Out of Pocket

The doors of the church opened.

“I’ll be goddamned,” Parcival Bin said under his breath. He looked at his smartphone.

“What, you still can’t believe you’re coming to church with me?” Alekina Gorther asked.

“Well, two thirty-year-old atheists going to church for research purposes is one thing, but this is bigger. They’re raising the prices on insulin!”

“You sound like you’re celebrating,” Alekina observed.

“I am.”

Alekina looked more than puzzled. She seemed dazed as they walked to their car outside of the vestibule.

“This means that the companies are free to raise their prices!”

“How is that a good thing, again?” she asked while shutting the door.

“Without the government intervening and telling life-saving companies what to do, we have a chance to finally see better products and zero regulations and controls.”

Alekina’s face darkened. “Won’t people die?”

“Yes, a few will. But that is not what they’re in the business to do. They’re goal is to make as much money as possible. They need living souls for that. Government’s sole role is to be a protector of the rights of the individuals who make up these corporations,” Bin replied.

Alekina looked at Bin as she put the car into drive. “Okay. So with the prices going up, won’t that mean you will have to pay more for your medicine?”

“Of course,” the couple traveled down the roads of Newark, Delaware together.

“Wow, you’re not making any sense,” Alekina spoke with a befuddled laugh.

“I told you. As the government has exited from the business of medicine, so to have all the constraints that have throttled these healthcare companies. These drug manufacturers. Now, they’ll be able to hike up the costs if they want without the government sticking its nose,” A smirk curled around Bin’s mouth. He looked relaxed and engaged all the while as Alekina drove. She processed. Her brain acted like it had microchips in it.

“Alright. So when do the prices go down again?” she asked as innocence colored her words.

“That’s the beauty. Maybe they’ll increase. Maybe the prices will be so catastrophic, that private charities will have to step in to aid folks. I don’t see that happening, however. This is the United States of America. The noblest political experiment in history.”

“So?”

“So?! That means people will be able to enter the free market and be productive. They’ll be able to generate income probably without any outside assistance from a 501 (c) (3).”

“This sounds hot,” Alekina said. “But in the meantime, won’t we see people protesting that the government should be involved in medicine?”

“Not just medicine but every sector of the economy. They’ll be screeching like banshees. They’ll be clamoring at the fences to these companies. Let ‘em.”

Alekina turned her head from off the road and gasped in the same motion and then quickly returned her gaze to the road. “You don’t mean that….”

“I’m as serious as colon cancer which probably will see less victims as the federal, state, and local agencies go hands off in at least the medical arena,” Bin mused.

Alekina continued to process. She had no faith in God but remained staunch in her belief that the State should be like a den mother and take care of people. She flashed her high beams, signaling for a driver to make a left turn. Bin still looked cool and excited at the same time. He reveled in the recent developments.

“Who knows? Maybe the prices will drop to double digits for my insulin. Or maybe even less than ten dollars. The magnificence lies in the idea that private companies won’t have to worry about getting battered down by Uncle Sam,” he shared.

“I think it’s monstrous,” Alekina finally admitted with a bit of toxicity rising in her throat.

“Oh? So, bureaucrats can just sit back and sign legislation about procedures, production, and care? Some ratty politician with a penchant for feeling instead of thinking should be at the controls, forcing CEOs down to the desk clerk to do his or her bidding?”

“I—”

“You don’t have to answer those questions.”

“I won’t. Because I know what is right. The government has to be there to be—”

“Be what?”

“To be—”

“Please finish. I have the time.”

“The State should be a father protecting his children.”

“Is that what the Founding Fathers intended in the Declaration of Independence?”

“Well—” Alekina started.

“Please tell me where the welfare state, regulations, and controls, and other impediments saw their way into the Declaration. I’ll wait….”

“I mean, we’re more advanced now. We have come a long way in the more than two centuries that America has been in existence. The regulations and controls were put in place to prevent huge corporations from treading on the backs of the people. We need a government to shelter us, clothe us, house us, keep us fit in mind and body. And don’t forget they were hypocrites who owned slaves.” The car pulled into the driveway of their split level house. Alekina fixed an eyelash in her driver seat mirror, feeling as if she scored a point.

“Two things: first—regulations and controls are an affront to the mind. Laws and rights are what should be implemented and preserved. Two—the Founders did not all own slaves. And even if they did own slaves, realize that the ideas they espoused ironically served to free slaves in a few generations.”

Alekina sighed. “You’re not getting it. We have a country that wages wars for no good reason?”

“Whoa, now you’re stepping outside of bounds. You’re out of pocket,” Bin pointed out.

“I mean just look at Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq!” Alekina finally raised her voice. She said it almost in a yelp. It was like she was bereft of water.

“Alright. I’ll bite. Okay, so you want to go down that path. The government agency you are attacking, Defense, is actually a vital aspect of the State. That’s when it performs its proper function as a safeguard against outside forces. Those wars were senseless. They represented bloody, sacrificial, statist ugliness for different reasons. What we ought to do is go after Saudi Arabia and Iran. But we’re going off topic again.”

Alekina turned to her boyfriend.

“Look at least we agree on the fact that we need a government,” she related.

“Yes, and that if we are to value anything, we ought to view the government as a baton, not a comfy blanket.” His voice was even and unbothered. Alekina shot another glance at Bin. She pulled her hair over her ear and smiled.

“You know you’re going to be paying out of pocket for your insulin, now, right?”

“I’d pay that way with every drop of blood in my body.” The pair then exited the car and prepared for the week ahead.

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