Is this truly a dream land?

Every time I start writing about the bright side of my trip to the US, something pops up to change my mood. It is not about the flora and fauna, the infrastructure or customer service, as all these are quite fine. In fact, since it is the season of peaches, the other day we went to a peach garden where we were given a basket to pick our own peach, and in the process, eat as much as one can, and then pay for the basket on the way out.
In Africa, the pleasure of picking fruits from trees, is still somehow possible, as one can find such trees around, in many other industrialised parts of the world this joy no longer exists.
So we had such fun, selecting and picking the peaches we wanted to take with us, of course there are other fruit gardens that open up according to the season.
The farmers also use the summer and fall season not only to sell their fruits, but other by products such as jams and pies made from the same seasonal fruits, nothing goes to waste. In most towns there are weekly or daily farmers markets, where one finds fresh products and great natural honey.
Back to the subject that disturbed my mind, this was when one in our group needed a small medical attention, the costs of which were so high, that I wondered what people did in this part of the world if they needed medical care. By asking this question, I opened a Pandora box.
So much we have heard about health care systems in US. The Obama care and the likes, we watched Hollywood movies where desperate patients , or their next of kin had to take drastic measures to ensure that their loved ones received medical care. However, you cannot capture the true picture until you talk with locals, and here, it is about those who have, and those who don’t. Unfortunately, the latter group end up with no health care system as they can’t afford the expensive monthly health insurance premium. Just to state an example, a simple visit to a general physician, can cost between 90 to over 100 and 30 that excludes medication or injections.
It also came to my mind, how lucky we are in my country, Luxembourg, where one pays a symbolic monthly premium that depends on one’s income, while the needy are sponsored by the government, this covers every aspect of healthcare, including surgeries and chronic illnesses.
Decent Funerals in America can cost up to $20,000, and because of that, funeral homes are making a lot of money selling funeral plans paid in installments. Where we stay, every day there is a new leaflet advertising a funeral home, just a reminder that this is Not exactly the dream land.