A Sick System

By Martin McCorkle

Set in a near-future emergency department, A Sick System opens with a mother waiting to see her sick eight-year-old son, his parents’ only focus being his recovery. Then comes Universal Health Care and treatment is forever changed—as are the lives of those under its thumb. This novella interacts with most of the ideas feeding the current debate: liberalism and conservatism; capitalism, socialism and communism; individual and collective identity; class envy; what it means to be human; justice and fairness; as well as security and freedom. Unlike a classroom, textbook, or political speech, A Sick System treats these issues in the real and emotional contexts of illness and death.

• Language: English
• Publisher: TouchPoint Press
• Release date: Sep 6, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301137589

Martin McCorkle

Martin McCorkle has lived an accomplished and varied life. He has hiked over four thousand miles all over America, despite a physical disability. He is married and has raised three sons, pastored two churches, and owned a Great Harvest Bread Company store. He is also the author of Walk With Me: The Story of One Man’s Life with Muscular Degeneration and His 1,700-Mile Walk through California, soon to be republished through TouchPoint Press.

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A Sick System

A Sick System

A Vision of Universal Health Care in America

Martin McCorkle

A SICK SYSTEM

Copyright © 2013 MARTIN MCCORKLE

All rights reserved.

Published by TouchPoint Press

www.touchpointpress.com

Editor: Nicole Gardner

Cover Artist: Abracadabra Designs

ISBN 13: 978-1-3011-3758-9

Smashwords Edition.

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are fictitious. Any similarities to actual events and persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners and are used only for reference. If any of these terms are used, no endorsement is implied. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book, in whole or part, electronically or mechanically, constitutes a copyright violation. Address permissions and review inquiries to [e-mail].

Dedicated to the skilled doctors, nurses, and other caregivers in our health care system.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

About the Author

More from Martin McCorkle

Acknowledgments

I became a Christian when I was twenty-two, and since then the Bible has been my guide for life. If you are unfamiliar with the Bible, I recommend you start with John, then Acts and Romans. Even if you have no interest in Christ, a basic understanding of the Bible is essential to understanding classic western literature.

I have been a student of the Maha Rushie at the Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies since the Clinton presidency. I cannot say enough about the accomplishments of Rush Limbaugh. Among many other things, he is a passionate conservative, a consummate businessman, an exceptional scholar, a scathing satirist, an incisive thinker, a delightful entertainer, a talented impressionist, and a very, very courageous man. If liberalism is defeated and freedom once more rings in our country, I can think of no other man who will be able to take more credit for this than Rush. Find him on the radio and listen to him for at least six weeks.

I enjoy reading, but no author has caused me to think more than Ayn Rand. While I do not agree with everything she asserts, her passion for individualism, capitalism, reality, and achievement is instructive and inspiring. Start with The Fountainhead. If you enjoy that, move on to Atlas Shrugged. There are a few slow spots in this massive book, but its overall message and brilliance make the effort more than worthwhile. The recent Atlas Shrugged movie is not a substitute for reading the book. If you do read Atlas Shrugged, I suggest you come back and reread chapter 4 in this book for a few laughs.

My understanding of socialism and how it leads to tyranny was mightily influenced by Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom. Written in the 1940s, it is an insightful and disturbingly prophetic book. Buy a copy. Read it. Have a highlighter nearby.

Lastly, if I were a conservative politician, I would challenge every American to read The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It’s short and fairly easy to read. Give particular attention to the ten-point plan for communist takeover of advanced countries found near the end of the second part. In this plan, you will find such ideas as a high progressive income tax, control of credit, and free education for children. As Lord Acton said, Few discoveries are more irritating than those which expose the pedigree of ideas.

Chapter 1

7:14 am

The voice was neither male nor female, neither happy nor sad.

Welcome to Midtown Hospital. In order to ensure your safety, please proceed to the security lobby. Have your photo identification in your hand when you approach the safety counselor. Your wait will be minimized if you bring fewer belongings and follow the suggestions of your safety counselor. Welcome to the…

Mrs. Smith walked into the hospital and looked at her watch.

7:14.

The zigzag line was already long. No one talked as she stopped to wait.

Big screen TVs loitered on the walls. The four men seated at a table on the Health Care News Network never stopped talking.

This situation is getting out of control. Every American has a right to health care. But we can’t provide health care for the poor as long as the wealthy hoard their cash. How is it fair that one man can buy a private jet while another man can’t afford to have his son’s asthma treated? The wealthy need to pay their fair share. We need to pass the president’s new tax bill or people will die.

Mrs. Smith looked down.

Grant is all that matters. Just get to Grant.

There are still some Neanderthals who think there isn’t enough money to support government health care. They say we can take everything the rich have and we still won’t have enough to fund this program. They are so wrong.

Excellent point. Because all the republicans want to do is cut, cut, cut. I dare one of them to come on our show and defend health care cuts while they have insurance for their own families.

Those fat cat republicans! Those Wall Street pimps! They have access to health care, but they’ll deny it to the poor and needy. What hypocrites! We need to care about people. People! Not profits or corporations, but living, breathing, hurting people.

She neared the security portal, checked her hand for her identification and prepared to place her purse on the next available conveyer belt.

Looking over the safety counselors, she grimaced as the last person in front of her moved forward.

Please, let it not be him. Not him. Anyone else. Anyone el…

Next, please. A safety counselor said and motioned with his wand.

She exhaled, glared into his eyes, and moved toward him.

Please stand on the shoe paintings on the floor and place your purse on the conveyer belt.

She did so.

He traced her body with his wand and came to her breasts. He lingered in his examination, moving his wand as close to her as possible. Sometimes he touched her ever so lightly with the fingers holding his wand. She could feel his breath.

Just think about Grant. Grant. Grant.

The safety counselor moved his wand to her thighs and buttocks, repeating his studied examination. His face inches away. Nostrils flaring.

Grant. Grant. Grant.

Thank you, he sneered, making the civil lurid.

I’ll check your purse manually and you’ll be on your way.

The first time this man had examined her, he had emptied out her whole purse, opened her tampon box, and fingered each tampon. She threw away the box.

She had bought a small purse and now carried only essentials.