Debate and Government: Comments on the Bedford Healthcare Forum

 

What we came away with was a certainty that the people in this packed hall (standing room only) expressed a fearful disgust with their government in general, and an alarming degree of discourtesy for John Hall, who tried earnestly to respond to legitimate questions. There were groups of hecklers – apparently organized to disorganize - who shouted insults and catcalls at every attempt of the Congressman to reply and at any questioner who did not represent their destructive and naysaying posture. But there were also ordinary local citizens…owners of small local businesses, retirees, parents…who expressed legitimate concerns and an innate distrust of government.

 

Another generality that struck me about this crowd was a total lack of compassion for the uninsured, for “illegal aliens” (that one man defined as beings from another planet,) for the less fortunate of our society. Is that who we are? I don’t think so, but I was reminded of how successfully the Goebbels propaganda machine was used to blame Jews, Gypsies and all dissenters for what was wrong in the Third Reich.

 

I am often an outspoken critic of government on many levels, with a focus on our local Kent government, but even I was shocked by the depth of anger and fear displayed by the crowd at this meeting. As an insurance professional for more than ten years, I know how much public pressure and DC lobbying, at a cost of billions, the industry has promulgated over many years (since 1915, when they used the same bugaboo “socialism”) to keep the insurance business state-regulated and out of the control of the Fed. I also know that this is what the fight is about for the industry, much more than fear of the competition from a public option. But they’ve done a great job again of manipulating the public.

    

So, I did some research and found some pertinent comments about government in the words of Dwight D. Eisenhower as cited in a NY Times Op-Ed of September 3^rd. DDE received a letter from a WWII veteran, who felt that Eisenhower was hedging and wrote “We wait for someone to speak for us and back him completely if the statement is made in truth.” In reply he wrote, “I doubt that citizens like yourself could ever, under our democratic system, be provided with the universal degree of certainty, the confidence in their understanding of our problems, and the clear guidance from higher authority that you believe needed. Such unity is not only logical but indeed indispensable in a successful military organization, but in a democracy debate is the breath of life.”

 

Let us honor Eisenhower’s vision of an open society, debate our issues, and remain mindful of the simple courtesies that we wish to imbue in our children. To distrust all government is to distrust ourselves as a society with the choices we make. We travel and trust the roads each day that our government has constructed, we call on our police and fire force to protect the safety of our persons and property, and we take for granted the processes of our justice system – all provided for us by government and paid for by our taxes. They are no more imperfect than we are ourselves. And at the same time, let us take our responsibilities as citizens seriously. Vote in all elections, serve on school boards, get involved, remain constructively critical, form independent opinions, and think for ourselves.