quote Olbermann to emphasize the need for systemic change.
The world bursts at the seams with people ready to tell you you're not good enough. On occasion, some may be correct. But do not do their work for them. Seek any job; ask anyone out; pursue any goal. Don't take it personally when they say 'no' - they may not be smart enough to say 'yes.'
Treat your body like a temple, not a woodshed. The mind and body work together. Your body needs to be a good support system for the mind and spirit. If you take good care of it, your body can take you wherever you want to go, with the power and strength and energy and vitality you will need to get there.
There is no health without mental health; mental health is too important to be left to the professionals alone, and mental health is everyone's business.
The poorest parts of the world are by and large the places in which one can best view the worst of medicine and not because doctors in these countries have different ideas about what constitutes modern medicine. It's the system and its limitations that are to blame.
If the U.S. can transform its domestic market for HIV/AIDS drugs, it will certainly transform the world market and make HIV/AIDS drugs more affordable for everyone, everywhere.
Don't eat anything your great-great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food. There are a great many food-like items in the supermarket your ancestors wouldn't recognize as food.. stay away from these
The preservation of health is a duty. Few seem conscious that there is such a thing as physical morality.
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