SiCKO and Hope

From Amanda Marcotte's review of the new Moore film:

And it occurred to me that the nightmare scenarios conservatives spin when arguing against universal health care are all effective because they are telling people stories of what we already have.

The fear of long wait times in E.R. is one we understand, because we have those long wait times, due in large part to the fact that so many uninsured people put off getting care until they’re in critical condition and have to be rushed to the hospital. We cringe to hear tales of being denied the doctor of your choice, because we all know what it’s like to have the HMO make you jump through 15 different loops to see the doctor you want,a specialist, because they’re hoping you’ll just give up going at all. (I’ve not had that problem, but I know plenty of people who have.) We shudder in fear to hear these stories of a bureaucracy gone mad, because it’s our reality, and the fear of it shuts down our thought processes so we’re unwilling to even look for a cure for our problems. And it’s this conundrum that Moore attacks, driving home the point that the right wing noise machine has managed to convince a lot of the public that the cure for the problem is the problem itself. Sure, the movie has a simple, straightforward message. But that’s exactly what the health care debate needs after all the right wing noise machine has done to confuse the issue.

I think she makes a damn good point. Furthermore, I think this point is generalizable toward many 'anti' sort of arguments. Do you fear the specter of Communism or Socialism because someone's told you the state will exert control over your life in an entirely undesired way? I have news for you: the state does that already, you're just used to it - it's comfortable and familiar by now, so you don't give a second thought to the idea that the way things are now is maybe, just maybe, not all that great.

Are you afraid of more comprehensive gun-control laws because you think it will lead to increased surveillance of your private affairs by the state? It's already happening - and it's not getting any better with a pro-gun Republican in the White House, let me tell you.

So why is the word 'hope' in the title of this post? Well, I think that the above trick only really works if people don't have a vision of a better world. If you've got nothing to compare to, or if you're resigned to 'making the best of it', then I think it's easier to believe these sort of horror stories without stopping and realizing that they bear a hell of a lot of resemblance to the world you already have - or, as Amanda says, that you are so afraid of the stories because you are intimately familiar with them already, and it's easier to pretend that what you have is good, because if you admit that where you're at - where we're all at - isn't good, then you might become obligated to do something about it.

I think some of this comes from my constantly being angry and frustrated at the state of things - I've read enough and dreamed enough to have a fairly complex idea of what I think a better world would look like, and I know we're a long ways from what's inside my head. More importantly, I know we can't get anywhere interesting without hopes, dreams, and visions, and I'm really fucking tired of hearing people denigrate the possibility of a better existence because they're too fucking scared they might have to change.

And yes, this occasionally applies to me.