Universal Health Care in the U.S. is a MORAL Problem
I recently heard someone say that “If you can fund endless wars in the Middle East for trillions upon trillions of dollars, then universal healthcare for all isn’t a budgetary issue, it’s a moral issue.”
There’s so much truth to this that it hurts.
I have a conservative co-worked who is fully against what he calls “Obama Care” which he’ll immediately conflates any concept of a socialized or universal healthcare program. It's odd, because he also served in the Armed Forces and uses the most social healthcare in the country, the military VA. But anything else that looks like universal healthcare is "Obama Care" to him. It’s meant as a pejorative, a slur, as libelous slander. Obama was the Devil, for him, and so anything associated with Obama is evil or bad.
This is called being lead by propaganda. It's letting party affiliation and bias confuse one's moral judgement. As such, this bias causes him to says things like, “Why should I have to pay for my neighbors cancer treatment?”
Well, technically, you’re not.
You’re not footing the whole of your neighbor's cancer treatment. If we're talking about universal healthcare, you’re likely paying pennies on the dollar, because ALL your neighbors on every block on every street in your town, in your county, in your district, in your State, in your entire country are SPLITTING the difference of that bill.
That’s what the “universal” means in universal healthcare. Universalism is about ethical rules that apply to all. And if you believe your country was founded on Christian values, then the moral principal is that Christians are supposed to help those in need.
Jesus came to heal the sick, feed the hungry. Universal healthcare is an extension of Jesus Christ’s teachings. If you’re a Christian, there’s no reason to deny universal healthcare, because it is what Jesus would have done. It’s what he wants YOU as a Christian to do.
Think about it. To hoard your money and say, “Well, I don’t want to foot the bill for my neighbor in need,” is anti-Christian. It’s mamon. It’s greed. It’s callous indifference to the suffering of others. Like I said, it’s anti-Christian.
All Christians, by the very definition of being followers of Christ, MUST agree that universal healthcare is the most Christian endeavor they could do to help their fellow neighbors, their fellow human beings, their friends and families.
I’m not a Christian. But I know that every civilised, democratic socialism in the world has universal healthcare. I’ve lived in countries with universal healthcare for several decades. One time, I broke my tooth and I had to have a crown put on done when I was living in Japan, and I also had to have one done in the U.S. a few years later.
My crown in the U.S. cost me upwards of $3,000 USD. It put me in medical debt. Meanwhile, my crown done in Japan cast me $40 USD. That’s right, forty dollars. Why? Because everyone on my city block, on my street, and on every subsequent street, of the whole city, of the whole district, of the whole Prefecture, of the whole country paid into the system. What were my monthly healthcare payments? Roughly $150 for my whole family.
Do you know what I currently pay into my BlueCross BlueShield plan here in the U.S.? $750 per month, just for myself! In order to add my family to that plan, it's another $600 for each family member. Each! That's the opposite of affordable. And, in the U.S., people who are in bad health are stuck in bad health. They can't find relief. As someone who cares about others, I find this sad. But it's also frustrating. Because why do countries who spend way less on healthcare have universal healthcare and we don't?
I find it ironic how much my Government spends on war, on killing, on invading other countries, on oppressing other nations, on the theft of oil, and etc… yet the majority is seemingly fine with our tax payer dollars being spent in the trillions on empire building (Okay, some of us aren’t fine with it to the extent that it’s gone beyond protecting our borders from enemies to being all out war mongers, because did we ever pause to ask in a globally united economy what spending trillions of dollars on diplomacy would look like instead of war? No? Okay then).
But we’re NOT okay spending pennies on the dollar to help our fellow citizens have health care?
What do you call that? It’s certainly not political. It’s a moral issue.
NOT caring about anyone enough to want to help alleviate their quality of life when they run into health issues is, I don’t know, what do you call the complete indifference to the suffering of others?
Oh, yeah, that’s right. Evil.
I’m not a Christian, but I know that being glad to let others suffer needlessly is wrong. It’s that term “needless” that we have to consider here. That’s what makes this a moral issue, not a political one. If it’s needless suffering, this implies we have the means to prevent it or alleviate it to substantial degrees.
Human decency is something that as a humanist I take seriously. Authenticity and human decency are the two biggest moral tenets of how I choose to live my life. These principles are followed by kindness, understanding, and acceptance of others and other points of view.
