This conversation with a Right-Wing Republican caller who had been indoctrinated into the belief that Healthcare For All was a detriment to those with “good health insurance” illustrated how to dispel that false narrative.
Making a Case for Healthcare For All
The caller to my program Politics Done Right on Pacifica Network’s KPFT 90.1 FM, was convinced by the false narrative that providing healthcare to every American would harm those who already have good insurance. I am not sure if the caller realized the selfishness and inhumanity of that statement. Then again, those creating the fallacies on the Right have found a way to make depravity vogue. It was not unlike the statement made by an expert recently explaining why Texas should continue inhumanely and fiscally irresponsibly refusing to accept the Medicaid Expansion to the Affordable Care Act.
My initial goal was not to address the caller’s sole interest in himself. My goal was to appeal to his humanity when said appeal would not materially affect him. In other words, put his humanity to the test if he could be assured that it would not depend on a sacrifice on his part.
I think I was successful in doing so. That said, one would hope that, as a society, we would be willing to have collective sacrifices for the benefit of the whole and build towards minimizing them in the long run. But this depends on good leadership and less demagoguery.
Please listen to/watch the entire exchange. It is well worth it and may give some pointers to counter the false narrative about healthcare from the Right. One of the reasons I wrote the book “It’s Worth It: How to Talk To Your Right-Wing Relatives, Friends, and Neighbors” was to do just that.
