Recreating the Tower of Babel

"I don't want government interfering in health care and don't touch my Medicare."

"The government made bankers give out bad loans and also made them sell them to others."

"Socialism is evil. It will cause you to wait in the ER and make you the victim of medical mistakes."

"I don't trust the government to do anything right."

The upshot of these emotional thoughts is you will get what you pay for. It is asking for chaos. The language of our thoughts has become prehistoric. It took us tens of thousands of years to break down our clannish nature and now a noisy small group wants to resurrect it again. Why? The most obvious answer: They are afraid. I believe they actually fear themselves. If they give in to change, I am guessing, their comfortable old clothes lifestyle will be lost. And you know what? No one can promise them that it won't. Without some reassurance they will continue in the anarchism business. They have been told government is the cause of all their problems when their stubbornness for change has never allowed a fully satisfactory collective solution. This is where the socialism argument comes in. All that is necessary next is to bring up some Cold War scenario and voila we have impassioned protest. Since the logic of the two camps must now take a fighting stance, language is developed that becomes code for these fears. They threaten the opponent, much as any animal does when they feel cornered.

However their actions will create conditions for the opposite of what they wish to preserve. Without some form of effective communication and cooperation all lifestyles will be in peril. It will be our undoing if each side dismisses the concerns of the other. We know they are suffering. Most of these people come from states who receive more tax dollars than they put in. Without it, their ability to sustain themselves would vanish.

Unfortunately the methods chosen to preserve their fragile daily lifestyles are violent. Peace means war. Inclusion means exclusion. Assistance means servitude. Governement means anarchism.

As an aside, our president, and I voted for him, has added to this michigas. He states he is for health reform but neglects to say exactly what it is, his reasons for it, how it is going to benefit each one in the electorate, and how it is going to be paid for. It is time to take a firm stand on what he wants for the people. Citizens can then more rationally decide if they will support it or not.

On the other hand, the specifics we don't need is Congress detailing which general problems should be paid for. There should be a framework of services, like an office visit or counselling session. It becomes a disaster when you start saying you are going to pay for a specific disease or condition. This is what has caused the uproar against private insurance firms. Research is a different matter, of course.

So we are unknowingly building our political Tower of Babel higher and higher. Our language has become a tool to divide us with resulting ugly behaviors. Taking down this human created edifice is hard work. Communication that addresses fears must be found. Those who would use public speech to promote violence need to be marginalized, but still assured survival. The basic understanding, I hope, is that we do share this country together. It is time to start talking like we know it.