“Hey Barry, Leggo of my Eggo”

I have to first say, I’m not a conspiracy theorist.  I was born and raised in the United States.  In all of my 55-years I cannot remember one occasion where I’ve gone to fill a prescription and  then been told  there was a shortage of any drug.  I  recently had that experience, while attempting to fill a prescription for the antibiotic, Cipro.  I was somewhat taken a back when alerted to the fact that it would be months before Cipro was available again, a troublesome situation for a woman with a raging bladder infection.

Then hubby Jerry went to the doctor expecting to receive the routine yearly “seasonal” flu shot he has gotten for the last 30 years.  Much to his surprise he was promptly informed that there were no seasonal flu shots.  When he asked when he could get the shot? He was alerted to the fact that there weren’t any around and it was unlikely there would be any available for the rest of the season.  A hard spot to be in as Tamiflu shortages makes India (a third world country) a potential source for an alternate type of flu medication.  Hoping to find an alternate source, I typed our zip code into a www.flu.gov location finder and came up with only one location administering flu vaccines and it was in a health clinic somewhere in the inner recesses of Springfield Gardens, Queens.  My husband would have a better chance of surviving the flu than he would if he ventured into Springfield Gardens.

Then of course you have the first government controlled foray into health care administration and preparedness in the form of H1N1 vaccines.  Promising 80-120 million doses by flu season it is now November and to date the government has overseen the production of approximately 16.5 million vaccines.  To date, we’ve seen 13% percent of the promised inventory, which means we’re 87% behind on the delivery of promised dosages.  To put things in perspective, we’re still 119,999,994 doses short of the 120 million and we have 400 million people to vaccinate.

Something is afoot here – in Communist countries past and present it’s a well known fact that shortages prevail in everything from consumer goods, drugs, light bulbs to food.  The only thing there is never a lack of is Stolichnaya® Vodka to quell the pain.   Way back in 2001 an article regarding the formerly communist Poland in the European Banker said that “There remains a pent-up demand for almost everything after 45 years of state socialism when shortages were endemic, there were no choices in domestically produced consumer goods, imports were limited, and political controls rationed who could buy cars and who could get flats and telephones.”

My question is why are shortages making their way to America?  What is fostering this situation?  In less than a week I’ve run smack into four unrelated instances in a country I’ve lived in for more than half a century and never experienced a shortage before.

Now last night, out of the corner of my ear,  I hear that Eggo Waffles are in demand because of nationwide shortages.  The Kellogg Company is blaming the projected month’s long scarcity on flooding in a plant in Tennessee causing an Eggo Waffle dilemma until the middle of next year.  I don’t buy it…I don’t mean the waffles, I mean the excuse – since when does a flood stop the top cereal manufacturer in the nation from being able to find a way around a flooding problem in a single factory?

A Jan. 13, 2003, report in Newsweek on Stalinist North Korea says, “Food shortages there were so bad that “more than 2,000,000 people died of starvation over the last decade.” We’re far from being relegated to bread lines and no one has starved to death yet, but I find it curious that in one week I’ve happened upon 4 specific deficiencies just going through every day life–in a nation that lacks for nothing in ingenuity or ability to produce.

An article in Newsweek dated Jan. 8, 2001, said that “In Eastern Europe, the fall of communism unleashed political freedoms, open markets and a bright array of consumer goods.”   Now, in America creeping socialism is having the opposite effect — less freedom, more government control and now suddenly we’re being confronted with drug and food shortages?

One is forced to contemplate government induced controls as a way to foster dependency and cultivate panicked need in people.  A crisis trial balloon is sent up to see public reaction to waiting, which instigates a frenzied response when the product is made available.  The result equals control of the masses through medicine and food. Wait until Eggo releases its first batch of waffles after a six-month famine, people will rip them frozen from the box in the grocery store, glomming them downlike famished children from Biafra!  Same with H1N1, if you were considering skipping the government recommended shot… a shortage may convince you that you might as well get it while you can just in case you change your mind and there’s none available.

As for seasonal flu shots –  that’s a double edged sword, the group the most in jeopardy of suffering from flu ravages are the elderly, which works to the government’s benefit as they contemplate budgetary concerns having to do with health care reform.   And for those hoarding Cipro – you may  well survive your first Anthrax attack, but be aware, the next one might be very, very  iffy.

H1N1 aside, the government may have nothing to do with any of this and the shortages are more likely caused by complicated manufacturing and inventory issues.  However, it’s a good preview of what lies ahead for our nation if Obama gets his way and socializes both the means of production and the health care industry.  Until then, my message is to the one aspiring to control every aspect of American society including medicine and food, “Hey Barry, I’m on to you — Leggo of my Eggo!”