Are we too eager to sue one another in America today?

by Luann Pallister

Created on: July 10, 2009   Last Updated: July 11, 2009

Are We Too Eager to Sue One Another in America Today?

With a question such as "are we too eager to sue one another in America today", we have to ask if there is a reason why more are suing today. Are we as a nation less concerned over the outcome of our actions today than we were in the past? That is the question that needs to be answered in order to decide of Americans are too eager to sue today.

I grew up in the 1960s. Yes, times were turbulent then, but there were values that existed back then that don't exist today. My sister and I would go downtown together on Saturdays and buy our candy at a local store that had penny candies. We would use our allowance of $.50/wk to buy candy and toys. At that time it was expected that kids could hang out safely at the candy store, sit together and eat their candy and laugh. The owners of the stores were more tolerant than store owners today, but they also didn't worry about us kids coming in to rob them or do damage to the store. We just didn't do things like that back then, at least in our town.

When we went to see a doctor back then, it was because we 'needed' to see one. It wasn't like today when you run to the doctor for every little thing. Back then you traveled to see doctors because they weren't on every street corner. We traveled 25 miles one way to the doctor. When the doctor diagnosed, we trusted and had a relationship with that doctor that was built on trust. We trusted him with our lives.

For the most part, doctors back then weren't concentrating on being the rich as they are today; they were family doctors with families and lived within the community, interacting as a normal part of society. The focus was on getting a person better and if you had money to pay for the care wasn't the first agenda, it was the last. First on the agenda was to diagnose, treat and payment came later.

Not many had health insurance back then, so the cost of getting care from a doctor was fairly cheap and hospital stays kept you there until you were healed, not until your insurance ran out. The focus was on the patient, not on the doctor's income. Many doctors even took exchange items for the care, such as surgery for a hog or treat me for my asthma and I'll make you a quilt or have you over for dinner for a special meal. Not being able to pay didn't exist back then. All were able to get health care if they needed it and people didn't run for any little thing! By the time you got to the doctor, it was serious.

In the 60s,

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