Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are fond of quoting President
Obama out of context, especially the part when he said that no one alone can
build something which takes not just a family to build or even a tribe or a
city state or an average country, but takes an idea as big as the foundation
upon which America was conceived. In fact, Obama took pains to explain that
America is where such an idea took root and grew to become the kind of economy
where it is possible for someone -- who may not be the smartest or the hardest
working person -- to start something from scratch and make it grow by
integrating it with the vast economy that is America's.
Given that ideas which normally succeed in America would not
necessarily succeed in say, a place like Zimbabwe, it is hard to see how Romney
can refute what Obama has said until you realize that Romney suffers from a
vision which can only be described as the inverted interpretation of the
American values. The fact is that Romney did not build any of what he has
accumulated; he let someone else build them, and then -- like a hungry vulture
– swooped down on them and acquired them the moment they looked weak and
vulnerable. And he did so not with his money, but with the use of other
people's money, itself borrowed from the banks.
And this is the vision as well as the philosophy that Romney
and Ryan bring to the campaign as they seek to do what was promised by many
people on the first day that Barack Obama took office. These people did
something that was never done before; they vowed that they will divert all
their energies during the next four years not to help run the affairs of the
nation – although they were themselves elected to do that -- but to make Obama
a one term president. Their plan was to the effect that if the man who said:
“There is no red state or blue state but the United States of America ” is made to fail in his
attempt to unite the country, they will have a good chance to unseat him and
take over after four years. Well, the Romney and Ryan current approach is part
of the effort to fulfill that outrageously offensive promise.
The issue of the day where Romney and Ryan are directing
their effort is healthcare. It is possible to envisage what role Romney's
inverted vision will play in the campaign but it will be impossible to predict
how the events will unfold or what the end result will be. What is at play is
the choice that will have to be made come election time by the American voters,
a choice between two clear alternatives. Considering that this is probably the
most important consideration facing them today -- given that it involves the
future of a system of healthcare under which they will live and die -- which of
the two alternatives will be better for them in the long run?
Claims and counterclaims are made by both sides. However,
when all is said and done, neither party will have complete control on what
will happen to the healthcare system under which America will operate. This is
because many extraneous factors will intrude and will play a role in altering
the realities as time moves on. In turn, these realities will force changes to
whatever system will be there, and whatever party will be in office to
administer it.
But what will make a difference as to how matters will evolve
is the philosophy by which each party
will be governed. On one side, there could be a Romney-Ryan administration
whose philosophy is that it does not matter how you acquire your wealth. If you
have it, you deserve more of it, and the government will be here to take from
the rest of society and give to you. But if you are not wealthy enough to buy
your way through the corridors of power, you can build something; but don't you
stagger for a moment because if you do, there might be a vulture out there that
will swallow you alive. Now you can imagine what kind of healthcare system will
evolve under this administration.
As to the
Obama-Biden administration whose philosophy is that everyone should play on the
same level playing field, the government will be here for you when you stagger.
It will be here because America
would not have been here were it not for you before you staggered. And America will
not be here for anyone if everyone who staggers is left to perish alone. America is not a Darwinian jungle, and neither
is it Zimbabwe .
The choice is
between the heartless vulture and the nurturing hand.