REPUBLICAN AS MORAL POLICEMAN

Congressional representative +Kevin Brady from Woodlands, Texas appeared as a guest on the +Joe Scarborough show (MSNBC) this Morning. The subject of conversation was the disastrous rollout of Obamacare or the ACA. The exchange between him and +Mike Barnicle was so simple it was telling. Mike asked him how many Texan did not have health insurance. His answer was 25% but he reinforced that by adding that in his legislative district the number was 21%.  He also volunteered, in a tone of voice suggesting regret, that Texas had a “health care program” the ACA will replaced. In the light of his opposition to ACA and apparent glee that the rollout was problematic, Mike asked him to justify why these people did not have insurance. In his mind, it was a simple matter of fact: they did not have it because they could not afford it.

I really think in his mind his position was morally justified. Clearly, in the eyes of a liberal, the Texas program what ever it was, failed if 25% of the people in the state did not have health insurance but not in his eyes. A liberal looks at this as being cruel, heartless, mean, and selfish while a conservative looks at this as morally correct. How can two Americans look at the same figures in such a different way; especially when the word ‘moral’ fundimentally means right and wrong. How can a conservative look at 25% percent of the people in a large state with out affordable healthcare, which translates to 21% of the people he represents in congress, are walking on the edge of death verses bankruptcy and often both, as morally correct. I took a clue for George Lakoff’s book, The Political Mind (Amazon.com).  He explained that conservatives treat the government as an authoritarian-father figure model while progressives treat the government as a nanny.

The underlying premise of government is the same for both conservatives and liberals. The government exists to do things we cannot do for ourselves. To the conservative the government is limited to providing a army, protecting our boarders, building highways as long as it does not tell them how to use the highways, and providing relieve after natural disaster as long as it is their state that needs the help. To the liberal mind, the government is there to enhance the quality of life of everyone, even those who cannot survive without help. Liberals cannot stand back and let people needlessly die—for example—go bankrupt then die for lack of medical care.  

The 25% in Texas are like errant children; they exist because of lack of discipline. If they had discipline, they could afford the insurance. If the nanny government provides for health care for them, they are creating a moral hazard; if they are not punished, they will always depend on the government. Using taxpayer’s money to take care of people who cannot take care of themselves is the worst of all sins; it is redistribution of wealth, which is unfair to the rich.

In the conservative mind, it is morally wrong not to discipline and errant child: the greater the misbehavior the more severe the punishment. The objective of punishment is to teach discipline. If they fail, the conservative reserves the right to expel the child from society. This is the Ayn Rand message. It is not just the Ted Cruzes, it is the Paul Ryan, the Eric Cantors, and the Reince Priebus; it is the basic conservative philosophy of government. An old sailor friend shared a relevant and beautifully written article with me that should be read that tells the story much better that I ever could: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/20/questions-for-free-market-moralists/

Congressional representative Kevin Brady is only one of a number of conservatives who feel it is their “moral” duty to punish the lazy. The Republican Party wants to play the role of police officer or jailer. They see themselves, as the morally righteous Marlborough cowboy in the big white hat setting on the big horse, who is ready to climb down and punish you if you do not behave according to their standards.    

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