MCAT Prompt - Dishonesty

Saying that dishonesty is necessary to keep a friendship strong means that there are instances when being honest with your friend could actually damage the bonds of friendship. This usually requires lying to protect their feelings. For example, if a friend loves to wear bright, Hawaiian print shirts that you think are gaudy and over-the-top, it may not serve the friendship to tell them your true feelings. This is an example of lying by omission or, not sharing what you believe to be the truth. If your friend asked what you thought of the shirts and you stated that you liked them, this would be a direct lie; a statement that is the opposite of what you believe to be true. Their common thread is that both require suppression of the truth, be it ones own internal beliefs or omissions and misstatements of fact.

Yet, not all lies are created equal. It is the intent behind the lie that is the important factor in how it effects our relationships. In the example above, if your friend discovered that you in fact hate her shirts, she may decide to wear them more often to annoy you. However, if she discovered that you were making fun of her shirts to others, it could damage the friendship. This brings up betrayal, where the lie betrays the friendship and distinguishes this lie from a benign one that does not.

Usually, dishonesty is not necessary to maintain strong friendships. In fact, it is usually our closest friends who we go to for the truth. Should a friend make an appeal for an honest assessment of their wardrobe, job, significant other, it is the duty of a friend to give them an honest but tempered opinion, to share what they believe to be true or what they know about the situation. This is the true art of maintaining friendships.

In the end, what we choose to lie about and even when we lie to our friends, depends on the nature of the friendship and even our own social skills. Being able to understand your friend's personality, their needs in the moment and the nature of the lie are key factors in making this choice. If your friend is sensitive or fragile in general or even at that instance and the lie is benign, you may choose to lie to protect their feelings. If the lie serves to betray the friend, it would always be better to tell the truth regardless of their emotional state. Being able to rely on someone to know the difference between emotional support and betrayal is what separates 'friend' from 'other'.

MCAT Prompt - Health Care

The writing sample portion of the MCAT gives a prompt that you have to respond to in 30 minutes. I am practicing this and will be posting the results here.

When it is said that "Health care is a right, not a privilege", the implication is that one is entitled to health care by virtue of being part of the group that is to provide said service as opposed to only having access if one has the financial means to purchase the service. In California, employees working for a company that has a group policy have the right to be covered by that policy, regardless of previous medical conditions. However, many companies are charging most of the premium to the employee, which could prevent them from actually affording the coverage.

The key here is to determine what is a "right" and what is not. As Americans, we have several rights delineated in the Constitution, like the right to petition the government, to choose our religion or even to speak out against the government, among others. If health care is a right, then it is something the government can not take away. In this sense, the government can not give citizens their rights, either. As citizens, we are "endowed by our creator" with our rights, not by our government.

Education is a good example of what a right is and is not. In the US, education is not a 'right' as determined by the Constitution. In fact, public education wasn't widely available until the 20th century, before that it was a privilege that only the rich could afford. It was never considered a 'right' of citizenship. However, with the Industrial Revolution and a movement away from an agrarian based system, it was quickly realized by leaders in the government, business and academia that a modern society required an educated citizenry. This paradigm shift away from education as a privilege to education as a necessity for a modern nation has reaped a multitude of benefits for everyone in the US, rich and poor alike.

It is this observation that should be made today about health care. If it is not a right, should it continue to be just a privilege? Can a modern nation continue to function without its citizens having access to modern medicine? Education is only one example, others include clean water, sewer systems and roadways. These are not rights but necessities to promote the general welfare.