When Senator John McCain announced he had been diagnosed with brain cancer the reaction was pretty much universal: respect and encouragement. As Faithwire reported, leaders from all around the country, no matter their political persuasion, praised McCain as an American hero and public servant.
But other voices are beginning to bubble to the surface, stumbling over themselves to be first in line to twist McCain’s story into a supporting case for Universal Healthcare. It’s all well and good to have a conversation, but there are a few reasons that suggest they shouldn’t be so eager.
Eager like this pastor who went so far as to take the Lord’s name in vain to make the point:
And that’s why talking about healthcare in the wake of this terrible news isn’t disrespectful, it isn’t in poor taste, and it isn’t political opportunism—it’s the goddamn point. The personal hell that John McCain and his loved ones are walking through right now is the point of it all.
Universal healthcare is something we need to talk about now, because Cancer is an equal-opportunity bastard who cannot be defeated without help; because life-threatening illness is a bully that knocks the hell out of you and those who care about you, because we are all terrified of dying and want to know that we won’t be left alone if the shit hits the fan.
I want John McCain to live. I want him to get to spend more time with those who would grieve his loss in ways I’ll never understand. But I want this for you too. I want it for your father and your children and your friends. I want it for those I love. I want it for people I agree with and people I don’t.
We should be for one another. We should fight for each other’s life with all that we have.
This is what America does when she is at her best.
True, is not disrespectful or in poor taste to talk about certain political policies simply because someone is going through a trying time. There’s nothing wrong with having the discussion, so long as you’re not being cruel and calling for someone’s death. But here’s the one glaring problem with bringing it up now:
It only highlights the absolutely worst features of a government run system: a complete and total lack of heart, humanity, not to mention individualized care and choices.
Ok, that’s more than one glaring problem. It’s several.
Universal healthcare promises better access for all, but as we’ve seen in the past that’s not true for the elderly. They’re put on “end of life” care and put on a path to death in order to spare the taxpayers from paying to keep someone alive for a relatively short period of time.
And as we are seeing with the Charlie Gard case in the U.K. — where they do have a universal healthcare system — it’s not just the elderly who are treated inhumanely. Parents are treated as children themselves, their rights to make choices taken away whenever the state chooses to do so.
Faithwire has reported extensively on the story of Charlie Gard, where the parents of nearly 1-year-old Charlie are having to fight a court and a hospital for the mere right to give their very own child the treatment they see fit. They have the funding, the willpower, and the hope – but the hospital and the court feel the baby should just die. This is currently happening in a universal healthcare type system. Right now. Today. That doesn’t sound very loving, does it? That doesn’t sound like a system that wants the best for “your partner and your children and your friends” nor the others you love. It’s not even a bottom line decision, as the parents can pay on their own. It’s a “we know better than you” decision so get out of the way and let us kill your child.
If they can do that to a one year old, imagine what they can do to an elderly man like John McCain when he gets sick. If they see no hope, future or possibility in a one year old, what possible hope or future are they going to see that gives them reason to invest government dollars into saving an 80+ year old like Senator McCain?
No amount of window dressing (i.e. “death with dignity”) can escape the undeniable fact that the government’s need to allocate funding and a family’s desire to keep their loved one alive will frequently come into conflict. When it’s not about funding, like with Charlie Gard, then apparently it’s a power struggle.
How can anyone with a straight face believe universal healthcare will help old, dying people like Senator McCain “spend more time” with those he loves when we’re literally watching that premise being proved false across the pond? Charlie Gard’s family wants to spend more time with the little one they love, and they’re now in court. They’re fighting doctors and judges who “know better” than they do.
If the universal healthcare system is capable of deciding – and going to incredible lengths to enforce – that a little child is better off dead than trying experimental treatments with its mom and dad, don’t kid yourself, it’s not going to be bending over backwards to save granny or anyone else who the State deems doesn’t have the quality of life worth living anymore.
So go ahead, proponents of universal healthcare, lay it all out there. Bring that discussion to the table. Happy to discuss how we can best care for one another. Happy to discuss why farming out the task of love to bureaucrats is a fatally flawed idea. Happy to discuss how becoming lazy hashtag activists isn’t helpful. Happy to discuss how we as a people can do a far better job than layers of bureaucracy ever could. Happy to discuss how technology, like GoFundme and others, are proving we don’t need giant bloated systems to take care of each other.
When Americans are looking out for one another, rallying neighbors, friends and the country when someone is in dire need, that is more powerful than any government program could ever dream to be. When we’re together, and also free to follow the medical choices we want to make – that’s when America is at her best.
Not when we hand over our rights – and our responsibility – to someone else.
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