I see that liberal outrage has managed paradoxically to save the bacon of Luis Lang, a conservative who refused to sign up for Obamacare and then complained that it was Obamacare's fault when he didn't have insurance to save his eyesight. So far visitors (mostly liberals) have visited his GoFundMe page and donated nearly $15,000 toward the medical treatments that he needs. They have done this while simultaneously excoriating him for his foolishness and hypocrisy in expecting help despite his own irresponsibility.
At first I was not going to donate anything to his cause, because I agree with many of the people who pointed out that Mr. Lang brought his problem on himself by refusing to purchase insurance when he could afford it and when he should have known that he would need insurance. I decided instead to make a small contribution after all because I believe in helping people, but also because I want to highlight the needs of a friend of mine who I believe is much more deserving of assistance than Mr. Lang is. Her name is Pat Cisarano, and she has been battling cancer since 2000. Here is her GoFundMe page: http://www.gofundme.com/...
Pat is a talented singer and a good friend, and although it was a struggle for her to afford insurance, she actually had the good sense (unlike Mr. Lang) to purchase insurance before she got sick. As a result, the insurance paid for her original cancer surgery and subsequent treatments. Even so, the consequences of her illness have been devastating, and she remains unable to work and earn a living for herself. She was recently evicted from her apartment and needs assistance so that she can have a place to live.
If people want to assist Mr. Lang, by all means please do so. He clearly needs help, and I imagine he has positive qualities as a human being that are not obvious if we only look at the way he has mishandled his health situation. If you do so, however, I hope you will also consider a contribution to my friend Pat, whose needs are even greater than his and who in my view is also more deserving morally of our support.