I originally posted this on Facebook, but then remembered by “no more politics on my Facebook” vow, and decided to post it here. Because I am really, super fucking tired of reading about and hearing people bash Obama for the Affordable Care Act, and even more tired of seeing people make carte blanche statements about people they’ve never even met based on who they voted (or didn’t vote) into office. Some people are just random morons spouting their uneducated/ biased opinions in Huffington Post comment sections would likely not be so free with their opinions if they were face to face with the people they were insulting; after all… most civilized people regard it as gauche to just straight up insult someone because you don’t agree with their politics. But apparently, it’s okay to do that online. As evidenced by all the hateful political memes going around Facebook. When I was growing up, who one was voting for was often considered a private matter, much like asking someone about their salary. But now apparently it’s okay to criticize people in retrospect for their choices in the polls.
Oh, this is funny? You probably just insulted and alienated half of your Facebook “friends.” But I bet you’re really a nice person in real life, aren’t you? For realz.
You don’t have to agree with the President, or even like him, but I can’t help but feel like a lot of the negativity surrounding the ACA is born of ignorance and bigotry. After all, socialized medicine is not a new idea, and Obama is not the first President to try to implement it. Historically speaking, the Social Security and Medicare programs were also met with some resistance.
” Harry Truman took on the idea of national medical care and tried to integrate it into his Fair Deal program. Truman’s attempts were also unsuccessful, though during his presidency the fight for national medical care became specific to the aged population.Once the targeted age was decided, a lengthy debate began over presenting a coherent medical care bill to Congress. During the Eisenhower administration, the House Ways and Means Committee was created. The members of this committee were mainly Republicans and Southern Democrats, complicating attempts to pass social health programs. Wilbur Mills, chair of the committee, later played a role in creating the health care program that was integrated into the Social Security Act.” (source)
Obama’s ideas may not be perfect, but I do think they could work better if all parties cooperated instead of some businesses and politicians just trying to keep their already fat pockets padded. Obama didn’t single-handedly ruin this country, as so many claim… lobbyists and politicians did. As much as some people feel like he is not doing this country any favors, he’s not Adolf Hitler either. He’s not the anti-christ… (and btw, your tin foil hat is crooked.)
But the main thrust of this post is actually this; for those of you who feel comfortable judging a whole group of people as “morons” (or any other unflattering but essentially meaningless defamation) simply because you dislike that they voted for Obama (or didn’t, as the case may be,) just remember, these people are people too. They have ideas, dreams, people they love, and people who love them. And some of them are probably people you know, people you call “friends” and even like.
Or maybe they are people you will need some day. If you should one day find yourself caught in a burning building, are you going to turn away a fireman who comes to your rescue because he’s a “moron who voted for Obama?” (Psst…if you are that much of a self-righteous dick, you should probably consider just dying. Just sayin’.)
Okay. Red Queen out.
alienredqueen 