As I understand the conservative antipathy regarding governmental programs, such as social security, Medicare, Medicaid, healthcare reform, unemployment benefits, food stamps, etc., it is that (1) government should not have the power to create such programs and fund them, and (2) the U.S. Constitution prohibits the federal government from creating and then funding such programs.
Is this correct? I think most political persuasions can agree that charity is a good thing for many reasons, on many different levels. But let’s get beyond that and discuss more fundamental issues:
In a society in which governments do not wield a right or power to establish such economic safety nets, conservatives seem to believe that charity would be sufficient to prevent illness and death, due to starvation and malnutrition, and to provide medical care to those with preventable or treatable illnesses and injuries. If this is correct, then I can understand their position. However, I do not agree with it. If it is not correct, then I wonder if those consequences (suffering and death by members of our community) are something that conservatives would find acceptable to live with and witness?
Personally, I do believe that 1) governments should have the power to create and implement very basic societal safety nets, 2) the U.S. Constitution does not prohibit the federal government from doing so, 3) voluntary charity (in a large society) will never be sufficient (no matter how minimal government was structured to stay out of the lives of its citizens), nor well-organized enough to prevent illness and death due to starvation and malnutrition, and to provide medical care to those with preventable or treatable illnesses and injuries, and 4) I am philosophically opposed to living in a large society in which members of that society die or succumb to illness due to malnutrition and starvation, or the inability to access medical care–especially when they are required, when physically and mentally able to do so, to contribute to the accumulation of value and wealth within that society.
There is nothing abhorrent about this philosophy, It is not inconsistent, nor incompatible with patriotic, Christian, democratic, and civilized teachings and ideologies.
Loren M. Lambert © June 30, 2012
Is this correct? I think most political persuasions can agree that charity is a good thing for many reasons, on many different levels. But let’s get beyond that and discuss more fundamental issues:
In a society in which governments do not wield a right or power to establish such economic safety nets, conservatives seem to believe that charity would be sufficient to prevent illness and death, due to starvation and malnutrition, and to provide medical care to those with preventable or treatable illnesses and injuries. If this is correct, then I can understand their position. However, I do not agree with it. If it is not correct, then I wonder if those consequences (suffering and death by members of our community) are something that conservatives would find acceptable to live with and witness?
Personally, I do believe that 1) governments should have the power to create and implement very basic societal safety nets, 2) the U.S. Constitution does not prohibit the federal government from doing so, 3) voluntary charity (in a large society) will never be sufficient (no matter how minimal government was structured to stay out of the lives of its citizens), nor well-organized enough to prevent illness and death due to starvation and malnutrition, and to provide medical care to those with preventable or treatable illnesses and injuries, and 4) I am philosophically opposed to living in a large society in which members of that society die or succumb to illness due to malnutrition and starvation, or the inability to access medical care–especially when they are required, when physically and mentally able to do so, to contribute to the accumulation of value and wealth within that society.
There is nothing abhorrent about this philosophy, It is not inconsistent, nor incompatible with patriotic, Christian, democratic, and civilized teachings and ideologies.
Loren M. Lambert © June 30, 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment