November 15, 2014 by David K. Sutton
It’s Not Good Enough To Simply Oppose Obamacare
It’s not good enough to simply oppose the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). If you are going to continue to complain about the health care law, then you need to offer an alternative. Because health care in the United States pre-Obamacare was unacceptable, and well, that’s not subjective, it’s reality. Because when tens of millions of Americans lack health care insurance, that is a problem, even if you don’t think it is.
So, if you count yourself among the people who want the ACA repealed, I’m here to tell you that your lack of empathy is showing if you are not offering an alternative. Whether it’s a market-based solution like the ACA, or whether it’s full-on socialized medicine, you need to put something on the table. Because if you are simply opposed to the ACA, but you are offering no ideas for improving health care insurance in America, then your position is reduced to whining and complaining, which to be honest, is part of the problem in this country. There’s plenty of people complaining about shit, but they rarely offer constructive solutions, because they are comfortable in the reality that they’ve constructed that allows them to blame everyone else for what’s wrong and accept no responsibility themselves.
I’m not saying you need to be in Washington lobbying congress, I’m just saying that if you are against the ACA but have no idea what you would do as an alternative, you really are not helping the situation, you are just a chronic complainer. And well, I guess that’s one thing Americans are good at, so at least you aren’t alone.
So what’s my position? I’ve made it clear I’m no fan of the Affordable Care Act, but I guess you could be excused for thinking otherwise considering how many times I’ve come to its defense. See, the thing for me is honesty and facts. There are endless false attacks against the ACA from the political Right in America. I don’t really care to examine their motives, but they are uninterested in having an honest debate on the future of health care in America, they are simply out for blood. And that’s when I find myself in the position of defending the health care law.
But if you are asking me what my solution would be, I’ve said it before, I’m all in when it comes to Medicare for all. If people could drop their ideological tropes and build a health care insurance system from the ground up, one built to be the most efficient, with the least overhead, that insurance system might closely resemble Medicare. So, the only thing we change is that instead of an age requirement, we simply make it available to all. So, when I complain about the aspects of the ACA that I don’t like, I do have an alternative. You can argue the merits of my idea, but you can’t say I’m simply whining and offering nothing constructive. The question is, can you say the same?