When The Political Becomes Personal

One of the most troubling and disturbing things about this election, and there are so many, is the apparent ease and, yes, even joy that so many had in voting for a candidate and a party that is determined to stop certain people from voting and ensure that certain people do not get access to quality health care. In the wake of such a great financial crisis, it is not so surprising to see a message of outright racism and xenophobia be successful. We have all known those strains have run through American politics seemingly forever. And I guess we shouldn’t be surprised at the suppression of voting rights. After all, it was not until 1970 that a ban on literacy tests became the law of the land. But it is surprising to see how many college educated voters apparently believe that it is OK to deny certain citizens the right to vote. It truly shows a profound misunderstanding of what our democracy stands for. The denial of access to affordable health care, on the other hand, shows a remarkable indifference for the “Christian” ethic that so many of those voters publicly embrace. It shows an incredible indifference and even a willingness to inflict pain on our fellow citizens. It all makes you question the nature of  the country we live in.

For most of us, politics usually exists at the margins of our life. There are very few policies that ever get enacted that dramatically and directly change how we might live, except for some in the military and the poorest among us. But for the rest of us, the changes occur slowly and at the fringes of our life. Fortunately, I live in a relatively safe blue state so a vote for Trump here really had no impact. But I have a number of acquaintances and even friends who voted for Trump, one of whom specifically mentioned the fact that Obamacare was a disaster and needed to be repealed. This is coming from someone has been on an employee-sponsored health plan for decades and has had no direct experience of living without health insurance. In what way has Obamacare been a disaster? More people are enrolled than was anticipated; rates are increasing but are still below the level predicted when the plan went into effect; the minor problems the program is encountering are easily fixed.

I am of an age where my career, such as it was, has basically ended and I have moved into that world of consulting where you are to old to be hired as an employee but not yet reached Medicare eligibility. And I am one of the fortunate ones. I rely on Obamacare for the security that a major health problem will not bankrupt me and my wife and for a basic level of health protection. Before Obamacare, a private plan would have cost me almost twice as much as I pay now. Luckily, I could probably manage that but it would stretch us to the limit and the temptation to just roll the dice without health insurance will be strong. For others, that will be the only choice. Thankfully, my wife is on Medicare but even that is currently under threat as Paul Ryan has just announced his intention to privatize that program, meaning higher costs for reduced services. Now I happen to think that, for a variety of reasons, rolling back Obamacare and privatizing Medicare will be a little more difficult than currently anticipated. But it could very well happen.

The fact of the matter is a vote for Trump was a vote to deny health care for myself and my family and many others. It was a vote to increase the denial of basic voting rights to my fellow citizens. It was an appeal to racism and xenophobia that has already resulted in an outbreak of racially motivated attacks across the country. How can I face those friends and acquaintances who voted for Trump and not have my views of those people colored by the vote they cast. A vote that is a direct attack upon myself and my family and many others. And the truth is, I can’t. And that is how the fabric of our country has been destroyed in this election.