Thursday, March 25, 2010

Confusion about community and social policy

It occurs to me, after all of the right-wing rhetoric about healthcare reform, that the right-wing of the Republican Party is getting confused about what community and social policy are about.  I don't know if it's the similarity between "community" and "communism" or between "social policy" and "socialism" that gets them tripped up.  If we are to live with each other, we need to find that balance between what/need I want and what you want/need without going into a rage or killing each other.  I know that my parents raised me to deal with that boundary in a civil manner, and even to find new insights into myself and the other person from the struggle with that boundary.  That is my microcosmic take on community.

For me social policy, or laws that pertain to something other than crime and punishment or defense of the community as a whole, comes out of an awareness that there is a balance to be found between me and my community.  Taxes fund projects I may find silly or disagree with, but I have my representatives who I write to about this and try to convince of my side.  But it is a debate and not a war.  If I lose it is not my life I am losing, it is just that I was unable to sway 51% of my group - be it town or county or state or country - to my way of thinking.  If I lose, it is not the end of civilization.  I think that tax policies in my state, New Hampshire, have gone way into dysfunctional, but I am not out raging at my fellow citizen who disagrees with me about how to fix it.

Take a chill pill and some time to reflect.  Stop watching 24-hour news and following blogs and reacting immediately to every tidbit.