{"id":30703,"date":"2012-10-19T15:08:42","date_gmt":"2012-10-19T21:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=30703"},"modified":"2013-06-05T14:01:12","modified_gmt":"2013-06-05T20:01:12","slug":"compassion-isnt-a-sign-of-weakness-but-of-civilization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/10\/19\/compassion-isnt-a-sign-of-weakness-but-of-civilization.html","title":{"rendered":"“Compassion isn’t a sign of weakness, but of civilization”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nicholas Kristof published two articles lately. The first<\/a> detailed the life, arguably bad decisions, and far worse results of a college friend of his. \u00a0Long story short, the friend quit a lucrative job, decided he couldn’t afford private health insurance, was scraping by, delayed checking on some funny symptoms because of the cost of a doctor’s visit and wishful thinking … and ended up with prostate cancer that had\u00a0metastasized\u00a0into his bones.<\/p>\n

Kristof used it as an example of our broken insurance system, something that can take some mistakes and leave you to die for them.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Clearly the traveler deserved being robbed for not hiring a private security guard on this dangerous road!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The second article<\/a>, five days later, noted that the friend had died. Kristof then went over some of the reactions he got from some folks to the first article.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour friend made a foolish choice, and actions have consequences,\u201d one reader said in a Twitter message.<\/p>\n

[…]\u00a0\u201cNot sure why I\u2019m to feel guilty about your friend\u2019s problem,\u201d Terry from Oregon wrote\u00a0on my blog. \u201cI take care of myself and mine, and I am not responsible for anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bruce wrote that many people in hospitals are there because of their own poor choices: \u201cSmoking, obesity, drugs, alcohol, noncompliance with medical advice.\u00a0Extreme age and debility, patients so sick, old, demented, weak, that if families had to pay one-tenth the cost of keeping the poor souls alive, they would instantly see that it was money wasted.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That last item in particular — but even all the rest — put all the GOP talk over the last five years about “Death Panels” to shame. \u00a0Even if you leave off the euthanistic enthusiasm of Bruce, you’re left with a set of criteria for who get to live, who gets to die. \u00a0Nobody was seriously proposing (Republican rhetoric aside) a system of deciding who was somehow worthy<\/em> of treatment due to their utility to the State. But here are people suggesting who is worthy<\/em> of treatment based on guilt, on stupidity or irresponsibility, or (even better) to consanguinity. Republicans said that bureaucrats wanted the power of life or death — but, private-sector-wise, that’s what they have in the insurance industry. \u00a0And these writers seem to want it themselves as well. If you are deemed too foolish, or too irresponsible, or if you’re not related to me, then you are not worthy of assistance to live.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

That harsh view is gaining ground, particularly on the right.\u00a0Pew Research Center polling has found<\/a>\u00a0that the proportion of Republicans who agree that \u201cit is the responsibility of the government to take care of people who can\u2019t take care of themselves\u201d has slipped from 58 percent in 2007 to just 40 percent today.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What percentage of Republicans claim to be Christians again?<\/p>\n

Kristof puts it a little differently:<\/p>\n

\n

First, a civilized society compensates for the human propensity to screw up. That\u2019s why we have single-payer firefighters and police officers. That\u2019s why we require seat belts. When someone who has been speeding gets in a car accident, the 911 operator doesn’t sneer: \u201cYou were irresponsible, so figure out your own way to the hospital\u201d \u2014 and hang up.<\/p>\n

To err is human, but so is to forgive. Living in a community means being interconnected in myriad ways \u2014 including by empathy. To feel undiminished by the deaths of those around us isn\u2019t heroic Ayn Rand individualism. It\u2019s sociopathic. Compassion isn’t a sign of weakness, but of civilization.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Except, of course, if you don’t punish the guilty — even the now-helpless and\u00a0penitent\u00a0guilty — then you create a “moral hazard.” \u00a0Someone might think they can get away with working less than you, with being less morally worthy than you, and not suffer the just and righteous consequences of their slackerdom. Better that all such should die, even if a few maybe-not-quite-so-deserving fall through the cracks, too. Kill ’em all, and let God sort ’em out. I mean, it’s not any of us are required to forgive others their sins or debts or trespasses or anything …<\/p>\n

I have to wonder, though, how many of those writers would actually act any differently if Kristof’s friend hadn’t<\/em> made those mistakes — if he’d simply lost his insurance for one reason or another, hadn’t been able to afford regular doctor’s visits, and fallen mortally ill again. Would they have made up some new reason to judge him guilty, some other moral failing or weakness to cause him to deserve death? \u00a0Would they assume that if he found himself in such straits, well, obviously God was punishing him for some sort of sin, and who were they to say otherwise? Would they not even make a pretense of moral justice and simply continue to proclaim a tribalistic “me and mine vs. everyone else”?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
How did that "Am I my brother's keeper?" excuse work out for Cain?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ultimately, Kristof notes, it comes down to a societal choice — one that puts lie to the whole “Culture \/ Sanctity of Life” rhetoric that comes from the GOP and the Right:<\/p>\n

