There are certain friends with whom I keep political
discussion to a minimum. While I think
it’s safe to say that none are flaming liberals, most don’t follow politics as closely
as I do or take it as seriously. If you
want to have people to hang out with outside the blogosphere, sometimes it’s best
not to share every thought when it comes to politics. But when the election of 2016 took place I
happen to be on a cruise with friends, so naturally it was with this group that
I shared my first thoughts on the surprise victory of Donald Trump. To varying degrees, all of us were relieved
that Hillary Clinton lost. In my case ecstatic
jubilation would best describe it, and this helped to soften the disappointment
of realizing that Donald Trump was now actually our president. One friend, however, was a bit down in the
dumps, and so to cheer him up I said, “Well, at least we’ll get rid of
Obamacare,” to which he responded, “Obamacare is good in some ways.”
What?!
I knew my friend wasn’t as conservative as I am but his
fondness for Obamacare, albeit lukewarm, took me by surprise. “Obamacare is socialized medicine,” I said,
not bothering to disguise my annoyance very much (he was, after all, putting a
damper on my ecstatic jubilation). Now,
I know that Obamacare is not socialized healthcare in the strictest sense, but
certain aspects of it equate to socialism and its goal is to put us on that
path so…. His response to me was: “Yes, but there are some good things about
socialized medicine.”
“Such as what?” I asked, jubilation fading fast. He then went on to describe how his elderly
parents had to sell off their assets under the rules of Medicare, leaving them
essentially destitute and causing him to need to help them financially. People shouldn’t have to lose everything they
own in order to afford healthcare, he said, so if socialized medicine makes it
possible for them to get the care they need then that’s okay with him.
At times like these, when conversations arise on subjects
that I feel strongly about but neither the time nor place adequately lends
itself to that sort of discussion (we were standing on a street corner in
Jamaica, waiting for our tour group to assemble), I am frustrated to say the
least. How do I explain, in 30 seconds
or less, what’s wrong with socialism? I
suggested to him that the socialization of the so-called healthcare “system”
and government interference under the guise of helping us out were only serving
to drive up costs to the point where no amount of spreading the costs around to
everyone (i.e. socialization) could ever catch up to the problem, and in fact
would only exacerbate it. You cannot
have sanity in a market where the consumer has neither the incentive nor the
ability to act like a normal consumer (i.e. balance quality, quantity and cost). Only the free market can do this, I stressed
with perhaps a bit more passion than he was prepared for.
All he knows, he told me, is that the free market isn’t
working so he thinks a socialized healthcare system is a better way.
“Socialism is theft, pure and simple,” I told him, a bit of
anger rising in my voice.
“Then I’m a thief,” he said cheerfully, but a bit
uncomfortably.
We left it at that, as he saw us off on our tour before he
went sightseeing elsewhere. I didn’t see
him again for several hours, giving me time to wrestle with my thoughts. I found our discussion to be profoundly
disturbing, not just because we disagreed but because I could sense, as is
almost always the case when an unplanned discussion on politics pops up with
friends or acquaintances, that he couldn’t comprehend my passion/annoyance/anger. It occurred to me then that it comes down to
this:
He sees the Obamacare debate as a matter of policy. I see it as a matter of rights.
What right does the federal government have micromanaging
what should be a free market healthcare system, thereby making it impossible
for consumers to keep up with the game?
What right does the federal government have taxing Peter to subsidize
Paul, with Peter having no say in how or on whom his hard-earned money is
spent? What gives one party in congress
the right to establish a right/entitlement outside of the process prescribed in
our Constitution? That’s how I see this
debate.
I bring this up all these months later because, in the wake
of the Ryan/Trump repeal-replace-not really fiasco, the finger pointing has
gone wild. A whole lot of self-labeled “conservatives”
are angry with the Republicans in the Freedom Caucus for refusing to “get on
board” and go along with what is being falsely hailed as “the best plan we could
get.” (See: Liz
Peek: Time for the Freedom Caucus to climb aboard the Trump train. Read a few comments to get a good taste for the
craziness). Republicans who would rather
debate about policy rather than about rights, hereinafter referred to as “the
new socialists,” thought they could bully the real conservatives into going
along with Obamacare-lite. They were
wrong. I’d like to think that’s because at
least some of the Freedom Caucus understands that this is a fight about rights,
not about policy details. I pray that I’m
right.
In the past Republicans have caved in and gone along with
liberal policies under the guise of at least putting their stamp on things that
public momentum made impossible to stop.
With Trumpcare garnering the approval of just 17%, what is their excuse
now? Why capitulate, even in part, to
the Left’s scheme of involving the federal government in the business of
healthcare? If only 17% of the people
are going to be happy, you may as well go for broke and do the right thing. That’s what a conservative deal maker would say, and – yes – I do mean that as a
dig to Donald Trump.
The new socialists are strangely anguished over the great missed
opportunity to transition from Obamacare to Obamacare-lite. I’m sure they would argue over that
characterization of their plan, but if it fails to fully repeal Obamacare (as
so often promised) and keeps significant elements of Obamacare, which it does,
then they have no argument to stand on.
It is Obamacare-lite, and why
any self-described conservative would lose sleep trying to salvage it is a
mystery to me. Conservatives, on the
other hand, are anguished over a much greater missed opportunity: the opportunity to restore the boundaries of
the federal government with respect to healthcare as well as the essential
notion of personal responsibility, without which the Constitution cannot work. You be the judge of whose mission is more worthy
of the dramatic rhetoric we’re hearing.
When I saw my friend at the end of that day, I was a bit
worried that our exchange from the morning would be hanging over us still, as
so often happens. He is a very nice guy
and good friend, and even if he’s misguided about socialized medicine it would
sadden me if our friendship was chilled as a consequence of our exchange, but
as it turns out I need not have worried.
We didn’t speak of it again, but I know that if I wanted to discuss it,
he’d listen with an open mind. And I
would do the same for him (even though he’s wrong, hee hee hee). I’m good with that.
~CW
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