Essay

Part Thirteen — health care and American politics

By Garry Bassin

The U.S. government passed a bill to begin to change the health care system in America. It has been in the news and countless reporters and commentators have spoken about the good and bad issues surrounding this year-old debate. It must seem strange to the Japanese people, who have national health care, that America is fighting about such a thing. In Japan, where national health insurance is mandatory, it is understood that individuals and their children have coverage. The same is true in many European countries. Last month when I was in Europe, many people asked me why Americans were crazy enough to be against universal health care.

There are two important aspects to this, and both of them reveal some very interesting views into the American psyche.

First, Americans are raised to be very independent. According to the American dream, you can be anything you want to be if you try hard enough. In other words, the onus is on you. Although this might not always be true, this belief permeates American thought. It means that if you want health insurance you should make enough money and pay for it yourself. No insurance? Not anybody else's problem but your own. When this completely collapses is when someone gets sick. Our morals won't allow us not to help someone who goes to the emergency ward of a hospital, or is involved in an accident. You might not have health care, but everyone knows if there is an emergency, someone will help, so many people think insurance isn't that important to have. Here is one of the biggest points of disagreement: Can Americans make their own decisions about health care or does the government have to make it for them?

Secondly, the state of American politics is important to this issue. When Barack Obama became president the world rejoiced. Finally an American president that represents America's mixed heritage was running the country. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize before he accomplished anything in order to punctuate a moment when people all over the world felt united. For the opposing Republican party in the United States, it was their worst nightmare.

Since Nixon was forced to resign in 1974, the Republican party knew that it had to learn how to better control the media. Republican-affiliated newspapers and television networks backed George W. Bush and helped elect him in 2000. At that time, America was not at war and had a budget surplus. The ability to discredit political candidates and hush any bad press became an art during the Bush administration. But even with all that media power, Republicans could not stop Barack Obama from becoming president. Currently, their only mission is to discredit the president and make him look unworthy of praise. The Republican National Committee is even actively planning an aggressive campaign capitalizing on "fear" in order to "save the country from trending toward socialism." (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/33866.html)

The United States remains the biggest experiment in democracy and personal freedom in the history of this planet. For better or worse, it's important to stay tuned to see what happens.

Shukan ST: April 9, 2010

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