Two important trips down Memory Lane came today. First, remember Zeke Emanuel? He is widely called the principal architect of Obamacare. He often pops up on the various cable news channels to defend Obamacare or to explain why it is so "wonderful". Second, remember those "death panels" in Obamacare that Sarah Palin warned about when the law was being debated? Palin said that under the Obamacare law, the government would decided when people had lived long enough and it was no longer worth the cost to try to keep them healthy or well functioning. If Granny had a bad hip at 92, the panel and not Granny would decide if a hip replacement was appropriate at that age. If Uncle Henry had a stroke at 85, the government would decide if the medical treatments needed for rehabilitation were worth the effort, and Uncle Henry's kids would have nothing to say.
These two memories came alive for me when I read an article in The Atlantic called "Why I Hope To Die At 75". The author of the article was, of course, Dr. Zeke Emanuel. His basic point is that by age 75 people have made all the contributions to society that they are likely to do, so there is no point to continuing to live after that. In Emanuel's view, old age is just a series of years in which one's life and one's ability to live decline gradually until death. Indeed, even the memories that one's family hold of a departed person are colored by old age. The living remember a feeble old geezer instead of a vibrant worker who was always accomplishing so much.
There is no better truth that the philosophy of the death panel is actually the view of the principal architect of Obamacare. He truly believes and loudly proclaims that the elderly are just too costly to maintain and they really ought to go sooner rather than later. Emanuel really wants the government to be able to stop treatment for those who, in his view, no longer contribute to society.
That Emanuel holds this view should surprise no one. He is a true Progressive. He views society rather than the individual as what is important. Think back to the birth of the Progressive movement. An organization like Planned Parenthood was formed with two basic goals stated by its founder Margaret Sanger: first she wanted to provide birth control so that fewer children would be born to blacks and other minorities, and second, she wanted to take steps to eliminate those children who were "defective". The idea was that society ought to be constituted in a particular fashion and the organization was intended to carry out the steps to reach that goal. (Today, Planned Parenthood covers up its racist and quasi-Fascist beginnings, but that does not change reality.) Think also about the basic Progressive view that government experts know better than the stupid individual people out there across America what is good for them. If Michelle Obama can push for a particular lunch menu in schools and can continue to support that food choice despite overwhelming evidence that the kids just won't eat it, it is because she is certain that she knows better than the students or their parents or even the local school boards.
The problem of the Progressive viewpoint is that it is in opposition to the very essence of America. Individual freedom is the basic building block from which our entire republic has been constructed. American farmers and townspeople who were throwing off the yoke of the king's government that made decisions without involving the people were clearly seeking individual freedom and liberty. That liberty and the resulting restrictions on the government were enshrined in the Constitution. Indeed, there is a reason why until this last month, no American congress had ever seen a serious attempt to undermine the freedom of speech enshrined in the First Amendment. And when that attempt to limit free speech by individuals finally came, who was it who was pushing for it? The Progressives, the Democrats and Harry Reid.
It is time that this Progressive world view is recognized for what it truly is and then rejected by the American people.
These two memories came alive for me when I read an article in The Atlantic called "Why I Hope To Die At 75". The author of the article was, of course, Dr. Zeke Emanuel. His basic point is that by age 75 people have made all the contributions to society that they are likely to do, so there is no point to continuing to live after that. In Emanuel's view, old age is just a series of years in which one's life and one's ability to live decline gradually until death. Indeed, even the memories that one's family hold of a departed person are colored by old age. The living remember a feeble old geezer instead of a vibrant worker who was always accomplishing so much.
There is no better truth that the philosophy of the death panel is actually the view of the principal architect of Obamacare. He truly believes and loudly proclaims that the elderly are just too costly to maintain and they really ought to go sooner rather than later. Emanuel really wants the government to be able to stop treatment for those who, in his view, no longer contribute to society.
That Emanuel holds this view should surprise no one. He is a true Progressive. He views society rather than the individual as what is important. Think back to the birth of the Progressive movement. An organization like Planned Parenthood was formed with two basic goals stated by its founder Margaret Sanger: first she wanted to provide birth control so that fewer children would be born to blacks and other minorities, and second, she wanted to take steps to eliminate those children who were "defective". The idea was that society ought to be constituted in a particular fashion and the organization was intended to carry out the steps to reach that goal. (Today, Planned Parenthood covers up its racist and quasi-Fascist beginnings, but that does not change reality.) Think also about the basic Progressive view that government experts know better than the stupid individual people out there across America what is good for them. If Michelle Obama can push for a particular lunch menu in schools and can continue to support that food choice despite overwhelming evidence that the kids just won't eat it, it is because she is certain that she knows better than the students or their parents or even the local school boards.
The problem of the Progressive viewpoint is that it is in opposition to the very essence of America. Individual freedom is the basic building block from which our entire republic has been constructed. American farmers and townspeople who were throwing off the yoke of the king's government that made decisions without involving the people were clearly seeking individual freedom and liberty. That liberty and the resulting restrictions on the government were enshrined in the Constitution. Indeed, there is a reason why until this last month, no American congress had ever seen a serious attempt to undermine the freedom of speech enshrined in the First Amendment. And when that attempt to limit free speech by individuals finally came, who was it who was pushing for it? The Progressives, the Democrats and Harry Reid.
It is time that this Progressive world view is recognized for what it truly is and then rejected by the American people.
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