Xavier Bishop

I had lunch with my friend Skippy recently and before our food could arrive the conversation turned to healthcare reform.

Skippy vehemently opposes virtually all efforts to reform the healthcare system, citing the Federal Government’s inability to do anything right except defend our country.

I reminded him that it wasn’t long ago the healthcare debate was whether employers should fund healthcare for their employees. Labor unions wanted it and were called anarchist when they made it part of contract negotiations.

Now most employers provide some type of healthcare for their employees and we take employee “benefits” for granted in much the same way we take for granted the 8-hour workday and safe working conditions.

My point simply was that no matter how radical we perceive healthcare reform, chances are in 5, 10 or 20 years, we will have forgotten the debate and wonder what the fuss was all about.

As Skippy sat across from me extolling the virtues of a free market solution to solving the healthcare crisis, I couldn’t help but wonder if we weren’t playing out our role as middle-aged Americans: Seeing change as such a radical departure from the past that it ought to be avoided. After all, wasn’t that what our parents did when they were our age?

On the other hand maybe this is how change takes place in a civil society: Some people promote it, while others resist it. We argue, fight and move on. Ultimately though, as history has shown us, change happens.

Franklin Roosevelt faced enormous opposition to creation of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the GI Bill of Rights and of course Social Security. Hard to believe at one time there was even opposition to public education. Today all of these programs survive as institutions and as a symbol of our nation’s maturation.

I remember the reaction in the late 50s and early 60s when the Federal Government weighed in on civil rights. At that time arguments were strong for and against the Federal Government playing a direct role in overhauling what most people agreed was a social justice system in need of radical reform.

The steps the Federal Government took to reform our social justice system and advance civil rights didn’t work flawlessly, nor did they produce a perfect outcome. Social justice remains in some ways a work in progress.

However most people would agree those seemingly radical steps taken more than 50 years ago produced a more just and inclusive society, and advanced our nation at home and in the eyes of the world, contributing to the dignity and pride that we feel as Americans.

So perhaps the debate over healthcare reform that’s being played out in restaurants, in the workplace and in the halls of Congress is a reflection of how our society prepares for change. Maybe the change we’ve been debating is simply a rite of passage for an evolving society, and part of our evolution as an advanced civilization. After all, if we can see the value of having public education, then why not public healthcare?