Should I subsidize your dinner too?

Recently, a rally was held in Washington Square, New York. The demonstrators were voicing their disdain for change in New York law that eased state (read: tax) funded subsidies for contraceptives. Metro New York reported that:

A provision contained in the 2006 Deficit Reduction Act stopped “safety net” health-care providers from buying contraceptives at discounted prices — as they had done for many years. In the city, that change primarily affected university health centers, but also raised costs for clinics in low-income communities.

Purportedly, the result is that a month's supply of birth control pills, previously available at $5 to $10, now costs $40 to $50.

Affordable birth control is beneficial both to individuals and to the public at large. Undesired pregnancy, especially among college students, has virtually no upside. However, a state subsidy is not the answer. $50 a month for birth control (about $1.50 a day) is hardly a prohibitive cost. It is also not nearly high enough to act as a real deterrent for college students (I will not touch upon the low-oncome community implications as the students protesting presumably attended NYU, the nearby school that boasts a combined tuition/room/board in excess of $47,000/year) in Manhattan, where $6 domestic beers are standard and a pack of cigarettes will run you even more. Contraception for university health centers should not be subsidized, despite the utilitarian aspects that certainly exist (the state will certainly pay more to support a new born child, and a [presumably] young unwed mother is likely to require public assistance) because within the context of the university experience, this is an easily attainable fee.

In addition to the aforementioned prices for booze and butts, textbooks these days often cost over $50. The question is not whether these students can afford the pill, but whether they should save a little more or work a little more to get it. If you don't want to pay for the pill, don't have unprotected sex. Buy condoms (much cheaper, long shelf life, and very reliable, actually protect against STDs) and use them.

Or perhaps you could keep your legs shut. Because fundamentally, these women are asking the tax payers to pay so they can plow all they want and not worry about pregnancy, and I'm not working to do that, hos. If you want to do too many jager bombs at MacDougal Street Ale House and go back to your apartment with that hot guy from the poli. sci. class to re-enact Knocked Up, that is your prerogative, but I'm not paying for it. Seal your lips; I'm not paying for it.

Sally Brown Syndrome

As the year paces towards its inevitable conclusion, my thoughts have already drifted to Christmas. This is not to say I am planning a trip, making shopping lists, or mentally preparing for Christmas day. It is merely running through my thoughts for a few minutes a day, reminding me that soon it will be here, with all its pomp and commercial glory, the secular "feast" of consumer consumption that Madison Avenue conceived without any divine assistance.

The spirit of modern "x-mas," as Charles Schultz so presciently memorialized 42 years ago, is perfectly articulated by Sally Brown in A Charlie Brown Christmas, when justifying her exhaustive list for Santa: "All I want is what I have coming to me. All I want is my fair share." As Americans, we live in a time of great prosperity, despite market fluctuations and sub-prime mortgage horrors. Other than the homeless population (a topic for another time), Americans by and large live a life where basic necessities, security, and opportunity are as abundant as Starbucks Coffee shops. Starvation and chronic persistent hunger are at miniscule levels; employment in almost all sectors is subject to either a strict meritocracy or limited affirmative action; global terror has not touched our shores in over six years; violent crime is down significantly; technology has linked us to our friends, family and workplace in a myriad of unprecedented ways. We have every reason to be thankful for these glorious conditions.

And yet so many of us are incapable of contentment. I do not speak of the family stricken with disease or illness, or out of work and unable to find suitable employment (in truth, even these ranks are relatively thin). No. The Sally Brown Syndrome permeates our culture, the sick bastardization of the American maxim that we should strive for greatness and abhor mediocrity. Though hardly an ignoble or unwise credo, Americans should not simultaneously eschew the precept that contentment with one's station and situation, short of CEO/millionaire, is prima facie evidence of apathy. To be grateful for one's place in the world, yet still striving for more, is not a paradox; these sentiments are not mutually exclusive. Ambition and gratitude are not enemies.

But the call for more things, more entitlements, and more recognition is deafening. The American people want more, and they want it now. The sadistic consumerism of the Christmas season is emblematic of the crushing emptiness that resides in the modern American's heart; a hole that cannot be filled. So Sally bleats on about all that she is entitled to, her fair share. But she does not give thanks. She does not thank God for what has already been provided to her, the everyday blessings that lack enchantment due to their familiarity. It is a pity.

As we steadily trudge through another "x-mas" season, we should stop and reflect on all that our God, our nation, and our own hard work and/or luck have provided. Each of us, no matter how blessed or blighted, enjoys a fine measure of luxury. We should give thanks for these gifts, and reflect on the wonders that we experience daily.

Unless we do so, we shall remain: One nation, under Brown.