so Healthcare reform's been signed into law. what's changed? not much (yet). but i wanted to post something relevant. so here's a BIG RED ROBOT:
symbollic? i guess it depends who you ask. maybe not of the legislation itself, but the tone/chatter surrounding it.
seriously, i continue to be appalled at the "OMG socialism" rhetoric that a LOT of my fellow Americans are still spouting (sourcing from media talking points).
first, the bill (now law) is hardly socialism, considering it drives more $ to the incumbent interests/businesses. and it is hardly a "government takeover of healthcare" - it's pretty watered down legislation.
but more importantly, let me say this here (as i've said before):
socialism is NOT entirely bad.
sure, some of the outcomes + abuses in certain parts of the world/history are pretty ugly. but you could say the same about capitalism (Michael More certainly makes an interesting case). there are evils to either economic philosophy - but mostly when they are left unchecked. positive outcomes actually can actually come from either (innovation, protection, mutually assured growth/benefits), but usually when they are done IN MODERATION.
but rather expounding on the benefits of socialism, i'll rely on other, more articulate folks to do so:
2. some other random post (enlarge image below)
(thanks to Sean T. + Bob A. for sharing these, respectively)
however, just to be "fair and balanced", i'll also share a recent rebuttal to #2 (which i found online while seeking #2's original source). what i actually LIKE about this rebuttal-of-sorts, is it shows that you have to have a little of both to move forward in a somewhat positive direction.
the danger lies in the extremes, and we should be wary of those who sit at either end. but we do ourselves a disservice when we scream rhetoric from either end of the table, without choosing NOT to seek the middle path, which is something Buddha believed in , and he was a pretty smart guy.
but he sure didn't have a big red robot.
we should be wary of the extremes. but this bill is NOT extreme. This bill contains mostly republican ideas.
ReplyDeleteright. hopefully that idea came across from my post. it's NOT an extreme bill by any means, so people need to quit getting so hot + bothered by it (ie, there's not a big red robot ready to now attack)
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ReplyDeleteand upon second inspection, it's really a big YELLOW robot (on a red background). i could infer some sort of broader symbolism (like yellow is really the color of fear [mongering] on a backdrop of implied socialism), but i'm not really that smart.
ReplyDeletereally, i'm not.