Happy 4th of July Everyone!!!
…Now Let the Revolution Begin !!!
“I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing… as important and natural to a society as storms are to nature.” – Thomas Jefferson in a letter to James Madison 1786
Dear Countrymen and Brethren,
I wish you a most festive 4th of July this year!
It marks that day 242 years ago that 56 brave family men signed their names to the Declaration of Independence from England and began an outright revolt against the crown.
The Declaration of Independence, of course, documents the United States’ reasons for declaring freedom from Britain. It states that all men have certain rights…and that should the government become destructive of these rights, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it. All these men knew that making such a declaration meant treason and may assuredly mean their deaths at the hands of the British Empire.
Here in America, we celebrate that bravery and struggle for independence from Britain with one of the most festive ‘goings on’ of the year!
And it is times like this that I think about the true meaning of what “independence” means… and what the true nature of freedom really represents.
Many patients who first come to our clinic are at a certain time in their lives which could be described as a “turning point”. You see, up until that moment, they accepted the notion that their doctors, their insurance company and even the government was responsible for their health! If they were told to take a pill, they took a pill. If they were told to pay $1200 a month for insurance but still have thousands in co pays, they just accepted it as the way it was. If their insurance company said “NO”, then they simply had to go without. They come to our office looking for something different.
With the new healthcare laws, things have gotten bad and are expected to get worse still; premiums & deductibles are on the rise, wait times to see a new doctor is 4-6 months or 9 months to see a pain specialist. Just yesterday a patient who recently developed a frightening tremor in her hand showed me a letter from the neurology department in Rochester stating, in effect, that they are just too busy and she needs to find a neurology department elsewhere. (We, on the other hand, got her in that day)
“Unless we put medical freedom into the Constitution, the time will come when medicine will organize into an undercover dictatorship to restrict the art of healing to one class of Men and deny equal privileges to others; the Constitution of the Republic should make a Special privilege for medical freedoms as well as religious freedom.”
Benjamin Rush; Colonial Army General, personal surgeon to George Washington and signer of Declaration of Independence.
It is as if we Americans have allowed the modern medical-industrial-insurance complex to direct and dictate our health “from cradle to grave”… is that freedom?
As I said, many patients who seek out acupuncture at my office have come to the point in their lives where they see cracks in the crystal palace of modern medicine. Many of the patients that come to see me are fed up, disillusioned and disgruntled by the big international healthcare conglomerates (I won’t mention any names;-). They lament the “way it used to be”.
By seeking out acupuncture or other ‘less-than-conventional’ treatments, these brave souls have, in effect “Declared Their Independence”; Stating with true conviction that they believe that it is THEMSELVES who are ultimately in control of their own good health and not in the hands of some insurance pencil pusher a 1000 miles away deciding what treatments you are “allowed”…
“I have not yet begun to fight.” – John Paul Jones 1777
So NOW I welcome you to stand up – RISE UP – REVOLT– SHAKE LOOSE THE SHACKLES OF YOUR MEDICAL INSURANCE COMPANIES and take back what is yours… And declare for all to hear, your unwavering & unalienable right to self determination…Your right to good health & freedom! Just as Benjamin Rush envisioned.
But like all revolutions, my brethren, this revolution will not be easy. It will not be won quickly. There may be opposition. There will be opposition to be sure…
- Opposition from friends & family… “Just do whatever your doctor says. They know what is the absolute best for you and they are always right”…
- Opposition from the insurance regime… “That $500 of acupuncture you want is not covered by your insurance policy, but we will help pay for that $40,000 surgery. You’d have to pay for that acupuncture yourself…”
- Opposition from yourself in the form of self doubt… “I’ve had this problem for 10 years but since acupuncture did not eliminate every last sign of it in 3 treatments or less, so I guess it didn’t work for me… and besides… its sooooo expensive.”
Bull, bull and more bull! Bull I say!
“Stay Strong My Compatriots! Hold Firm! Keep The Faith!”
This revolution of good health will not be easy. It will take great effort on all of our parts. We must indeed “walk the talk” by showing all of those naysayers the truth about this self determination in regards to our health. We all must live lives of commendable health… by getting the best advice from knowledgably people (and yes, your friendly neighborhood physician should always be one of the first people you seek advice from). Not just a single acupuncturist, chiropractor, TV personality or vitamin store clerk. I challenge us all to read, watch and learn as much as possible about our own health. So that we can be educated, take control and become our own strongest advocate.
“If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.”
Thomas Paine, 1776
It may be scary at times. Sometimes there is no good answer to a particular health issue. Yet you are not alone (although it may feel that way sometimes). You literally have dozens… hundreds… even thousands of people here for you, fighting along side of you. We are truly all in this together and will be there for each other.
My only hope is that this letter, friends and countrymen, motivates and entertains you enough to consider becoming the number one person in charge of your own good health and no longer relinquish it over to an evil insurance empire.
Don’t be mislead by the evil insurance propaganda. You KNOW acupuncture works for you. You KNOW is works for others. Otherwise I would have personally been out of business years ago. But yet, here I still stand… I stand strong offering patients hope and providing real assistance for the thousands who have already come seeking relief at our clinic.
I welcome you to continue your journey toward greater health. And I welcome you to consider the Austin Acupuncture Clinic now and into the future. Whether you currently have an issue we can help with or whether you are simply looking to stay in good health… there is always a good reason to return.
Remember Benjamin Franklins old adage, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, meaning that it is best to keep healthy as opposed to picking up the pieces after. Routine treatments of acupuncture fits that bill. Many come see us once a year, once a quarter, once a month or sometimes even once a week. Preventatively. Get healthy. Stay healthy. Don’t wait. Begin today.
Whether it’s an old ache or pain, a digestive problem, allergies, long, stubborn illnesses or depression related situation, call today and we can get you in to start eliminating your problem, safely, quickly and affordably. Acupuncture can treat such a wide range of health issues (too many to list here) you might be surprised to hear that we may be able to help you too. Study after study show acupuncture to be one of the safest, fastest, most effective and cheapest medical treatments available in America.
I wish you the best on this journey and I’ll see you along the way…
Jason “Hancock” Richard
“Acupuncture… The Calmest Revolution Ever Staged”
Austin Acupuncture Clinic
Acupuncture · Oriental Medicine · Herbal Pharmacy
Jason Richard L.Ac.
115 4th Ave NE Austin, MN 55912
(507) 434-8700
ary forces. They flow into each other and contain seeds of the other. We only understand something when compared to its opposite. This is the root of yin & yang theory. It is often illustrated in the famous yin & yang symbol which illustrates the concept quite clearly; it is one figure composed of two halves, each housing a small part of the other. Nothing is totally yin and nothing is totally yang, each eventually shifts, and changes and becomes the other. The concept of yin and yang is an important fundamental concept in Chinese medicine.
Austin Acupuncture Clinic 