Am I Liberal or Conservative?

The recent controversy over funding of contraception has made me question whether I am liberal or conservative. I have always thought of myself as a liberal, though conservative on some issues. I have always believed that a person’s sexual behavior is his or her own business as long as it does not harm anyone else. The contraception controversy causes me to think that maybe I am more conservative than liberal. I believe that government should stay out of private business as much as possible. The government should get involved in private business only to the extent of protecting citizens who are incapable of protecting themselves.

The controversy over the funding of contraception is more evidence of a widespread sense of entitlement. Women may have the right to access to birth control, but that does not compel anyone to provide it for them. Not paying for something is not the same as denying someone’s rights. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees our right to say what we want, but that does not mean that the government or our employers are compelled to buy air time on radio or television so that we can say it.

Not only that, but health insurance provided by employers is a benefit, an incentive. Employers offer it because if they didn’t, they would be less competitive at attracting the employees that they need to run a business. If our government mandates what kind of coverage they have to provide, it seems to me that that employers will have more incentive to not provide health insurance. It is already getting to be expensive and complicated. If a religious organization or a private businessperson objects to paying for a morning-after pill on religious grounds, that is their business. They just need to make that clear during the recruiting process, so that anyone considering a job with them can make an informed decision.
If contraception should be between a woman and her doctor, then it should be between a woman and her doctor. It should be her responsibility. If a woman thinks that her employer should pay for her contraception, then it is up to her to negotiate that with her employer. If the employer refuses, the employer has not denied the woman her right to access to birth control. It just means that she needs to consider whether she wants to stay with that employer or find one who will hire her on terms that are more acceptable to her.

Sense of Entitlement

The protests about the decision of the Susan G. Komen forthe Cure Foundation to stop providing funds to Planned Parenthood is more evidence that many people in our society are plagued with a sense of entitlement.  The foundation is a private organization, and should be able to allocate their dollars as they see fit.  It is not the business of United States Senators to urge a private foundation how to spend their money.  It strikes me as particularly odd for a politician, namely New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, to say that “Politics have no place in health care.”

Mayor Bloomberg was probably referring to the politics of abortion, since the original reason that the Komen Foundation gave for stopping funding to Planned Parenthood was that Planned Parenthood is under investigation.  They are investigation because of allegations that they used federal funds for abortions.  The reason that I say that the protests over this decision point to a sense of entitlement is that if the Komen Foundation does not wish to fund an organization that provides abortions, that is their decision.  It is a private organization, answerable to its donors. 

It makes sense for the Komen Foundation to provide funds to an organization such as Planned Parenthood if Planned Parenthood provides screenings and information in such a way that it furthers the mission of the Komen Foundation.  At some point, though, the directors of the Komen Foundation must make a calculation.  If they receive feedback from donors that they do not want their dollars being used to help an organization that provides abortions, they must calculate whether they will lose donations if they continue to support Planned Parenthood.  Just because the Komen Foundation has provided funds to Planned Parenthood in the past does not mean that they are obligated to continue doing so.

The United States Supreme Court has ruled that a woman has a right to an abortion, but that does not mean that anyone is obligated to finance that abortion.  I have a right under the First Amendment to self- expression.  That does not mean that the Columbus Dispatch is obligated to publish my letter to the editor.  I may have a right to become a Rastafarian, but that does not mean that the government or anyone else is obligated to purchase ganja for me to practice that religion.  My son has the right to own a firearm under the Second Amendment, but that does not mean that I deny him that right if I decide not to give him a rifle on his eighteenth birthday.

How the Komen Foundation distributes funds is not public business.  Therefore, members of the United States Senate have no business writing letters to a private foundation about that foundation’s decisions on how to allocate funds.  Our senators need to pay attention to the nation’s business.

Please Do Not Tailgate

We have had snow and sleet fall here in Columbus, Ohio recently. Such weather usually brings about comments from people I know about road conditions and how bad people drive here in Central Ohio. One comment I remember from last winter still gnaws at me. A Facebook friend asked other drivers not to stop too fast when the roads are slippery. If you think the drivers in front of you are stopping to fast, you are following too close.

I have mostly overcome my road rage, but I still have an issue with tailgaters. I overcame my road rage by assuming that I am invisible whenever I get behind the wheel of a car. This technique is not always effective when dealing with tailgaters. I pull over and let tailgaters pass whenever I can, but sometimes it would be dangerous to pull over to the side of the road. I have the impression that many drivers do not understand what a clear and safe distance is. They seem to think that they are supposed to follow as closely as possible to the vehicle in front of them. They do not seem to understand that they would not be able to stop in time if the car in front of them were to stop suddenly.

