I keep saying the words to myself, "Why don't we feel it is worth it to have national health care?" "Oh, it would be too expensive!" Well, yes-after so many years of health neglect. But a good program would become progressively less expensive as people became healthier...and less worried.

Last night I watched Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine." I found my mind searching for answers to his question, "Why is there so much homicide and gun-caused trauma in the U.S.?" Remember Michael Moore's emphasis on fear: Americans are afraid. Canadians seem to be much less so. It came to me that this fear is a result of an awareness of unfairness, a sense of guilt-at least in part. It's the ill-gotten gains syndrome. We feel bad when we drive past a homeless person begging for a handout. That's another American who's had some bad breaks. Wouldn't it feel good if a program opened up to solve the homeless problem? We'd feel less guilty about what we (legitimately) have. As far as racism, I'm quite certain that people feel guilty about this horrible American problem. Wouldn't we feel better if nobody belonged to an under-class? We could feel that this system of ours makes for a pretty good life! Instead of feeling that I'm okay and too bad for you-just don't feel you can take anything that I've got.

Keith Brinton, RN, FNP-C, MS