PrintNovember 22, 2009
Praising Saul Alinsky and Cloward-Piven
That title may sound odd coming from the mouth of a hardened Libertarian/Conservative, but it is not meant as praise for their objectives, only their methods.
The health care juggernaut working its way through Congress is, to any political realist, virtually unstoppable in some form. We will be yoked under it even if some cosmetic changes are made. Of course there will also be the unstated understanding that any section that is sacrificed for passage will be resurrected in the future.
One section that won't be cut, I feel sure, is the mandate for individuals to purchase health insurance, either from private, but heavily regulated, health insurance companies, or from the Federal government. The current language of the bill, as I understand it, requires this purchase under the threat of fines, or imprisonment.
And this is where I have to sing the praises of Alinsky and Cloward-Piven. They have given us a way to "spike their wheels."
Numbers that the Department of Justice claims are accurate as of June 30, 2008, indicate that Federal and State prisons, we have a total of 2,310,984 prisoners.
According to our President, and various members of Congress, we have somewhere between 30 million and 47 million without insurance coverage, who will be required to get such coverage or else join their felonious brothers and sisters in the prison system.
Splitting the difference between 30 and 47 million, let's just use 38.5 million as a working number. According to the Heritage Foundation, the number of people who currently have employer provided healthcare and who will lose that coverage and be forced to join the 38.5 million is about 88.1 million.
OK, we know that the 88.1 million number might be a bit high, so let's be conservative and reduce it by a third, to 58.8 million. With the original 38.5 million we have a total of 97.3 million people who are under threat of imprisonment and fines unless they bow to Obama (I suppose he's getting tired of being the one bowing) and purchase health insurance.
If only one person out of a hundred refused to purchase Obamacare Advantage, or whatever they decide to call it, and also refused to pay the fine, how do you think Obama, Biden, Pelosi, Reid, Frank, Waxman, Boxer, et al, would react to the idea of adding 973,000 new inmates to the prison system? That would be a 42% increase over the current prison population, which is already straining our ability to house felons.
If Obamacare were currently law, I might be guilty of inciting criminality. Nah, not "might be." I'd be guilty as hell. If this abominable law is passed, I think the ultimate act of civil disobedience might be the most effective way to bring these politicians to their senses.
During the Vietnam era, some men were willing to go to jail rather than serve in what they considered an immoral war. A LOT more just cut and went to Canada. I can't speak for all my brothers in Vietnam, but I know the vast majority of soldiers with whom I served had enormous respect for those who went to jail as a matter of conscience, and utter disdain for those who ran and hid in Canada. I thought at the time that if those who went north had overwhelmed our prison system, the war would have been ended years earlier.
I think the same strategy would work now. Overwhelm our prison system, and see how quickly the laws (and some incumbents) are changed.
Thanks Saul Alinsky, and Doctors Cloward and Piven. Even if it's not the change the two of you hoped for, we might just see if your ideas really work.
