the top student in that subject. Compare forty bucks for preventive maintenance to a thousand bucks for damage control. That’s what Daniel’s talking about. Even Ben should be able to understand that!”
“What’s this got to do with the health care system?” asked Ben.
“How much would it cost for a one-year membership at a fitness club?” asked Daniel.
“It varies. Probably a few hundred dollars a year, I guess,” replied Ben.
“Do you have any idea how much it costs for a heart surgeon to perform a bypass operation?” asked Daniel.
“Thousands?”
“Several thousands. Tens of thousands. If a person spends a few hundred bucks on a fitness club membership and works out a couple of times a week, he’ll probably never need a coronary bypass. If he leads a sedentary lifestyle, however, he could end up on the operating table, costing our health care system a fortune. Preventive maintenance versus damage control.”
“It can’t be that simple,” said Max. “Why is our health care system so highly regarded?”
“Well, it certainly is expensive. If the measure of a health care system is the amount of money it costs, then we probably do have the best one in the world. But look at the results—is everyone healthy? If they were, we wouldn’t need a so-called health care system. It is in the interests of all the players in that game to have sick people. It’s really a sickness care system. That’s what we spend all of our money on. Damage control. It’s very expensive.”
Daniel finished tightening the oil filter, and then returned the wrench to his tool rack.
“We have to have some kind of system,” said Ben. “Where would people turn for help in fighting illness and disease? I mean, people do get sick.”
“That’s an education problem,” explained Daniel, glancing over at Vic. “From a pretty early age, we are conditioned to believe that good health comes from external sources. Pills, medicine, vaccines, surgery, visits to the doctor. You want to talk about the best health care system in the world? Look inside, boys. The only truly effective health care system is the one that exists inside each of us.”
“Inside us?” asked Max, attempting to send his pear core cross-court into the trash can in the other corner of the room. “A rim shot. Two points!”
“Everyone has their own self-contained health care system. It was designed by nature, and it performs flawlessly, when it is allowed to. As long as there is no interference, it can ward off almost all sickness and disease. And it’s free.”
“What do you mean by interference?” asked Max.
“I’ll explain more about that another time. Right now, I just want to deal with this idea of the health care system. You hear about a ‘crisis’, but that’s phony. They talk about needing more money, as if that’s going to make people healthier. There’s a crisis, all right, but it’s the result of people’s lifestyles,” explained Daniel, glancing at Ben.
Daniel opened a case of motor oil and removed four one-litre containers.
“When you have a majority of the people refusing to accept responsibility for their health you have a problem. But they’ve been told all their lives that doctors can heal them. So they live a life with little or no exercise and poor nutrition, and then run to the doctor to fix them up when things start to break down in their bodies. Damage control. I don’t care how much money you spend, no system can fix that.”
“I hope you aren’t suggesting that we don’t need doctors. My uncle’s a doctor. I’d hate to see him out of a job. He’d never be able to afford the taxes on that house he lives in.”
“We still need them. Maybe they need to perform a different function. You break a leg or cut open your hand while fixing the car and you need emergency treatment. But you start having symptoms of pre-diabetes or headache and you go to see your doctor, and he gives you a prescription and sends you away. Maybe he should be educating his patients on ways that they can change their lives so they can improve their metabolism and not get as many headaches. Teach them how to stop the interference.”
Daniel finished adding the new oil to the crankcase, then checked the level on the dipstick.
“Start the engine, Ben, then shut it off after one minute.”
Daniel stood back, watched the engine while it started, then looked up.
“You a hockey fan, Max?”
“I love to watch it, but I’ve never played. I’m a Canadiens fan.”
“Didn’t they used to be a hockey team?” asked Vic.
“They’re still a team,” said Ben. “They just don’t play hockey anymore.”
“They’re the greatest dynasty in sports history. Well, they were at one time,” said Max.
“And that time has long passed,” said Vic.
“My point, gentlemen, is not who is or was the greatest,” explained Daniel. “I wanted to ask Max why they have the ‘interference’ penalty in hockey.”
“To prevent all that clutching, grabbing and holding of players who don’t have control of the puck,” explained Max.
“And why is that a bad thing?”
“It takes a player out of the action and impedes the flow of the game. It’s an obstruction.”
“That’s what happens when you take drugs, don’t exercise, have poor posture, and don’t eat well. These are all forms of interference in your body. Your internal health care system is designed to work without interference. If there’s no interference, you’ll have a much better chance of being healthy. If there is interference, the system is weakened, and you’ll be predisposed to illness. You want a perfect health care system? Remove the interference. You can do that yourself—just change your lifestyle. A doctor can’t do that for you.”
Ben turned off the engine.
“Do you want me to add ten pounds of sugar to your gas tank before you leave, Ben?” asked Daniel.
Ben looked up, stunned. “You can’t be serious!”
“Why not?” asked Daniel.
“That would destroy the engine, that’s why. You must know that.”
“Of course. I just wondered, though, why you would consume that amount of sugar in a year—probably more—but you wouldn’t put it in your car. It’ll do as much damage to you as it does to your engine, but you consume it effortlessly and without a second thought. That’s interesting, isn’t it?”
“It’s scary, is what it is,” said Vic.
“Ben always had a sweet tooth,” added Max.
“I didn’t know sugar was that bad for you,” said Ben.
“I’m not surprised to hear that,”
