[I wrote this article in 1994 soon after the Clinton Health Care Reform failed]
I came across a simple fact not long ago that became an
epiphany for me.
Of all the Western nations the United States has the
largest population of Blacks at 12.8%. Australia comes in second
at 1.5%.
Western Europe, most of Eastern Europe, Australia, New Zealand
and Japan not only have national health care systems that the people of those nations enjoy, accept, and that have become so much a part of their culture
that even such conservative luminaries as Margaret Thatcher can’t
touch them.
It is the same story
regarding social programs and government benefits. To the above mentioned nations
paying about 10% more taxes than we do is not considered "Marxism", "communism" or even "socialism"
as it is here. Rather they call it common sense for it reduces the hopelessness caused by
poverty which in turn reduces family failure which is the cause of most or our crime and violence.
Going back to my premise that our major differences is our large population of African Americans while the
European nations live in fairly homogeneous societies, what they pay
in taxes they share taking out in benefits. On the other hand here in America the perception revolves around racial code words; most notably socialism, social programs, inner cities, urban welfare, failing schools and crime
which most of us see as a black problem. This conservative propaganda has led
the majority of us to believe our taxes are going to benefit people unlike us.
Even our bloodiest war (and the subsequent hundred years of Jim Crow)
has not helped us awaken from this slumber. Though by and large we have fixed
the laws, we still have not come to terms with the inherent racism
which drives our great unsaid lie that all our hard earned money goes
to a bunch of no good lazy criminal Negroes.
Contrary to what we would all like to believe, that view is not
just what a few people in Vidor, Meterrie, Northern Idaho or what some Senator in
Mississippi is thinking, but in the majority of us. Until we all
come to terms with that problem, we will always be the only nation on
Earth without national health care.