There’s a lot of misinformation out there about the health care reform proposals, and many of them have people scared for their lives. Elderly people are worried that they won’t be taken care of if their needs compete for the attention of somebody younger. Parents of the disabled fear for their child’s care. Middle-class taxpayers fear Obama will go back on his word and not raise their taxes (though he’s arguably done so already). And while much of the misinformation seems to be perpetrated by right-wing extremist groups, there is something very powerful and very important about the nature of the fears it is invoking.
One of the most naive beliefs an American can hold is the belief that the evils that have been perpetrated in places like Germany, Cambodia, or Russia simply won’t happen in the United States. “That would never happen here!” we often think. And yet, year after year, administration after administration, and decade after decade we see our civil liberties slowly eroding under the guise of good intentions, public welfare, and social justice. The Constitution has been avoided or evaded time and time again for the sake of “national security” or some other cockamamie idea that comes across the mind of our politicians and presidents. If you think it couldn’t happen here, don’t forget that we interned Japanese Americans during World War II, and citizens in New Orleans were threatened at gun point to give up their weapons inside their own homes. Sure, they aren’t worthy of Holocaust comparisons, and such atrocities simply aren’t in the blood of Americans. But nobody in charge today—no matter how well they steward their tenure, no matter how ethical, moral, and equitable to all they truly would be—can guarantee that the power they give themselves today will not be abused by those in power in the future.
Generally speaking Americans think only until the end of the year, or perhaps a few years out, which is disheartening, really, because the issues that profoundly affect our lives today will most certainly profoundly affect our lives (and the lives of our children and grandchildren) tomorrow. What scares most people is not what Barack Obama wants to do. It is not what Nancy Pelosi or other Democrats propose for government involvement. It’s the very notion of government involvement in the first place becoming too intrusive. I really don’t worry about what Barack Obama will enact while president, I worry about what comes once he is gone. I worry about the power given to the federal government that may be used for good up front (though I believe that is debatable) will be used for evil later.
I believe that this is truly at the heart of the fears of the American people dissenting over the current swath of health care proposals. It isn’t about today, it is about tomorrow. It isn’t about retirees, it’s about ten years from now. There are dangerous proposals being made, for sure, but that isn’t the bulk of the concern.
So here’s my proposal: write into law prohibitions of all the things the American people fear will happen. Write into law that no state or other government entity will ever interfere or have the right to interfere with a doctor’s and patient’s decision for medical care. Write into law that no senior citizen will ever be denied care due to age. Write into law that private market insurance cannot ever be outlawed. If you write them into law, it will help squelch the fears of the concerned, and will bind the hands of government agents who, in the future, may use such a license to do harm to the same people it was meant for good.
