Hope After All

"Shall we do without hope? Some days
there will be none. But now
to the dry and dead woods floor
they come again, the first
flowers of the year, the assembly
of the faithful, the beautiful,
wholly given to being.
And in this long season
of machines and mechanical will
there have been small human acts
of compassion, acts of care, work
flowerlike in selfless loveliness.
Leaving hope to the dark
and to a better day,
receive these beauties freely
given, and give thanks.
       --Wendell Berry, Leavings

We’ve heard the names.
Enemy.
A dangerous radical.
Socialist.
Power mad.
Unconstitutional.
Government control of all of life.
Dictatorial spirit.
Destroyer of our financial system.

 These were some of the charges brought against President Franklin Roosevelt when he proposed Social Security in 1935. The National Association of Manufacturers called Social Security the first step toward “ultimate socialistic control of life and industry.” The Chairman of General Motors, Alfred P. Sloane declared “Industry has every reason to be alarmed at the social, economic, and financial implications…The dangers are manifest.” Republican representative John Taber of New York proclaimed: “Never in the history of the world has any measure been brought in here so insidiously designed as to prevent business recovery, to enslave workers, and to prevent the possibility of the employers providing work for the people.” His New York colleague James Wadsworth added, “This bill opens the door and invites the entrance into the political field of a power so vast, so powerful as to threaten the integrity of our institutions and to pull the pillars of the temple down upon the heads of our descendants.” William Randolph Hearst attacked the program as “absolute state socialism” and contended that the initials (National Recovery Administration) really signified “’No Recovery Allowed.’” President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law August 14, 1935.

This Act established a system of unemployment insurance, accident and disability benefits, support for dependent children, and old-age pensions. Life would never be without risks, the President said, but the government could reduce the uncertainty. As he signed the bill he said, “We have tried to frame a law which will give some measure of protection to the average citizen and to his family against the loss of a job and against poverty-ridden old age.” Many who supported this bill felt it did not go far enough. As the years went by the program grew larger and encompassed more people. Interestingly, the President said perhaps health insurance might be added to the program later on. Those words can be found in the splendid book, Traitor To His Class, by H.W. Brands.

 So it should not surprise us that when then-candidate Barack Obama was true to his word when he fought long and hard for health care being a right and not a choice for every citizen in this country. Tuesday, March 23 is an historic day when our President signed the Health Care Bill into law. President after President has dreamed the dream of making sure every citizen had adequate health care. Theodore Roosevelt…Franklin Roosevelt…Harry Truman…Richard Nixon…and Bill Clinton all tried in vain. And it looked like this effort would never pass. Someone said that over 4,000 lobbyists fought long and hard in Washington to defeat this effort. The choreographed rage and sheer hatred directed toward our President has been an outrage. But we have been here before and will be here again. And yet—he believed in this cause—and this is one of the reasons so many people went to the polls and voted for him. He is the people’s President.

The Birmingham News today said that in Alabama alone: 641,527 uninsured would have insurance and 400,000 Alabama patients could become eligible for Medicaid expansion. This bill is far from perfect. Many compromises have had to be made to get to this point. And yet thanks to the hard work of the President and so many in this country—we have opened a door and this is an historic moment. No change comes easily. No change comes without great opposition. This day I am proud, very proud to be an American.