It’s something far too many people have a problem with because they still think in tribalistic terms. It’s my tribe, why should I help the warring tribe over there? They only ever steal from us, kidnap our women, and pillage our land.
But the world is growing smaller and smaller, and more interconnected by the day. We can no longer afford to live tribalistically, or think like cavemen.
Civilisation requires cooperation to work smoothly. In order to advance, as a global society, or even as a country in a global community, we need to learn to work together. Peacefully.
It’s something we’re taught as kindergarteners but so often forget as adults. How to be kind to the person sitting next to us. How to share. How to help each other when we see someone who needs help.
Universal healthcare is not a political issue. It’s not a budgetary issue. If people with good hearts cared enough about their fellow neighbors, it would be a moral imperative. If you know Immanuel Kant, you’ll know what I’m talking about.
Those who are against universal health care are immoral. They lack empathy. They’re self-centered and callous. They’re, for the lack of a better description, selfish pieces of shit.
I don’t want to know you or have anything to do with you if you want to remain indifferent to the suffering of others. That’s a deliberate choice. A choice only a piece of shit person would make.
So, if you’re living in a country that has all the means in the world, can spend trillions upon trillions of dollars effortlessly, yet doesn’t have universal healthcare, do you know what that means? It means you’re living in a country that’s being governed by immoral leaders, who are carrying out policies voted for by immoral people who care only about themselves.
If that’s the country you want to live in, I hear North Korea has some openings. But, I’d rather live in a place where the government isn’t deliberately trying to make our lives harder but begins working for the people. I prefer to live in a place where people understand that enacting a universal healthcare system says as much about their moral fiber as it says about the quality of life we could strive toward.
It certainly would say a lot as compared to the morally depraved depths a person would need to sink to think that any amount of suffering cast upon their neighbor is good because at least they didn’t need to “foot the bill” even though they never did in the first place.
Honestly, if you were ever for “building that wall” or support ICE or agree with bombing foreign countries just because, you were never a good person to begin with. This message isn’t for a person like you. You don’t even have a moral compass. Your compass isn’t broken, it simply doesn’t exist.
What I am writing here is an explanation that people who can at least understand right from wrong need to do better in recognizing that doing the kind thing isn’t always easy. There is a cost to helping others that requires a bit of self-sacrifice.
It requires our effort, whether that’s through giving our time or paying our fare share in making things better for others, it’s a small price to pay for when the day comes (God forbid) that we might need to turn to our neighbor and ask for help.
Do you want to live next to the neighbor who’ll have your back? Or do you want to live next to the neighbor that would rather let you suffer in agony perchance to die just to be rid of you so they needn’t be bothered with YOUR problems? Because, that’s the kind of neighbor that’s going to rot in Hell.
In the future, when you’re voting for real change in this country, ask yourself, is what I’m voting for going to help my fellow neighbor? Or is it going to make me a selfish piece of shit? If what you’re voting for actively seeks to strip the rights of your fellow neighbor, then you’re also a piece of shit. Don’t be that person. Be better. Be kind. Be considerate.
Being a good person is hard. Being a self righteous prick, that’s easy. Pricks say whatever they want, without consideration of how their words will impact others, they say things that harm, they lobby insults without batting an eye, they only ask what they can get out of it? Sometimes being good for goodness sake is the best possible outcome. Sometimes you do need to consider how your words sting. Sometimes it’s not about what you can get out of it but what you can provide in terms of your service of others. Uplifting people requires you to use a bit of muscle, put them on your back, and to stand up strong and tall when they can’t.
What do you get out of it? You get a better world. A kinder world. A world where you can live in health and prosperity. So, when I say universal healthcare is a moral problem, it’s also a personal problem for people who don’t know how to be kind. It’s a tough ask to ask others to be less selfish, to be less self-absorbed, and to be a little more caring for others.
But in the grand scheme of things, I don’t see why I wouldn’t want my neighbor’s cancer to be treated. If they came out with a cure for cancer because I helped fund a universal healthcare system and then they discover a cure for cancer, then everyone wins. If I someday get cancer, then I’ll be in need of such care too. It doesn’t make sense to say, well, since I don’t have cancer I don’t want to pay for my neighbor’s cancer treatment. People who say self absorbed shit like this are not worth our time. But they shouldn’t dictate national policy.
No, if we’re to live in health and prosperity, and continue to be moral and civilised people, then universal healthcare is a necessity at this point.
