In this editorial opinion, Bill Moyers brought an eloquence to our national discourse that has not been seen since Edward R. Murrow or Walter Cronkite. While he explored the health care debate he also touched on the growing fear, bordering on paranoia that is bubbling to the surface in American life. While the debate may seem new, it is clear that some of it is a result of the latent racism the is still lurking beneath the facade in some parts of the nation.
It has been said that it is easier to say we are sorry than to admit we were wrong, the tone of our national discourse would seem to illustrate this. If we step back, for the most part a President speaking to our children on staying in school and working toward goals is not some plot to indoctrinate the children with a socialist message. The idea of offering our citizens the opportunity to buy into Medicare before we reach 65 as an alternative to private insurance is not close to socialized medicine. Yet the debate would suggest that some can not make these distinctions.
Who are the ones making the noise, many of them were the ones who have supported the Neo-Conservative movement since the days of Ronald Reagan. If people like Paul Krugman or Thom Hartmann are correct, it is the economic policies pursued since 1980 caused the current economic condition. Beginning with Reagan, all of the market safeguard put in place by Roosevelt as a result of the Great Depression began to be dismantled one at a time. These safeguards included the protection of workers who wished to organize, the separation of investment banks from commercial banks among others.
These policies saw the nation's average wage decline while the earnings for the wealthiest grow at astounding rates. We saw government abdicate its responsibility to regulate the market and ensure safety to a the industries themselves with disastrous consequences.
Remember people do not like being told they were wrong. People voted for the conservatives not only because they bought into the idea of prosperity but because the conservatives would play to the fears. They voted for people who preached a smaller government but advocated a government large enough to interject itself in the most private affairs of its citizens. They see people around them that are different from themselves and fear the change that it represents. The conservatives played to those fears. Now with our economy holding on by a thread they do not want to face the reality that they voted for the leaders whose policy brought us to where we are now, and they don't like it.
Since the days of old, it is easy to exploit fear during times of economic distress. Blame the other guy for what is wrong. That is easy. In this case President Barack Obama is of mixed ethincity and that brings old prejudices back into vogue. Hate groups have seen an upsurge in membership and activity. At least 2 times at a recent town hall meeting in an Hispanic congressional district, Rep. Ciro Rodriguez was grilled on the potential of health care money being spent on care of illegal immigrants by angry white audience members.
Instead of trying to learn from the mistakes of the past, the Republican party has tried to blame incoming administration for the problems they created. To blame Barack Obama for the state of the economy right now is akin to blaming the firemen for the loss of your house when you are the one who left the cigarette smoldering on couch cushion that set the blaze. The situation we are in took over 20 years of effort to cause, it will not be fixed overnight. It took FDR more than one term to fully repair the damage to our nation from the Great Depression.
It is up to each of us to rise above our level of discourse and begin the vital debate on the issues that are really pressing. We need to encourage our elected leaders to quit thier bickering and do the jobs they were hired to perform. We are not their servants, they are ours. They are the ones who are supposed to put petty differences aside and do what is right for the nation as a whole. That is the true intention of our founding fathers.
How is grilling Rep. Rodriguez on the potential of US taxpayer dollars going to pay for the health care services of non-US citizens a racist position? Can't you see that one doesn't have to be racist to believe such a thing? I consider myself a charitable person, I'm married to a foreign citizen of Hispanic descent, and I support citizens of other countries coming to the US in search of economic opportunity. But I do not support my tax dollars going to any government function other than those previously agreed upon in the constitution. The federal government should stick to its intended purpose - securing the natural (negative) rights of its citizens - and private charities and individuals should be allowed to fulfill their historical role of helping those in need, including immigrant workers.
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