Does loving your neighbor mean that you want them to have adequate healthcare?

I typically do not like to address a topic unless I have a certain level of understanding of it and of the various sides in the debate. This, then, means that I am woefully ill-equipped to address the present topic.

Yet, I suspect that the topic itself, though I am sure it is immensely complex, is relatively straightforward.

As it now stands, basic healthcare is only available to certain individuals.

I do not know the statistics. But I suspect that the inequities pertaining to who has access to basic healthcare and who doesn’t run along socio-economic lines. In other words, it is a justice issue in terms of inequity for the poor.

Universal education

I have been fortunate to travel much of the world. I have been to many nations in which education is not free for all children. I would say that providing education to all children is one of the greatest achievements in the US.

Ironically, I do not believe that I have ever heard anyone complain that our educational system is a form of socialism and that it should be abolished.

If we are such a great nation because we provide education for all of our kids, then why is it such a problem for us to provide healthcare for everyone?

I believe that the response is something along the lines of: “we don’t want to be a socialist society.”

So, the options are socialism or universal healthcare?

Really?

My response is: how does providing healthcare for everyone make us any more of a socialist society than providing education for everyone? And is socialism so bad that it is worth having some of our citizens (usually the poor and the marginalized) go without basic healthcare?

If you answer, “yes, socialism is that bad,” I would ask you to consider whether or not you would give the same answer if it were you or your family that had no access to basic healthcare.

NB: Of course, we don’t actually provide education for all equitably. The fact that much of the funding for our schools comes from property taxes means that schools in wealthier communities are better funded, and have access to better facilities, better resources, and often better teachers and administrators.

In order to provide adequate healthcare for all, we would have to tax the wealthier persons a bit more. And I suppose that is the point. Somehow, that would be unfair. After all, we work hard for our money.

Those who already have adequate healthcare don’t want the burden of paying more taxes so that others can experience adequate healthcare.

And here is why I am writing on this. Because as a NT scholar it is my responsibility to remind you that this is what loving your neighbor as yourself looks like!

Now, in saying this, I am not denying that this is a complex issue. Thus, when it comes to discerning what the best way to go about this might be, I will leave that up to people way smarter than me. I just want to see the Church on the right side of the argument.

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