Slaying the socialist bogeyman
You know, a lot of people are trying to scare others by saying things like, "Business are going to drop their employees from their coverage," or "Our country is going socialist."
Well, if health care reform is passed, at least if people get dropped from their coverage, they'll have SOMETHING. I can't believe that people are so fiercely loyal to insurance companies, when they could care less about YOU. They'll drop you faster than Atlanta turned on Michael Vick over the tiniest thing. "Gee, Mr. Smith. We didn't know you had SARS in 2001. We can't cover you."
And why does socialism scare you so much? I'm not saying that we should turn our country into Communist Russia, but I am saying, let's all calm down a smidge, because it's not like the free market invented the eight-hour workday or labor laws. Those are socialist acts. Capitalism is all about exploiting resources, which you are to them. A resource that hasn't been fully exploited yet.
Anyone who's ever taken an economics class knows that pure capitalism won't work. Neither will pure socialism. It takes a mixture of the two to balance them out. And much to the chagrin of some people, socialism has been balancing out our country for a long time.
So calm down when people tell you that we're not the America that they grew up in. Personally, I think that's a good thing, because I don't think a pre-Civil Rights America would be a good place for someone like me. The world changes. Deal with it.
So we add a socialist policy here and there. So what...we're still America. Look, we instituted public schools, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. All socialist ideas, and last I checked, Rome hadn't caught fire just yet.
This health care thing is no big deal, if they can make it deficit-neutral, which I believe they can. If not, then fine...lose your minds, rioting in the streets. But if not, then stand down and let the people who need it have it, because it's not about YOU right now.
We're happy for you being able to afford your private health insurance. That's great and I'm glad you can. But what about someone who simply can't? What are they supposed to do?
I have a friend who was deployed to Iraq back in 2003, when the whole thing first started (I hope he doesn't mind me telling this story). When he got back, he got out and a few months later, he contracted a disease that put him in a coma for three months. He woke up to a bill of over $110,000. With no insurance. Now, what's he supposed to do?
People say that we can just get insurance through their jobs, but what if the job doesn't offer it? What if it's still too expensive? I had a job that offered it at about $180 a month, but everyone who worked there made $10 an hour or less. These are people with families. No one could afford it, so no one got it.
No one's saying you have to sign up for it, but there are a lot of people out there who want it. Keep your private insurance, because it's not going anywhere. It's still America. And America is predicated on "freedom of choice." We're choosing a public option for ourselves.
As a final dig to people who fear socialism, America's also predicated on the phrase, "All men are created equal." If that's not socialist, I don't know what is.
No comments:
Post a Comment