Patch Adams is one of my heros. He is totally devoted to spreading joy. I am happy to pass along this message/request from him… A message from Patch Adams for Valentines Day…
We need models, ideas, programs for this country, that are coming from love.
Last week I met with Dennis Kucinich, US representative from Ohio. Dennis has been for me a hero: a stalwart for peace, justice, and health care for all. Dennis talked about the recent health care reform proposals in Congress as a fiasco: legislation that would enable the health insurance companies to have a monopoly on the health care system! —with the government only pitching in to subsidize those of us who couldn’t afford to buy the mandated health insurance. Where is the love?
We need models of our love for all people. The number one factor for surviving a heart attack is having a loving community. A study of 4,000 women with breast cancer found that with a little love—six hour-long support sessions—their survival rate increased five-fold. Both at home and around the world there’s too much reliance on force and militarism and imposing control, and not enough emphasis on listening, compassion, and love. Even areas of natural disaster are treated as military situations. We need love of all kinds, not just on the personal level but on the national and global level, too. It’s time for a love platform.
What’s a love platform? It’s a set of policies that shows compassion for the elderly, the mentally ill, the homeless, the poor. It’s a platform that treats the environment with the loving respect it deserves. A platform that doesn’t let greed and power-over call the shots. Not from the top down, but from the bottom up: that would be a love platform.
Every step you yourself take in that direction—toward a love platform– is a step we all are taking.
A donation to the Gesundheit! Institute helps us continue building work on the 40-bed rural hospital in Appalachia based on fun and friendship. The hospital will run on 10% of the average cost of current US hospitals and will be a model to the US and the rest of the world of a hospital built on the love platform: care for all people.
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