Health Insurance Debate?

California Bob Writes Again:

I understand that the health insurance companies oppose any reform on their monopolies. And I understand that the monied interests oppose it.

I'm asking why Joe Schmoe American, earning $25K a year, with no insurance, for whom getting sick means bankruptcy, would support a system where he has to hand billions of dollars to already wealthy physicians and insurance execs, and opposes a system where he would be provided with cheap or free health care.

(Granted, for him, status quo to bankruptcy is not that big a leap, but still....)

My impression is that the monied interests are diverting Joe's attention away from his welfare, and through propaganda, generating a manufactured hatred toward "government," "east coast elitists (not that hard to do)," and "socialists ( whatever those are)," and thus, opposition to any policies emanating from those sources.

Well I'm guilty of this myself. I've been in situations where I've opposed ideas simply because of their source. And I've probably even taken a personal loss to avoid letting someone else succeed -- can't think of an instance offhand, but I can imagine one. It's called "cutting off your nose to spite your face."

What if the current health care reform plans had been proposed by GW Bush? Would I support it? I'd probably be thinking, "What's he up to? How are his monied cronies going to benefit from this? He's going to find a way to funnel even more public money to the insurance companies."

So we're back to "opposition to health reform is due to distrust of the party and the president." Which comes from long-standing, ingrained cultural biases of obscure origin.

How do we turn these around? Is it possible? I find Obama to be the most civil and reasonable president in a long time, but he's probably still too "different" for most people.

On the other hand, the natural optimist in me is going to assume that the shrill cries and spitting currently emanating from the "loudest 20%" are in fact the death rattle of our culture of ignorance, isolation and sociopathy.

Socialists are the Democrats, silly.