health care and ideology

someone said:“Republicans are all corporate whores that don’t care about anything but big business profits!”

someone else said:“Democrats just want a government take-over and power!”

my thought:I’m going to try to do what I haven’t yet seen anyone do: give both sides the benefit of the doubt, and see both sides in the light that the best and most honest of them see themselves.

The honest well-intentioned conservatives really don’t see health care as a right. That’s not in their philosophy. Life is something you work for, and isn’t fair, and you cannot — absolutely CANNOT — give up freedom and liberty to try to force “fairness” on a world that just isn’t built that way. The world where everyone is free is not a perfect world — some people fail, some people get taken advantage of — but it’s the best possible world because of potential and growth for everyone. When the government tries to impose a system that takes from some to make things fair for others, it’s the beginning of the end.

The honest well-intentioned liberals really see health care as a right. That is part of their basic philosophy: the government provides for the general well-fare to free you from certain worries so that you can be free to pursue your happiness and your ambitions in life. Government lifts everyone up, so that everyone has a better chance at pursuing their dreams. And because the wealthy have benefitted from society so much, it follows that they should give back from their success: contribute to the society that made their success possible.

I can put myself in either set of shoes, see them how they see themselves, and say, “OK, I understand that.” I don’t necessarily agree…. but I can understand that it is a well-intentioned, honest philosophy.

The big problem is, even when viewing these sides in the least cynical, most complimentary way….. it doesn’t look like there is any room for compromise.

The “honest conservative” really does see government regulation as taking away a fundamental part of what makes America great: the freedom to fail and experience a life of consequences of your actions.

The “honest liberal” really does see the free market as a failure of one of the fundamental responsibilities of government: to care for its people.

072