Snow and ice make maintaining a clear and safe distance between your vehicle and the vehicle in front of you even more important. A good way to avoid tailgating is to observe the three second rule. Maintaining a clear and safe distance is much easier to do if you are not texting or talking on the phone while driving. Please do not tailgate.

Racism and Bigotry

A Facebook friend commented on my last blog post. She argued that we are not born racists, but are taught racism. She asked if we do not continue to teach or children to be racists, can we finally be free of racism. I see her point, but I have the impression that we are born racists. I believe that early humans had to be leery of people who looked different than they did. This is a survival mechanism. 100,000 years ago, if you saw someone who looked radically different than you did, it would be a signal that you have new competitors for resources.

There is a difference, though, between racism and bigotry. An educated and open minded person can quickly overcome the shock of seeing another person who looks and sounds different than anyone else they ever met. A person can be racist and still have love for his or her fellow human beings. Many abolitionists believed that Africans were intellectually inferior, but believed that slavery was not justified under any circumstances. Bigotry is different. A bigot has malice in his or her heart for those who are different. Bigotry is learned. I do not believe that we are born bigots, but learn it from our parents, teachers and friends at school. We do need to be careful about what we say around our children about other races, religions and lifestyles. The best way to teach our children not to be bigots is to remember to “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” (Matthew, 7:1) and “Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.” (Matthew 7:5)

Everyone is Racist

A recent article inthe Atlanta Journal-Constitution reminded me that one of the reasons I started a blog was to address racial issues.  I fear that the more I write about racial issues, the more likely I will be called a racist.  My qualifications for writing about racism and racial politics are that I am the parent of a biracial child and that I have been asked by both black people and white people if I thought they were racist.  I believe that most people perceive me as open minded and not bigoted.  I am a white man who needs to teach his mixed-race son what it means to be a black man in a white man's world.  The place to start is to teach him that everyone is racist.  Some people are openly racist.  Other people may not give racial issues very much thought.  Still other people think they are not racist, or do not wish to be racist.  In our heart of hearts, though, we all think that our own race is superior in some way to the other races of men.  There may be some enlightened individuals who are completely free from racial and ethnic bias, but they are extremely rare.

I believe the teachers who wrote the math worksheets mentioned in the Atlanta Journal Constitution article fall into the category of people who do not give much thought to racial issues.  They did not think through what might happen.  I know from doing market research interviews for textbook publishers that educators value instructional materials that can be used for more than one subject.  The teachers probably came up with the worksheets so that they could use them in history or social studies classes as well as math classes.  Just from reading the article, it seems as though the word problems were not well thought out if the idea was to generate questions about slavery.  The sentences quoted in the article give the impression that whoever wrote the worksheets has a rather flippant attitude about slavery, like they think it is cute to make students figure out how many whippings a slave might receive in a certain period of time.  Without actually seeing the worksheets, a person can get the impression that whoever wrote the worksheets does not take issues associated with slavery as seriously as they should.  That is what happens when you are a person who does not give racial issues very much thought, but has to teach children about racial issues.

Becoming not racist takes a great deal of effort.  It is an effort that must be taken before anyone can hope to teach children to be free of bigotry.  That is one reason we have approval procedures, which the teachers who wrote the math worksheets ignored.

The Columbus Dispatch published my letter to the editor

If you have comments, please post them through the blog.  Thank you.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2012/01/05/dont-let-politics-divide-facebook-friends.html

Hospitals should not advertise

I heard a story on NPR this morning about how hospitals associated with medical centers have been increasing advertising and marketing themselves more lately.  I have always been irritated with hospitals conducting any kind of advertising.  I doubt that it helps anyone make an informed decision, and it adds to the cost of medical care for everyone.

I believe in a free market, but the provision of medical care is one exception.  Hospitals should not compete with each other.  Advertising will not help us to evaluate which doctor or hospital does a better job of treating a particular condition or providing better care overall.

In a previous post, I proposed the idea that we get rid of health insurance and make the provision of medical care a public service, like police and fire protection.  If a person wants an opinion on which hospital is best for them, they should talk to their doctor.  If they think their doctor is biased because he or she has privileges at a certain hospital, get a second opinion.  I do not see how anyone can get useful information about a hospital from a television ad.  I also have the impression from seeing advertisements for hospitals that they are pandering to hypochondriacs.