Let’s get this out of the way: I’m a firm believer in both Democratic ideals and Barack Obama, but I think the Republican party has some very valid points about a number of issues. Including health care.
How many times have you seen or heard someone say that in recent months?
But it is true. The idea that one political party is completely right and the other is wrong is beyond ridiculous, no matter which side of the fence you stand on. That’s the reason this debate will always be never-ending. As we’ve seen in Congress, the more we fracture ourselves, the worse things become. And that goes for everyone, even down to ourselves as individuals. Put another way:
If you think that the other side is full of ignorant, uncaring people that are doing their best to damage America, then not only are you completely wrong, but you’re unwittingly part of the huge rift that is gripping our beloved country. And as a whole, we really, really have to do better before it’s too late.
Why? Because both parties are (truly) trying their best to help this country, and they both have it right and wrong. If there was an easy answer to this mess, we’d have discovered it a very long time ago. And this has never been more evident than with the current health care discussion.
The bare truth of the matter is that on the Democratic side, the main intention of the health care bill is simple: to keep Americans from having their lives screwed over just because they get sick. Depending on where you stand, it’s a tough issue to wrap your head around at times. For those that have never experienced a drastic problem with health care (like me), the whole thing seems overblown on the surface. In my world, there are very few problems with health care, other than having to overpay for medicine once or twice a year. It’s not a big deal. On the other hand, you may also know someone who has gotten laid off during the past year, and are startled to discover that their biggest fear is not going without work…but going without health care benefits. Already paying as much as $1000 a month, their savings are dwindling and they’re terrified that they’ll get sick (especially something like cancer), with absolutely nowhere to turn. They may simply run out of money, while watching the person in the hospital bed next to them get the medicine/surgeries they need to keep on going. These things truly happen, and I can’t imagine a more helpless feeling.
Is there an easy answer to this? No. Absolutely, 100% no. Whatever we do, it’s going to be ugly. If we do nothing, people will lose their life savings and even die because of a lack of insurance. They’ll endure sickness much more than they have to, and their children may suffer a fate just as bad. If we look at this health care bill as a savior, however, we have to know that it poses some dire questions of its own. If the rosy budget projections aren’t accurate (and they rarely are), we’re in real danger of falling further into debt and thus weaker as a nation. And of course, the problem is made worse by the awful housing collapse and foreign wars that we’re engaged in. Not to mention the fact that we, as individuals, are being forced to help others in a way that we have no choice about.
So no matter how you look at this, everyone can look at the other side and find things to despise. Everyone can feel pinned in, angry, and frustrated. And everyone can unleash this anger on the party that they don’t agree with—not to mention so many of your friends and family that believe in their respective parties, and are trying hard to do the right thing.
We are all trying to do the right thing: Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. We really are. We have different ways of going about it at times, and mostly we’re involved in a never-ending sequence of tearing down the party in power because we’re so angry. We blame our government because they can’t get anything done, yet we (collectively) continue to elect people that we know little to nothing about, simply because they have a (D) or (R) next to their names. If you don’t believe me, then perhaps you should ask yourself why you voted in the way you did in the last election, and whether you did research on your own using unbiased sources. A few of you will provide very intelligent answers, but many of you (including myself, I’m sad to say) will not be able to.
No matter what you believe, I personally believe that you try to help this country whenever you can. I give you the benefit of the doubt, because I know that the people reading this post are people that I respect, and I know that you fall on both sides of the line. I don’t think you stop being a good person simply by going to the polls, only to miraculously change back a few hours later. If you have something to say, and you are a Republican, then I will listen to you…I mean really listen to you. And many times, especially when these ideas are your own, I know that they will unquestionably have merit. Sometimes those ideas meet my own in a way that they cannot coincide, and in those cases I do not stand on my soap box and dismiss your ideas. I look for some way—any way—to take the best parts of each side and make a compromise. Because I believe the two of us knows better than just one of us.
More than ever, I think it’s so incredibly important that each of us finds a way to do this. We have to stop listening to blowhard TV commentators telling us what to think—especially those that see their careers benefit from spinning things in the most negative direction possible. Can you imagine how things would look if we had people doing the exact opposite? They might just say:
- Taxes aren’t evil: they provide us an education, and our highways, and our police forces to keep us safe at night.
- Republicans are very wise: they understand that fiscal responsibility is vital, and that America was truly built on the promise that we can be whatever we make of ourselves.
- Democrats are good people: they do everything they can do help the poor, even if they don’t always go about it the right way. They’re doing their best to live up to one of the most central Christian philosophies.
Of course, I could go right back down the list and tell you what’s horribly awful about each of these things, as well. Not to mention countless other things. But I won’t—I think that’s been covered well enough recently. My point is that all of this is about spin, and it’s time we remembered to see the good in each other as well as the bad. And again, misdirected or not, the majority of people are trying to do the right thing. If you don’t believe that, then I would argue that you don’t believe in the people of the United States of America.
This health care bill has resulted in a great divide, but then again, almost everything has these days. It’s quite possible that it may fail, and it’s possible that it may succeed. It will save individual lives, but those lives might come at too great a cost to the country. It represents the best effort of a government that’s nearly been brought to a standstill by its despisal of itself. But in spite of all of this, the bill was drafted with good intentions (misguided or not), and we won’t know if it will work or not until we give it a chance. If it becomes evident over time that it isn’t working, then we all need to work together to find something better.
The bototm line is that if we can’t find ways to work together—as individuals—then I’m not sure how much of this really matters.
