Tea Party Death Trip: Why are some Americans so comfortable letting fellow citizens die?

from In These Times:



Tea Party Death Trip
Why are some Americans so comfortable letting fellow citizens die?

BY Chris Lehmann


Some features of our republic’s political id are best left unseen. One such unlovely sight erupted into view in September during the monumentally inept CNN/Tea Party Express debate, when host Wolf Blitzer sought to test the limits of the GOP field’s free-market fundamentalism in healthcare policy. Quizzing the libertarian insurgent in the field, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, Blitzer asked how our society should deal with a hypothetical 30-year-old man who decides to forgo health coverage, but lapses unexpectedly into a coma and requires critical care to save his life.

Out came the slogans. “That’s what freedom is all about — taking your own risks,” Paul replied in full Randian throttle. “This whole idea that you have to prepare and take care of everybody — ” at which point Blitzer broke in to ask, “Congressman, are you saying that society should just let him die?”

Paul, a medical doctor, then proceeded to walk the implications of his pro-freedom broadside, arguing for churches to step in as private charities supplying emergency healthcare. But the fired-up Tea Party hecklers were having none of it; audience members cheered Paul’s rhapsodic defense of potentially lethal freedom.

The moment justly earned sober derision from the pundit class, and like many cable-fueled lurches beyond the guardrails of responsible debate, it was mostly forgotten. But the underlying premises that fed this ghastly outburst deserve closer consideration. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/12102/tea_party_death_trip

MORE FOR ME.

They actually believe in Darwinism, only not the 'evolving' parts.

I thought the RepoBaggers were all about being responsible for yourself?

There is another big problem, the churches, most of them, can't afford the cost of caring for the health of the poor,becasue as any person who has been paying attention knows, the cumulative cost of health care is greater than this country can afford.

Besides, his next question should have been to name any church in the US that does what he suggests, or for that matter ever has made a real effort to heal all the sick who are unable to heal themselves.

He'd shrug.

The only thing preventing them from killing people in cold blood is their fear of either a lifetime behind bars or the execution chamber. Nevertheless, they think like murderers.