Julio writes:
>A propos of the recent discussion:
>
> http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/07/what_happened_to_the_moral_cas.html
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"You can argue for that plan in primarily moral terms, with some economic
arguments around the margins. But the administration has been pushing it in
primarily economic terms, with some moral arguments around the margins. And
now they're caught in that dissonance", writes Ezra Klein.
If the proponents of "morality", however loosely defined in this discussion, want to hang their hats on the notion that health care would succeed if the administration appealed to fair play rather than statistics - encapsulated in the slogans proposed by Klein: "equal treatment for everybody", "if every American is guaranteed a lawyer, why not a doctor?, "guaranteed health care for everyone" - they're welcome to it. In fact, the issue turns neither on economic nor moral "arguments", as Klein suggests, but on power, as it always does.
There's no doubt that moral sentiments, particularly the longing for justice, freedom and security, run deep within societies, including within their ruling classes. But we know that the meaning which the contending classes, ethnic and other groups, attach to these concepts coincides precisely with their interests.
It is Power which decides - power which overwhelmingly derives from the ownership and control of property. Morality, alas, does not confer much power on the poor and powerless. On the rare occasions when the poor are roused to exercise power, they are driven by Necessity, with morality in the back seat providing inspiration.
The manner in which the powerful hospital, drug, and insurance lobbies have been inexorably turning the crisis in health care to their advantage not only provides yet another illustration of this truth, but also provides an explanation of why many Americans, particularly the more politically conscious, increasingly sense that the bastardized plan which will come out of Congress will not go far in addressing their needs, and may even hurt them in some cases.
Against this, all of the rhetorical devices which the Obama administration could deploy, even if it had the will to do so, would be unlikely, alas, to have much effect.