At the Tea Party/Republican debate earlier this week, there was a moment that revealed the true nature of the Tea Party’s values and compassion for their fellow citizens. It unfolded in this exchange between the CNN moderator, Wolf Blitzer, and Rep. Ron Paul. But it was the audience response to the question that merits more attention.
Wolf Blitzer: Let me ask you this hypothetical question: A healthy, thirty year old young man, has a good job, makes a good living, but decides, “You know what…I’m not gonna spend two hundred or three hundred dollars a month for health insurance because I’m healthy, I don’t need it.” But something terrible happens and all of a sudden he needs it. Who’s gonna pay for it if he goes into a coma? […] Are you saying that society should just let him die?
Tea Party Audience: (shouting) Yes! Yeah!
That pretty much sums up the Randian philosophy of self-interest that permeates the Tea Party and the right in general. It illustrates their detachment from society and the conviction that we are all on our own, that we have no moral obligation to anyone else, and that if some unfortunate person is suffering – even dying – that’s their problem.
It is notable that Blitzer’s framing of the question slanted the issue to focus on someone with a job and good pay who declined insurance by choice. However, in reality, a working person probably already has health insurance from their employer. The question completely avoids the more likely scenario wherein a person is uninsured due to unemployment or underemployment, not by their own choosing. People falling into this category can include housewives, students, and retirees, along with ordinary folks who just happen to have been laid off or had some other misfortune.
The Tea Party is now out of the closet with regard to their overt insensitivity and uncaring attitude toward those in need. They seem oblivious to the notion that the needy may include their neighbors, their family, or even themselves. What’s worse is that they have exposed themselves as hypocrites to the values they profess to hold. Do they have any recollection of the words of their Lord regarding His criteria for entry into the Kingdom of Heaven? He spoke of the treatment of the hungry and the sick saying…
“Whatever you neglected to do unto one of the least of these, you neglected to do unto Me!”
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Much is revealed of us by our treatment of others. And much is revealed of our society by its compassion for all of its citizens. The Republican audience in the previous debate demonstrated their aversion to compassion by cheering for executions. Now the Tea Party has assumed the role of the biblical Romans and, like Pontius Pilate, have washed their hands of it.
So easy to say it’s not my responsibility. God forbid they ever have to walk a mile in their shoes.
The question (or issue) shouldn’t be ‘should we let them die’, it should be ‘why is healthcare so fucking expensive?’. Asking whether or not to let them die is only asked because it costs so much. The true issue is corporate America assigning monetary value to someone’s life, which many corporations see as the perfect excuse to gouge people. The lack of critical thinking there is concerning. Then again, what’s changed?
Why don’t you libs get together and make your own Liberal Insurance Co. and compete. You all have the investment capital. There are some stinkin rich people on your side. Perhaps it is that you need even more. That’s why you want to hijack the US government and use its endless resources. Cause that is what it will take to make all your healthcare dreams come true. The only problem with that is that these endless green resources are but a dream too and the resources that we actually do/ did have are severely limited by the Admin via the EPA. What do you do? Ask China!
It’s particularly chilling when you consider that, according to a CNN poll I read, most Tea-Partiers are retired baby boomers (“angry white men”) who receive both SS and Medicare. It truly is the party of the “I’ve got mine so screw you” crowd.
@Desdinova, you are absolutely correct.
This hypothetical guy made a decision – I see absolutely NOTHING wrong with the response to this issue. the guy decided NOT to get insurance – his choice and he made it. sorry, you can’t fix everyones screw ups.
You also can’t just allow people to die for any reason, especially money. You’re focusing on the wrong part of blitzer’s question.
Uh huh. So let him die. Because he made a decision to forgo paying thousands of dollars to a giant multinational insurance conglomerate, the consequence, should he get ill, is DEATH!
He would be better off robbing a bank, for which the consequences are not death. He would merely serve some years in jail where he would get free health care.
Thank you for affirming the irrational and bloodthirsty nature of conservative ideology.
Ready for some irony? Ron Paul’s former campaign manager died penniless and uninsured. http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/was-ron-paul-thinking-his-former-campai
The insurance Co.’s did not sentence the man to his fate. This individual is responsible for himself. You cannot force people to be moral or charitable. Each must make his own decisions in accordance with his faith. Who says how long a person should live and what is an acceptable death. The way I see it the US is in such a state because our standards of living are too high. We want to live too long and want it all too easy. We are so detached from natural processes. We are no longer willing to accept a natural fate. Very few are ready to die when the time comes. We all fight it “by any means neccessary”. Fighting nature as we have been is costly and perverted. Death is a part of life. Accept it and let nature take its course. The more you manipulate things the more you have to manipulate things in order to keep manipulating things.
