I have a current net worth of $250,000. That isnt life insurance that is in solid assets. Mostly real estate. I hope to retire in 5 - 10 years.
As for the insurance thing...I live in the States and I have never worried about not getting my meds or other medical attention. I went a year without insurance and the CSHP (childrens special health program) was right there and covered it all. I was 18 years old. I did pay what I could afford to because nothing is meant to be free. Now at the age of 20 I have great health insurance and can afford to pay all my co- pays. I am a capitalist, i have never expected anyone to help me and never will, I truly believe it is unethical to force someone to help another.
Now the war on Iraq....here is an email my cousin wrote to me. He is still fighting in Iraq.
Just wanted to pass on some good news from Iraq, might be different than what you get to see in the news at home these days. The other day, April 6th, we had the once in a lifetime opportunity to be out patrolling when the new president of Iraq was announced. His name is Ibrahim Talibani and by an amazing twist of fate, and a little poetic justice, he is a Kurd. There are several days in my life that have defined not only who I am but how I view the world, they are the day Cristi suffered a momentary lapse of sanity and married me, the days I watched both Derek and Gretchen enter this world and the day I watched the Kurds celebrate the election of Talabani.
After 30 years of oppression and attempts by the Baathists to ethnically cleanse Iraq of the Kurds, Iraq has a kurdish president. The analogy of a jew being elected president of Germany immediatley after world war II comes pretty close to the importance of this event for these people. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds were killed and buried in mass graves during the 80's and this was before the gassings that we are all too familiar with hearing about. Talabani is the first Kurd to hold a major political office in the middle east, let alone to be the president of a large country like Iraq. All of which make April 6th the most important day in kurdish history for a long, long time and maybe ever.
How it happend was a elegant example of the power of democracy. The majority shiites voted by the millions, but were very split on who they wanted. The Arab Sunnis decided to boycott the elections and are now finding out the hard way that if you don't vote you have no voice. As for the kurds, they stuck together, voted and got their man. This does'nt mean that they will control the country, however, they will be guaranteed a voice for the first time. I read somewhere that of all the people in America that are of voting age, only about 50% actually vote in any given election. I wonder if we could learn something from the lesson of the Kurds, especially since our elections can affect the entire world community.
Kirkuk is a town of about a million people and the night of the 6th I swear they were all out in the streets. Cars were completely gridlocked on all the major roads and nobody seemed to care. Every marketplace and major intersection was packed with people waving flags and dancing in the streets. The noise was overwhelming in some areas, between the music, the chanting, the fireworks and the gun fire. It was chaos, but it was all positive. We were sent out to keep people from getting out of hand and to prevent any ethnic issues between the Turkomen, the Kurds and the Arabs(the three main ethnic gropups that inhabit the city). The best part of that night was that we were the guests of honor, the heroes, the liberators! Groups of children chanted for us, they threw candy and flowers at us as we drove by, we got hugs and kisses from everyone. Crowds of dancing men tried to drag us into their circles in the hopes that we would dance with them. From everywhere childr
en shouted, "Mister, mister, I love you!", "America, I love you!". Mothers and Fathers handed us their babies so they could get pictures of them being held by an American soldier. There was not a single man in my platoon that night that was not touched in some way by the out pouring of joy and affection. The feeling was indescribable, for a soldier it was almost a religious experience.
For one night all the politics and debate were unimportant, it was enough to watch an oppressed people express the elation of suddenly being the masters of their destiny. They were celebrating more than just their new president that night, they were celebrating freedom and justice and a life free of terror. Freeing an oppressed people was not the main intent of our coming to Iraq, it has been a positive but unintended side effect. I have come to the conclusion that at this point nothing else really matters, not the oil, not the weapons of mass destruction and not the terrorist training camps. Sadaam Hussein was a terrorist, Saddam Husein was a weapon of mass destruction. This has become my reason, my war, and it is enough for me.
There are people all over Iraq that love Americans and what we have done for them. We aren't perfect and neither are our methods, but we are here and we have started something in this part of the world. Many countries in the region are pushing for free elections and are getting fed up with political and religious oppression. You probably don't hear much about it back home, but in this neck of the woods it is palpable. I just wanted you all to know that good things are happening over here every day, it's still very dangerous, but for the first time since I've been here I truly feel that our precense in this country will have a positive impact. So long for now, I'll be in touch. - Chris
I feel very alone when I say this, but I am proud to be an american.
