We appreciate efforts to encourage civility, particularly during these stressful times. Let us also agree, though, that while civility requires listening respectfully, the ability to engage in constructive dialogue is essential to making progress. In that vein we might even recognize the likelihood that Dr. Harris’s town hall audience was more interested in policy than expressing animosity toward Trump supporters. We all have friends who do not share our views in the voting booth.
We very likely also disagree about health care reform. Dr. Harris emphasized that Medicare isn’t single payer, and that we must look to the VA. His town hall audience groaned. Under ideal circumstances, we would be more likely to listen to one another attentively and agree that Medicare is a single payer base. There was no acknowledgement that Medicare works very much like the health care in so many other industrialized nations, though, delivering better outcomes to all of their citizens at far less cost while incorporating supplemental coverage.
Under ideal circumstances, listening is a reciprocal activity and facts would prevail. There may be little opportunity for dialogue at a town hall, but our reactions were communicated. Dr. Harris was cheered for supporting efforts to reduce pollution in our Chesapeake Bay, and not only for agreeing with most of us, but for essentially acknowledging that a healthy Bay supports a healthy economy.
Concerning our nation’s debt, we listened respectfully for as long as we could, which admittedly wasn’t long. We might have hoped to hear an acknowledgement that President Obama had reduced our deficit. That was a long shot, although every Democratic president since
WWII has reduced our budget deficits. We would have also appreciated hearing that while our debt is huge now, Dr. Harris’s party left us with more debt as a share of our economy. Hearing that our government is spending less as a percentage of our economy than nearly every other industrialized nation would definitely have cleared a path toward civility.
It is a laudable endeavor. Doing what it takes may be challenging, though. Let’s hope we are up to the task. Listening to others and treating them in the way we would like to be treated is an essential part of that process, but without a rational, fact-based dialogue we may not reach our goals.
Carol Voyles
More information can be found on these sites.
https://data.oecd.org/gga/general-government-spending.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_health_expenditure_per_capita
https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2015/oct/us-health-care-from-a-global-perspective
https://www.pgpf.org/chart-archive/0011_health-outcomes
Melinda Bookwalter says
Thank you Carol Voyles for a very well thought out, yet simply put, referenced, respectful and civil counterpoint to a very fractious previous letter. You have provided an excellent model for a conversation that needs to occur among us all.