It boggles my mind that the same people who cry ‘foul’ about rationing an instant later argue to reduce health care benefits for the needy, to defund crucial programs of care and prevention, and to shift thousands of dollars of annual costs to people – elders, the poor, the disabled – who are least able to bear them.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the hypocrisy in how some people advocate for fairness while simultaneously supporting measures that harm the vulnerable.
Donald Berwick's quote underscores the contradictory nature of social discourse regarding healthcare and support for the needy. It points out the irony of those who complain about limitations in resources yet endorse policies that take away essential health services from society's most vulnerable populations. This reflects a deeper philosophical inquiry into morality, equity, and the societal responsibilities towards the less fortunate, questioning the integrity of arguments that espouse fairness while perpetuating injustice.
In practice
Use this quote in a discussion about healthcare policy during a community meeting.
In America right now, we use words like 'smart' to talk about bombs. American rhetoric is grounded in ideas of capital-G Good, capital-E Evil, and it's very clear who is on which side. But in a book you can do just the opposite. You can use all lower-case words.
Humility is the distinguishing virtue of the believer in freedom; arrogance, of the paternalist.
I don't believe in god, so I don't have to make elaborately sounded structures. ... Pain always produces logic, which is very bad for you. ... As for measure and other technical apparatus, that's just common sense: if you're going to buy a pair of pants you want them to be tight enough so everyone will want to go to bed with you. There's nothing metaphysical about it.
Dreams are not without meaning wherever they may come from — from fantasy, from the elements, or from another inspiration.
If no one else, the dying must notice how unreal, how full of pretense, is all that we accomplish here, where nothing is allowed to be itself.
Thinking men cannot be ruled; ambitious men do not stagnate.
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