\n

In other countries, I’ve covered massacres, wars, famines and genocides, and they’re heart-rending because they’re so unnecessary and arbitrary. Those massacred in the Darfur genocide in Sudan might be alive if they had been born in Britain.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how I feel about Scott. His death was also unnecessary and might not have occurred if he had lived in Britain or Canada or any other modern country where universal health care is standard and life expectancy is longer.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As long as, as a nation, we in the United States decide that help is only to be made available those the majority (or, in the Senate, the super-minority) decide are morally\u00a0worthy<\/em>\u00a0of being helped, and as long as we let that and our “Don’t Tread on Me”ism and “I got mine, you go pound sand”ism and “Makers Not Takers”ism act as de facto<\/em> but very real Death Panels … then I think we’ll be incurring a much great moral hazard than the possibility that someone “undeserving” might game the system and not pay the ultimate price for it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nicholas Kristof published two articles lately. The first detailed the life, arguably bad decisions, and far worse results of a college friend of his. \u00a0Long story short, the friend quit a lucrative job, decided he couldn’t afford private health insurance, was scraping by, delayed checking on some funny symptoms because of the cost of a … Continue reading ““Compassion isn’t a sign of weakness, but of civilization””<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[134,9,358,71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-care","category-politics-law","category-poor-citizenship","category-religion-me"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/durer_cainabel.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5338,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/04\/05\/op_ed.html","url_meta":{"origin":30703,"position":0},"title":"Op-Ed","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 5-Apr-04 9:58am","format":false,"excerpt":"You are Nicholas D. Kristof! You enjoy travelling, going as far as China, Africa, Alaska, and Central America for a good story. You use a lot of quotes and...","rel":"","context":"In "Personality Tests"","block_context":{"text":"Personality Tests","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/personal\/personality-tests"},"img":{"alt_text":"kristof.jpg","src":"\/blog\/images\/ptest\/kristof.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5220,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/04\/25\/motes_and_beams-2.html","url_meta":{"origin":30703,"position":1},"title":"Motes and Beams","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 25-Apr-04 5:29pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Nicholas Kristof -- no fan of Relgious Right politics -- offers a worthwhile op-ed on the need for tolerance and respect to go both ways. I've argued often that gay...","rel":"","context":"In "LGBTQ &c"","block_context":{"text":"LGBTQ &c","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/gay-stuff"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":133856,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/07\/15\/insurance-companies-hate-the-senate-health-insurance-bill-too.html","url_meta":{"origin":30703,"position":2},"title":"Insurance companies hate the Senate Health Insurance Bill, too","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 15-Jul-17 3:00pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Especially the Cruz Amendment. They even sent a letter to that effect to Senate GOP Leader, Mitch McConnell.\u275d \"It is simply unworkable in any form,\" the letter said. They said it would \"undermine protections for those with pre-existing medical conditions,\" increase premiums and lead many to lose coverage. [...] The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16798,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/02\/24\/its-back-anti-obamacare-2-0.html","url_meta":{"origin":30703,"position":3},"title":"It’s back – anti-ObamaCare 2.0","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 24-Feb-10 7:20pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I get letters ... in this case, an \"Action Alert\" from Tim Wildmon and the American Family Association (AFA). Subject: It's back - ObamaCare 2.0, worse than the first Dear Dave, President Obama, determined to press for the government takeover of our entire health care system, is reviving a tweaked\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics & Law"","block_context":{"text":"Politics & Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33442,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/05\/01\/whos-to-blame-for-high-health-care-costs-lazy-americans.html","url_meta":{"origin":30703,"position":4},"title":"Who's to blame for high health care costs? Lazy Americans!","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 1-May-13 7:19am","format":false,"excerpt":"The author says high health care costs in the US are due to a lazy, greedy, entitled public who can't be bothered with cost comparisons and who mysteriously love to stick it to health insurance companies.But while there are a few worthwhile nuggets here (broader behavioral issues play a role\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":132026,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/11\/13\/the-inevitability-of-obamacare.html","url_meta":{"origin":30703,"position":5},"title":"The Inevitability of Obamacare","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 13-Nov-16 10:54pm","format":false,"excerpt":"This is not rocket science. This is not some new, fiendish, cunning twist to the debate. This has been discussed and understood by (serious) analysts of health insurance since Day 1 of the Affordable Care Act discussion.TL;DR: If you are going to prevent insurance companies from discriminating against pre-existing conditions\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30703"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37561,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30703\/revisions\/37561"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}