Why We Need Health Care (Part I)

In the hopes of contributing something to the debate over the direction our country should take in regards to Health Care and welfare programs in general I will be taking a few posts to attempt to discuss the assumptions and reasoning that underlie the belief in welfare in general. 
We begin with a basic problem, there is a vast disparity in wealth among Americans. While some have golden toilets, others have difficulty paying for their plumbing from month to month. While some charter private jets to fly from city to city, others cannot afford a car to drive to work. A portion of our society cannot afford the basics of life in modern America. This raises two questions.

1. Why are people deprived or lacking in basic necessities and comforts?
2. How do we go about fixing the problem.

The first question is perhaps most important but is often overlooked so we can talk about fixing the problem. Before we can determine a solution to the problem we first need to identify the cause. This points us toward one of the bottom level beliefs of liberalism that is so fundamental that it is rarely brought to the surface.

Man is basically good and is shaped by his environment. Thus when educated he can be enlightened and improved, but if left in poverty or surrounded by corruption then he will be almost unable to avoid damaging influence they will exert. 

Thus, an individual in poverty must be rescued from that state. He is nearly  powerless to remove himself from his environment because the environment itself is what shapes and motivates him. Thus, his existence in poverty cannot be his own fault. 

If it is not his own fault, then we must look around for what is creating the environment that is keeping people in poverty. The liberal usually falls back on the great socialist thinkers, the foremost of whom was Karl Marx,   and identifies Capitalism as the culprit. Capitalism is, fundamentally built on gaining wealth for oneself. The vast amounts of money that corporations and companies make must come from somewhere, and often that money comes from the private sector. For  example, take Wal-Mart. The company has built itself around selling base level goods at base level prices, and the majority of their income comes from low income people (like me!) who are unable or unwilling to pay more at other stores. Thus, when Walmart makes a billion dollars, that is a billion dollars that came from lower income families who cannot pay for medical or dental bills, for a car, or for insurance. And, to make it worse, when the CEO receives a 100,000 dollar bonus, that is a hundred thousand dollars in his bank account that came from people who make less than that in four years.

Thus, the culprit seems obvious, there is a lack of money in one area (the low income bracket), an abundance of wealth in another area (the CEO's bank account) and a clear path as to how the money got from one place to the other. The CEO is caught red handed.

Now that we know who caused the problem, we'll look at how to fix it next. 

New Terrorist Threat Discovered

On April 7th 2009, the Department of Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis released an Assessment titled "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment."
I heard a lot of hype about how it targeted conservatives and "rightwing radicals" (try saying that ten times fast). Having learned by bitter experience not to comment on something you don't know about, I read it. When a group wishes to gain or solidify power, the first thing they try to do is shut up the people who disagree with them. For those of you who read animal farm, how did Napoleon turn the animals away from Snowball and towards himself? He first began to say that Snowball was subverting the state. As the book goes on and Napoleon's power grew, he continued to reveal more and more wicked things about Snowball until Snowball is one of the greatest villains in the book. What, exactly did Snowball do? Nothing. Napoleon was able to define him as an enemy and the animals hated him. This is exactly what the Obama administration is attempting to do with this DHS report. The document lists numerous ways that radical rightwing groups may be plotting to disrupt the government. First, Napolitano defines 'rightwing terrorists' with the following footnote:

"Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate -oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejection federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration" (DHS report pg. 2, my emphasis)

Think about that for a moment. First off, anybody who is driven by hatred based on religious, racial or ethnic groups isn't 'rightwing'. I can call apples 'spicy fruit that may also be very hard" but just because an apple has a few seeds doesn't make the fruit very hard, but I haven't done anything but warn you away from apples. Yes, there a few people who go around bombing abortion centers and harassing immigrants, but they are not representative of rightwing conservatives.

"The consequences of a prolonged economic downturn - including real estate foreclosures, unemployment, and an inability to obtain credit - could create a fertile recruiting environment for rightwing extremists and even result in confrontations between such groups and government authorities similar to those in the past" (DHS report pg. 2)

Excuse me, but...pardon my ignorance... what confrontations in the past? This statement has little or no factual basis, as does the whole report. Aside from a few brief and misconstrued references to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, the report offers no support for any of its outrageous statements. Along with 'stockpiling guns and ammunition" we 'radical rightwing extremists are recruiting and radicalizing returning veterans so that we can use their military knowledge to stage attacks against the government.
Have conservatives done any of this? Are there any 'radical rightwing extremist groups" out there to do any recruiting? This report is nothing but fearmongering pure and simple. There are far more threats out there for them to spend their time on than us citizens who don't like their policies or the fact that they are using the tax code to distribute other people's wealth.
All this having been said, I would like to speak to those of you who are upset about this report. This is why it is important to be above reproach. No crude or violent joke about the president should ever pass our lips. He is our president for better or worse, and there is a political system the founders set up so that we can make ourselves heard. If you don't know who your congressman or woman is, you frankly have little right to complain about how your government is representing you. Do not ever make it even seem as if you intended or wished violence on our government. Our nation has become the way it is because good people have not exerted themselves on behalf of freedom. Be involved in election cycles, and help out the candidates who represent you. But most importantly, live a life that shows your neighbors and co-workers what conservatism really is. We are not 'hate based' we are love based. We love liberty, and thus defend it from any encroachment. We love the american dream, and defend it against those who would trample it like the KKK, which, may I mention, was heavily populated by democrats. We love America, and will do all in our power to do all we can to make our country great.
I have only scratched the surface of this report, if you want to read more you can at http://michellemalkin.cachefly.net/michellemalkin.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/hsa-rightwing-extremism-09-04-07.pdf )
God Bless America