Harvey Discussion with MAGA co-worker [View all]

[bitterross]

My recent conversation with a MAGA co-worker who often takes the chance to tell us he is a Christian. I didn't start this one - he did. But I finished it:

Him: Wow, did you see all that stuff happening in Houston?

Me: Yes, horrible, isn’t it?

Him: Yes. Did you see how Trump stepped up and promised that the government would take care of everyone? That’s a REAL President.

Me: Hmm, I thought you’d be upset about the government interfering in a local matter. I mean, you were the one who told me that government is NEVER the answer when I suggested single-payer health care. That private enterprise can ALWAYS do better than the government. (yes, I baited him.)

Him: Oh, that’s different. A lot of people’s homes have been destroyed in Houston and there are lives at stake because of all the flooding. They HAD to do something. It’s too big for the local people.

Me: Oh really? (Mind spinning here with all the obvious problems in that statement given his earlier staunch defense of the free market as the solution to everything). So, there ARE things that are too big or not well-suited to private enterprise after all?

Him: Sure. A natural disaster is one of those things.

Me: So, I guess timing is everything.

Him: Yes, it is.

Me: Right. So, when a whole bunch of family’s lives are being ruined all at once and they are losing their homes it’s a disaster. Because the circumstances are beyond their control. The government should do something. Help out and also protect them from price gouging by private businesses. But when one family at a time is having its life ruined and losing its home over an illness then it’s okay. The government should stand by and let the free market take its course. Who cares if families here and there are ruined one at a time, over time.

Him: That’s not what I said.

Me: Oh, yes, that is exactly what you’ve said.

Him: No, you don’t understand. People can choose to live better lives and take care of themselves so they don’t get sick. The government shouldn’t help out people who don’t take care of themselves. It’s not the same thing.

Me: Really? You mean people can’t chose to not build in flood plains and hurricane zones and they can’t just buy insurance on the free market to cover their losses?

Him: You’re being silly. It’s not the same thing.

Me: You mean people choose to have cancer or be in a life-altering accident? They choose to have an illness in a country where we pay 3 times as much for health care in our free market as other civilized countries do in their single-payer systems? And get worse outcomes overall.

Him: No. It’s just not the same thing.

Me: Hmm, the outcome is the same in both situations. A family is ruined and the country worse off for it.

Him: You just don’t understand. It’s not the same.

Me: (Shaking my head and walking away) You are absolutely right. I do not understand.