"it's about freedom. we value our freedom. when you start taking away our freedoms, that's not right. that's socialism."
a conversation i had with a friend's dad the other night came to a halt with this sentence. we had been talking about health care. my friend's mother seemlessly changed topics to curling (the sport, not the hair). but it made me think:
americans value their freedoms, i agree there; most people do. but what is freedom?
wikipedia states a few definitions, including these two:
free will - the ability of agents to make choices free of certain kinds of constraint and political freedom - the absense of interference of the sovereignty of the individual by use of coercion or agression
these are the freedoms, i think, which many americans fear are being treaded upon with a concept of national health care, paid for by taxes -- free will, for that percentage of their money to go towards what they choose, and political freedom, in that the government is removing that individual sovereignty. freedom to choose who money benefits...
but americans willingly pay for other public services - such as police officers, schools, libraries... i personally have never called the police to protect me, or have ever had children to send to school (but i do use libraries)... so why would having someone reaping health benefits from this same cut be any different? argue that someone will take advantage of the system -- someone is already taking advantage of the system... advertisement, marketing, entertainment takes advantage of the consumerism system... why not have someone actually benefitting for once? improved health cannot be a bad thing, same as improved protection, education, and knowledge...
and why fear socialism? i have done no research into this but this is my gut feeling -- because we are told to... especially america's baby boomer generation, who fought war after war against countries who were not necessarily democratic nor capitalist... they were the other guy, the bad guy, and they all fall under generic labels such as socialism... i'm not suggesting anarchy, to stampede the white house, nothing of the sort... i'm suggesting losing labels, past fears, deeply-ingrained messages, all of which is really difficult to do... but to open your eyes, ears and minds is a freedom we possess... and can value...
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