It’s a little strange blogging about music while the rest of the country is a little focused on something else entirely, but the two worlds do cross over here and there as lawmaking gets in the way of our right to rock. One news item I received yesterday only reinforced why I’m walking away from the computer screen later today and voting for Barack Obama. I’ve mentioned the Seattle-via-Northern California act rock act The Myriad on this site before, and their full-length With Arrows, With Poise has hung on as one of my favorites this year. Although the band won an MTV2-sponsored contest for unsigned artists last year, their record hasn’t really taken off. But the bad news that hit yesterday dwarfs any sort of sales disappointment.
The Myriad, “The Accident”:
As some of you may have heard, our band mate Randy Miller had a tumor removed from his upper torso near his shoulder on Friday. Initial analysis has come back that the tumor is cancerous. The specific type is still being determined and we will keep you all informed as we know more. We ask for your support and prayers for Randy, his wife Kristyn, and children Connor and Gillian during this time.
As someone trying to make their living playing music, Randy’s health insurance is limited at best, and the band is working to raise money for his treatment. As someone trying to make a living as a parasite attached to the music industry, my health insurance would probably be just as useless in trying to cover any sort of serious illness. Which is why when John McCain was asked if health coverage was a privilege, a right, or a responsibility during one of those ridiculous events they called Presidential debates, my attention was piqued.
Sorry, Senator McCain, but if you think that Randy Miller should be forced to bankrupt his family or accept limited medical treatment because he chose to pursue a career in the arts, or that my own family is on its own for health insurance because I happened to try to make some money from sources that aren’t one of those giant corporations you seem to like so much, you’ve lost my vote right there. I like hearing new music, and I hope that young people who have some sort of talent keep deciding to take their guitar, their sampler, or whatever and give the music business a go, despite the odds or any sort of pragmatic reality. To ask people to give up on their dreams because they’re afraid of what might happen if they get sick isn’t the sort of ideal I want for America, and while Obama’s healthcare plan leaves something to be desired as well, it’s a slightly better deal than I have now and a much better deal than I’ll have if you’re in the White House. Randy may or may not agree with my vote (I don’t know), but I’ll be thinking of him as I mark the space next to Sen. Obama’s name today.
If you’re interested in helping the Miller family, information on how to do so can be found on the band’s MySpace page. If you’re a musician, the Future of Music Coalition offers help navigating your health insurance options.
HELP OUR DRUMMER BATTLE CANCER! [The Myriad's MySpace Blog]
HINT: The Health Insurance Navigation Tool [Future of Music Coalition]
I feel badly for Randy Miller, I truly do. As someone who lost his mother to cancer, I know the costs associated with major medical issues and how it can effect a family.
That said, life is about choices and actions do have consequences. It is a person’s responsibility to secure health coverage for themselves, it is not the government’s. Nearly all of the major medical insurance companies have plans for individuals not through employers.
As someone already burdened with paying for coverage for my family, I resent the myriad of people with their hands out asking me to dig deeper or standing ready to accuse me of being greedy because I have the audacity to desire actually keeping a reasonable percentage of what I earn while spending 60 hours per week away from my family.
That wont prevent me from donating to the fund at the link provided. I have no problem donating, I have a problem with it becoming government mandated.
/soapbox
Can we talk about the new Ryan Adams record now??!?!
agreed, it’s a responsibility.
@Mick Kraut: @doctor_n: regardless of whether you think that health care is a responsibility or a right we currently have a system in which the health care companies, hospitals/doctors, and the goverment are colluding to fuck you, the consumer.
and sure, there are people who choose to sacrifice financial stability for art, or drunkeness, or laziness, but poverty is not a life choice. and if there is one political stance i can not tolerate it’s the claim that everyone needs to just pick themselves up by their bootstraps. you may not have been stopped by them but there are forces out there maintaining the status quo and certain groups are disproportionatly affected (or maybe they’re just stupid and lazy).
yes i’m a wingnut socialist who thinks health care should be universal.
i have a hard time thinking that doctors are out to screw me. maybe it’s because my uncle’s a surgeon? regardless, i think you can advocate for health care reform without demanding it be socialized.
what i think we could agree on is that we want everyone to have health insurance. the difference, though, is that i don’t think the government should give it to everyone, but that everyone should work hard enough/not be impeded to get it themselves.
What might be smart would be for everyone to wish Randy well and encourage voting rather than spouting off ill-informed opinions about “socialized” health care. I won’t mention names (though they’re obvious), but I will say that I would really like to continue appreciating your views on music. Kthxbai.
It is a person’s responsibility to secure health coverage for themselves, it is not the government’s.
Bullshit.
Sorry, I too am a wingnut who believes in universal health care. It’s a right, not a privilege, or should be.
@doctor_n: Doctors aren’t the ones out to screw you, insurance companies are. A lot of doctors are even getting a bad break because of the way the insurance industry works in America.
And regarding the “responsibility” to secure health insurance for oneself, tell that to my 23 year old friend with a heart condition, who was turned down by numerous providers because of an existing hereditary health problem, or web cartoonists Drew [toothpastefordinner.com] and Natalie Dee [nataliedee.com] who did buy their own insurance, only to have their provider refuse coverage for recent pregnancy complications which resulted in a premature birth and long hospital stays for both mother and child.
The point is that while we may think it would be better for people to take the responsibility to secure their own health insurance, the American insurance industry is so fucked that it doesn’t even work for many of those who take that step.
the whole ‘pre-existing condition’ thing screws a lot of people. i was thanking my stars when idolator was sold because i didn’t have to worry about anything that might jeopardize the shifting of my subsidized coverage from gawker media to buzznet.
i’m not saying complete government control is the solution. i don’t know if it is. but the system is totally broken, as evidenced by the inflated prices that force a lot of people to rely on their employers for coverage.