RE: Beck
Pay attention or you people will learn nothing. I don’t know about all the stuff you people claim to know about Beck but one thing I do know is that he is right. Pay attention or you will not learn anything. You all speak about things you know nothing of.
Well, this comment explains the lunacy of your previous comment. Thanks for clearing that up.
Hey mark, you seem to like that word lunacy. Was that the first one your daddy taught you? You probably never had one. That’s why you want the government to be yours. You want B.O. to be your daddy.
I doubt very seriously that any true Tea Party person would just let anyone die. Why didn’t Wolfe use an old stinking vagrant that eats out of a garbage can as an example? Concerning morality what would be the difference? For that matter why not save the whole world? Conservatives know God within themselves and act upon it. These people know that in
their community the members would support those in need and not rely upon the govmnt to do so. Do you libs not believe that the members of your community would help one in need? Why do you libs believe that people must be forced to be charitable? Do you not believe in an intrinsic goodness in people enough to trust them to do what You believe they should (i.e. take care of one another. Tell me why you would trust any government more. Are not politicians untruthful by nature. You people always want to organize against. Why not organize for? Why not create charitable organizations that take care of these matters, free of govnmnt intervention, to which ALL may give willingly? An organization that would strive to keep our trust becuse the government has absolutely lost it! Handle these things on a local level. Look for the god inside you, find it, trust it and trust it to be in others. It should be obvious to you all by now that you won’t find it in the government.
Wonder how Ms./Mr. Stinks landed on this site. I suspect it was linked to by a blog Ms. or Mr. Stinks doesn’t think stinks.
Jesus never used his power to force anyone to follow him. He led by example. Lead dammnit LEAD!
You ppl here were all for freeing the Arabs from their US backed dictators. You lefties and uniformed moderates said that the Muslim Brotherhood was not going to steal the movement and Sharia Law would not rule the land over there. All the while Beck was warning of what was to come. He was/is way ahead of it all. Now look where the Arab Spring ( brought on by the Admin and partners @ Google) is now. It is right where Beck said it would be- Muslim Brotherhood leading the way with Sharia Law to rule the land. You morons freed those ppl just so THEY can turn around and freely enslave others under Sharia Law. So much for your precious Human Rights! Y’all screwed up again. You ppl neglect reality. One failure after another. Y’all don’t know this country, what it’s founded on, and how far ahead it actually is from the rest of the world.
None of what you (or Beck) said has come true. If you believe that you are simply delusional. There is no worldwide Islamic revolution. There is no global caliphate. The Muslim Brotherhood has no role in the Arab Spring and there are elections scheduled for November.
But thanks for articulating your support for tyrannical dictators like Mubarak. It fits in nicely with your support for letting sick people die.
HEY MARK, LOOK OUT BELOW!
I hope you are right about the Mid East. Re: letting ppl die – I see the individual as one entity and the insurance co. as another- each exists for its own reasons. I don’t see how we have any justification for forcing them into a partnership. I know the argument that hospitals and everyone ends up paying for it anyway. I work in a hospital and have been a suffering patient. I know how much it costs to keep dying patients alive- much of the time until family members/ loved ones are ready to let them go or until Dr’s are done experimenting. Manipulating outcomes can be VERY costly. Uninsured costs get distributed. The fact is that somewhere down the line you have to let nature take it’s course. We can’t all live forever. I used to believe that there is nothing more important in life than the relief of suffering but the truth is that suffering and death are part of life and to deny or run from that truth is to dilute the value of life. I’m all for making things safer and more efficient but I also believe in this land to be THE Home of the Free and Land of the Brave- not just lyrics to a song!
This one evidently is working hard to be worthy of her/his screen name. Too bad it takes more than one raving fool to stink up this place.
Just hanging out while at work dear. By the way did you all see this from YOUR NY Times:
In the case of Egypt, the administration has promised millions of dollars in aid to support a democratic transition, only to see the military council ruling the country object to how and where it is spent, according to two administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic matters. The objection echoed similar ones that came from Mr. Mubarak’s government. The government and the political parties vying for support before new elections there have also intensified anti-American talk. The officials privately warned of the emergence of an outwardly hostile government, dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood and remnants of Mr. Mubarak’s party.
Crazy isn’t it! Obvious right wing interference with Admins plans.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/world/middleeast/tumult-of-arab-spring-prompts-worries-in-washington.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&hp
ah, what would a con be without his vast generalizations, dear. MY NY Times indeed. And it gets even more irrelevant from there.
Yes there is the possibility of the threat of a radical Muslim group taking the reins in the middle east. Of course the tumult and the election bears watching, but tell me, how LIKELY is it that this would happen and that an Islamic caliphate would eventually result from it.
Worrying about elections in strife ridden and tenuous democracies is nothing new where American foreign policy is concerned.
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