While I have definite views regarding our government and it’s socialistic programs I would first like to relate a little experience of mine from college. In 1969 I was blessed with the opportunity to taught Political Science by Dr. John T. Everett Jr. Dr. Everett was the department founder and chair. For many years before and after 1969 Dr. Everett was a Presidential adviser on Soviet foreign policy. One day in class Dr. Everett discussed The United States and the Soviet Union with regard to the levels of Capitalism and Socialism exhibited by the two Nations. He began the discussion with a simple but illuminating graph. He drew a horizontal line on the blackboard and at one end wrote Capitalism and the other Socialism. He wanted to know where we thought the US and USSR should be placed on the graph to reflect how capitalistic or socialistic we thought each was. Many in the class felt the US would be at one end and the USSR the other end. After the lecture however it became clear that on a capitalism/socialism scale the two counties were very close to one another near the middle. The US slightly on the capitalism side of center and the USSR slightly on the socialism side of center. The point being, the US has always been very socialistic with less and less free market capitalism being practiced as we evolve.
Back to today. I hear over and over from the bottom that they are opposed to universal health care because they don’t want to be a socialistic state. We have always had a socialistic government. Public education is socialism. Building and maintaining roads is socialism. Social Security is socialism. The police are a form of socialism. The military is socialism. Research and development funding for the drug companies is socialism. The US Forest Service builds road into forests at tax payer expense so logging companies can clear cut out forests and mining companies can remove minerals from public lands. These expenditures constitute socialism. Taxpayers funding flood insurance for homeowners who build homes in 100 year flood plains or on the coast is socialism.
The point is do we want to see that all citizens in this wealth society get quality health care or not. Stop with the socialism arguments. The question should be are we a caring, compassionate nation of people or not. If you don’t give a damn about the uninsured just say so. Stop hiding behind the “socialism” smoke screen and admit that you are not interested in following Christ’s compassionate example.