For clarity

by Ryan “Bugs” Virden | August 25, 2009 • In the last posting I mentioned what I saw as two major flaws in the right wing’s cries of socialism when asked about not only Obama’s health care, but apparently his overall economic philosophy. I would like to take some time to expand on how ridiculous this is, mainly because we are still seeing and hearing these oftentimes ignorant and misinformed claims being made quite passionately.

From what I can see the major argument being made goes something like this… the constitution limits government involvement in the citizens’ lives, the health care reform bill equates to a government take over, violating the constitution, and will leave us with national socialism in all areas, similar to Nazi Germany. Included in this group are those people that are waving copies of the constitution at town halls, because we apparently need a visual for the argument, or the ex-marine that demanded his congressman uphold the constitution, implying the health care bill was in violation of it. These arguments are so foolish and illogical; if it wasn’t so scary it would be comical. Let’s deconstruct the lunacy. First and most importantly, to view the constitution as a fixed document with no flexibility is absurd; it was written in 1787–pretty sure our world has changed since then. Health care is actually a great example of this. In 1787 the field of medical science was lacking to put it lightly, costing little money. It only makes sense with all the advancements that have been made in medical science, and what we know now about health, that we spend money on it. Perhaps we can treat these people’s illness with similar tactics as the time they would like us all to stick too….where are the leeches? This also goes for the idiots bringing loaded guns to rallies; when the second amendment was penned there is no chance that AK-47s and automatic weapons were being imagined in the wildest of imaginations. Certainly the new massive potential for death needs to be considered. But, hey, if you want to adhere to the 2nd amendment that’s fine, but then don’t get all pissy when groups like the Black Panthers or MOVE arm themselves; after all, they are just exercising their rights.

This brings me to the next aspect. This is not so much about ignorance as it is hypocrisy. A major aspect that, if not out rightly expressed is underlying these arguments, is one of free markets over a planned economy. The connection is made that free markets equal democracy and controlled economies (socialist) equal tyranny. This is hearkening back to the cold war and the red scare. It was foolish then, and is even more foolish now as we have clear proof free markets can not be left to there own devices (see the presidency of Ronald Regan or the current recession). However, beyond that simple observable fact there is another issue…. these very people who are so adamant about keeping the government out of their lives have no problem calling the police when in danger, calling the fire department if their house is on fire, sending their kids to public school, and maybe, just maybe (but I doubt it) they utilize the public library! You guessed it all of these things fall under the category of socialized! See as a country we have decided that some things are not a commodity and should be made available to everybody such as: saving your house if it is on fire, or calling the police if you have been a victim of crime. The problem, as I have stated before, is health does not fall under that category, plain and simply there is too much money to be made from it. Imagine if we applied this way of thought to the above mentioned situations… you have just lost somebody to a violent crime, and rather than calling 911 right away you have to consider how you will pay for the police to investigate–instead of calling the fire department when you come home to your house being on fire you have to borrow the money it will take to get them out to your house. Foolish right? Then I ask why do we take this approach with our health?

To deal with the Nazi comparison is simple. We live in a democracy which is a political philosophy. It is in no way an economic one. Nazi Germany was not a democracy, that is why the Nazis did what they did, not because of the economic system they chose. In fact material democracy (true socialism) is, in my opinion, the purest expression of democracy.

To sum it all up, the constitution was not written in stone for a reason ,and it should reflect our reality, secondly we already have socialized many many things and health should be included on that list!