What impressed me most was that we always seemed to be on the defensive. Never attacking -- always defending. There was always some kind of "survival" rally in which your presence was needed or, better still, don't come but leave your money at the door.
Another thing that I noted was that it was always the mixer which bothered people most. We always did too much to make people happy. All the factions wanted to see us limit ourselves to the role of technicians. One could understand the vested interests of the other professions and their concerns. But what was the reason for the constant concern of the straights?
At the recent hearing on the scope of practice in California, the lawyer for the California Chiropractic Association said to the judge that he was aware of the arguments of the straight chiropractors who had voiced their concerns to the court that the law would force them to use physical therapy. Hearing this only revived my realization that the super straights are either certifiably nuts or so fanatical that they will quite literally stop at nothing to control the profession.
Think about it for a moment -- how could anyone think, or express the belief, that any health practitioner could be forced to use physical therapy just because he was given the right to? That's like saying that every MD would be forced to prescribe penicillin to every patient simply because his license allowed it. The proposition is so absurd that it's embarrassing that it was promulgated to the court. But that's the super straight way of doing things -- running all over the country telling the courts and legislatures how chiropractic must be practiced. They just have to control the way you practice. Soon, they'll probably tell you that only an upper cervical adjustment will be tolerated.
Recently, the super straight publisher/editor of another chiropractic publication decided to withdraw his membership from the FSCO and was instrumental in forming a new chiropractic association in Arizona. All of this because of his newly professed belief that all chiropractors should live and let live. That it was really no one else's business how the other fellow practiced as long as he didn't break any laws. That all factions of chiropractic should work together for the public's welfare.
So what's the big deal? Mixers have been saying this forever. Be honest now -- have you ever heard of a mixer who cared one iota how a straight practiced? The mixer might even think that the straight is crazy, but he'll leave him alone. Live and let live. It's always been the straights who have made the trouble. It's they who are determined to force their restrictions on every member of the profession.
It's possible that there are some who might think that chiropractic politics will bring them personal gain. And now this newly "enlightened" chiropractor seems ready to forge a new national association that will accept all chiropractors regardless of their philosophical persuasion.
About the latter -- I've got news for you -- it's already been done and it's called the American Chiropractic Association. This fact doesn't deter the ambitious, so I believe that those who started the Arizona organization under the same pretext might well do the same nationally.
So what's new? The fantasies will never change and neither will the opportunists. We're just back at square one. How does chiropractic survive? Simple -- God bless it -- it works.