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At the Circus

Recently I attended a performance by Cirque du Soleil in tony Scottsdale and confirmed why all of the great ideas to reform the American health care system aren't likely to do much to improve health.

The circus took place at Westworld in North Scottsdale. Considering the ticket prices and the location itself, it's a safe bet that most of the people there weren't exactly living in low income housing or buying groceries with food stamps. I could be mistaken, but judging from the cars in the parking lot and the long lines in the Cirque du Soleil merchandise mart, this was an upscale, affluent crowd.

It was also a decidedly overweight and out of shape crowd. Prior to waiting for the tent gates to open, I remarked to my wife on how many obese people were milling about, many of them sipping large soft drinks and eating buckets of popcorn.

"This is weird," I said. "Am I imagining it, or do you think it's mostly fat people who go to the circus?"

"Lighten up," my wife retorted. "It's the circus, after all. People come to have a good time."

Point taken. I am not exactly Mr. Svelte myself. I would be smug and forego the popcorn and cola, but that evening I would finish off a meal of pork tenderloin and grilled vegetables with a pint of Ben and Jerry's peanut butter fudge ice cream.

Still, I wondered about the health habits of presumably educated residents who were well north of the Body Mass Index tipping point. The thought occurred to me that we could have universal access to health care and still show up at the doctor's office with blood sugars of 450 and cholesterol-lined arteries. This might be good for the doctor's business, but it's decidedly bad for our own. Whatever are we thinking, trying to reform the health care system when it's our own stupid behavior that accounts for most of our poor health in the first place?

Inside the Big Top, it was a different story. The Cirque de Soleil performers were a wonder to behold - their lean, muscular bodies performing feats of amazing dexterity and extension that were almost painful to watch. They were obviously in superb physical shape. You couldn't be on drugs or alcohol or even a few pounds overweight and expect to perform at such exacting standards, where one split second of bad timing can spell the difference between life and death.

So there we were, a bunch of fat, slovenly types having a good time eating popcorn and watching a group of well conditioned athletes display their artistry. And it struck me that perhaps that's what America has become, a circus of amazing acts, products and services, where a majority of medicated, satiated and spoiled consumers pay good money to see the show under the Big Tent and then expect the health care system to repair their abused bodies with its technical bag of quick fix tricks, all of it at bargain-basement prices and ideally on someone else's nickel.

Yes, it's a caricature, but it's a circus nonetheless. Much of modern life has become a spectacle, an entertainment, and health is increasingly a commodity we purchase in the market, much like food or clothing. The market depends on our bad behavior for its continued growth, and if there were a stock market for poor choices and unhealthy lifestyles, we would all rush out and invest in it for our retirement.

It's a safe bet. The dominant message is that you can have it all. Buy now, pay later. Don't worry, enjoy the show. Just wash down that buttered popcorn with a Lipitor chaser.

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*The Drift reflects the views of the author, and does not represent the official view of SLHI's Board of Trustees and staff.