There’s a big problem with Democrats these days. They often jump to questioning the morality of Republicans because of some of their policy positions. Often times they seem almost militant. I don’t think it serves their party very well.
I don’t think it serves their party very well.
Take, for example, the current healthcare debate, and the Republicans’ vision to repeal and replace Obamacare. Things aren’t as simple as “Republicans are heartless and want to kick 30 million people off their insurance.”
You think anyone would want to merely kick people off insurance for the thrill of it? I don’t.
What’s behind so many of the differences between right and left? It’s not evil versus good or good versus evil.
It’s political philosophy.
I think more people need consider the political philosophies for which our political parties exist. Specifically, Social Contract theory of Hobbes, Locke, Rosseau, Kant.
It’s really not that complicated. And it’s good common sense.
For example, a Lockean position would NOT support taxpayers paying billions of dollars every year on public health.
Why? Because, generally, John Locke believed that man’s “State of Nature” was basically good, and not selfish. So he thought the government needed to let the people own property and get on with life, without government interference. They will be fine. They will figure it out. And if they die, that’s part of life.
Thomas Hobbes had a more pessimistic view of man’s State of Nature. Hobbes thought man was inherently selfish — you needed a strong government to keep things in order and protect the weaker from the greed of stronger.
So when we talk about kitchen table issues like health care, instead of saying “All Republicans care about is their selves and not others” (which can be true in many cases), I believe it’s far more constructive to understand that Republicans just might just have a different view on the responsibility of the government.
I do not deny that special interest also plays a huge part of in the health care debate. After all, we are the only major country in the world that allows insurance companies to make billions of dollars each year off of the care of its citizens. Imagine that — they benefit when more money is spent on insurance.
Should health care be a right for all? Sometimes I think it should be. Mitt Romney had universal healthcare when he was governor of Massachusetts.
Other times I wonder about whether our founders, at a time when life expectancy was under 50, would have ever supported putting a nation into enormous debt to keep extending the lives of citizens.
Hard issues out there.