Ever since Sunday’s historic vote on health care reform, I’ve found myself in a few debate over the bill. Surprisingly I’ve found more opposition to the bill from my social circle than I expected. Here is a breakdown of the reasons people were opposed:
1) They don’t want to pay more taxes for someone else to benefit.
2) They don’t want more government regulation ( said the Doctors )
3) Fear of government take over
4) and lastly, just plain misinformation about what the bill is.
After engaging in several arguments and trying hard to prove to people how wrong and misguided some of their perceptions were, I realized I was wrong.
Wrong to think that people shared my social interest, wrong to assume that we all want what’s best for the American people, and wrong to support a Bill that is not perfect.
For example, I honestly believed that it is ok for my taxes to increase if it means more people can have health insurance. However, few people, and I mean few, share in my vision.
Another example is people loudly proclaiming that they do not trust the government. They repeat over and over again their conviction that the government will ruin health care us all. But as I hear those proclamations, I can’t help but think about the current economic crisis caused by Wallstreet bankers, the rising health care cost powered by the for profit health care industry, and two wars championed by the same people who decry that the government cannot be trusted.
But even though I want to abandon my pursuit of “changing hearts and minds” and just leave people to their own judgement, I can’t let go of the fact that by opposing health care reform for its imperfection, we are validating and crowning the political right.
You see, even if I agree to disagree with you, I feel sick to my stomach knowing that by our inaction and gentleman agreement, we are emboldening the conservative movement. By not doing something based on the grounds that it is not perfection, we are handing the wingnuts a victory to further their agenda of racism and bigotry, conservative social agendas, and solidifying their illusion of power. (I say illusion here because what they perceive as power in their movement, is nothing more than lies and deception conjured up by their leaders — who are the very same people they think they are fighting against.)
Anyways. So that’s my argument to you. Even if you find it objectionable that we will raise taxes to cover the lazy, put more restrictions on our already stressed physicians, and giving the government too much control, you must remember that alternative is much much worse.
If you don’t follow politics, you probably don’t know what I am talking about and you are probably wondering why I am painting such a bleek image of the alternative. But there is so much craziness and histeria in the conservative movement, it would be hard to summarize it all here. Also, it would not be hard to for anyone to do a simple google search and prove my point. I really don’t even have to make that argument, the argument makes itself.
But you know what’s the most surprising revelation for me was? No one cares. As one of my buddy says, most people are centrist and really don’t support either side of this debate. They want to go about their normal lives and take things one step at a time. I guess that is also true.