Decision shows need for universal health care
The Trump administration’s recent decision to allow employers to deny employees’ insurance coverage for contraception shows that we need universal health care. Having for-profit insurance companies mostly linked to employment is an artifact of big government wage control during World War II.
Will employers who tell women they are on their own if they choose to be sexually active (and contraception is not the only reason to prescribe certain contraceptives) also deny men treatment for erectile dysfunction?
CHARLES R. “RICK” BELT
Fayetteville
Confidence games, president have a lot in common
The time was in the 1800s. There was news that a patent medicine salesman was in town, and a large crowd gathered. This was the best entertainment in town. The salesman was enthusiastic, talked a good game, and promised that his medicine would cure what ails you, such as a backache, common colds, a lack of energy and a broken heart. The crowd was convinced the salesman was telling the truth and began buying the product. Of course, the medicine was only colored water and didn’t work as promised, but the salesman was out of town by the time the victims learned that they had been duped. This was an example of an early confidence game fooling an unsuspecting public.
A modern version of such a confidence game is the old home improvement scam where the salesman knocks at your door and says he noticed your home needed some repairs. Often the owner is elderly, in poor health and lonely and is captivated by the charm of the salesman. He quotes a price of $3,000 to make the repairs, which you know are badly needed. You believe this proposal is a real bargain and you hire him. He then says that he needs $1,000 to buy the material and is ready to start work the next day. You pay him the money and never see him again. He never intended to do the work and is off to attempt to find another sucker.
This brings us to today’s political rallies. By the use of mass advertising, paying people to appear at rallies, the use of trick photography to inflate the crowd size, and using charisma and enthusiasm to work the crowd to a fever pitch, the candidate begins to tell them he is a new type of politician who wants to get rid of the old guard, drain the swamp from lobbyist and special-interest groups, and take care of the little guy, with a final punch line that he will make America great again. For good measure he also promises to make Mexico pay for a wall to be built along its border, and to repeal Obamacare.
The methods President Trump used in his campaign are strikingly similar to how the con artist operates, and you have to admit that he is good at the scam since he was able to convince voters to elect him president. Contrary to the previous examples, Trump trickery didn’t cost his voters their money, but a more precious commodity, their vote.
All of this reminds me of a statement allegedly made by the famous P.T. Barnum of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus fame that “a sucker is born every minute.” For those who voted for Trump, you may hate to admit you were suckered, but at least you have lots of company.
BASS TRUMBO
Fayetteville