Election Day
Today is Election Day in the United States -- I hope eligible citizens perform their civic duty and vote! The headlines and pundits are calling this an historic election and many of us are wondering what the election results will mean for the future of health care. Will there actually be 'real' efforts at broad based health reform? Will the government get behind substantial investments in health IT? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? There are an endless number of topical questions.
Typically I believe the headlines and pundits way over exaggerate and over dramatize the current events -- to drum up interest and viewers. This time, I am not so sure. I have been learning about the History of Freedom -- from J. Rufus Fears -- a course I strongly recommend for all who value their liberty. I am not quite halfway through -- having just gotten through Luther and the Protestant Reformation. There are a number of important lessons from the past -- particularly about the interconnectedness of prosperity and freedom and even of 'empire' and individual freedom's. Fears draws great analogies from Rome and Greece that are relevant to today's challenges. One thing I found interesting was how the growth in government in Roman times -- led to increased bureaucracy which necessitated increasing taxes which sowed the groundwork for the decline of the empire. There is no way to simply summarize -- so I won't attempt to -- those with interest can explore further on their own. Suffice it to say -- we are not the first society (or dominant power) to be dealing with these issues.
The salient point for today -- is the immense role specific, individual leaders have played in the journey of history. Fears draws parallels between Socrates and Jesus (both teachers, both taking on conventional wisdom, both needling the elites of their time, both refusing to recant at their trials, both seeking fundamental truths etc.). These individual leaders advanced both the understanding of freedom and the cause over time. He then reminds us how Constantine nearly single handedly enabled Christianity to go from a tiny, persecuted minority to the dominant religion (and in some periods, power) for over a thousand years. Bottom line -- specific individuals make history.
We are lucky in this country to be able to 'choose' our leaders. I just hope we have the collective wisdom to preserve our liberties and prosperity, at the same time. We can learn from the past and hopefully avoid making the same mistakes as earlier societies. I am less confident we have the will or the desire to do so.
You might ask - how does this (freedom, leaders) relate to the topic of health reform? It does in two important ways - first by setting the overall context of society in which health is just a part (role of government vs. role of individual) and secondly by encouraging (or not) a comprehensive debate on reform based on core principles/value or a political one based on temporary advantage.