June 01, 2017
The Importance of Thinking Like Winners
Timothy Birdnow
Writing at American Thinker, Jon N. Hall makes a persuasive case for reform of "universal healthcare". And while I appreciate what Jon is trying to do, his article underscores what is wrong with the Conservative movement and why we keep losing.
From the article:
"On multiple occasions recently, Charles Krauthammer has observed that since the passing of Obamacare, a consensus has emerged in America that government should guarantee that all Americans be covered by health insurance. Obamacare, however, doesn't cover all Americans; the ACA itself even grants exemptions to its mandates. And then there are those who would rather pay the tax/penalty than pay insurance premiums. Also, many Americans are too just busy ruining their health to be bothered with procuring health insurance. In all, Americans who have neither public nor private health insurance number more than 28 million.
Dr. Krauthammer predicts that within a few years, America will end up with a universal health care system, perhaps even the dread "socialized medicine," i.e. "single-payer," where the government runs the whole shebang."
[...]
"If Dr. Krauthammer is correct, and we are indeed headed toward a universal health care system, then Republicans need to beat the Dems to the finish line so they can put their own imprint on that new system, and maybe even beat the Democrats in the "compassion sweepstakes" of the 2018 elections. It's not health insurance that people need; it's health care. By guaranteeing that the medical bills of the uninsured will be paid, Republicans would be instituting a de facto universal system. And unlike Obamacare it would not omit 28 million Americans."
End excerpts.
First, this is exactly why I have never had much respect for Charles Krauthammer. Old Kraut has always been, in my opinion, a slavish follower of conventional wisdom, and that convention is set inside the beltway. Contrary to his reputation, he is solidly bound in the bubble and his views are only original as corollaries to the fundamental presumptions of the Establishment. Consider that Dr. Krauthammer actually believed Obama was a moderate until well into his first term; how can one be considered an intellectual powerhouse and not see that Obama was a radical from the beginning? Krauthammer had the wool pulled over his eyes there, and many other times.
And it is, sadly, people like Krauthammer who accept the conventional wisdom and wind up getting our side to surrender. There is such a thing as a self-fulfilling prophecy, and to predict we will have universal healthcare aka socialized medicine (and a guy like Krauthammer should understand the importance of using the propoer terminology and not just accepting liberal appropriation of language) helps to make it so. Thus, when we accept his argument we accept the battle has been lost - as we always have for the last quarter century or more. The argument is never about the thing being pushed by the Left, but about how long we can hold out before our side waves the white flag.
And while I greatly respect Jon Hall, I feel he has done a disservice here by telling our side the battle is lost before it is fully engaged.
We have GOT to stop doing that! It is the reason the GOP now does not want to repeal Obamacare, despite being elected on that very promise; they think it is political suicide because the country has moved that way, and some polls are trotted out that show this is so. But these are the same polls that showed Hillary trouncing Donald Trump. Polls can say what one wishes, and the media has used them to panic the Beltway Republicans on more than one occasion.
We need leaders who will attack and not simply fight a rear-guard action. Sadly, we have few, and people like Krauthammer are certainly not among them. The people who win BELIEVE they are going to win. Victory rarely goes to those who figure the battle is lost. Confidence is most of any sort of battle, and poor morale is definitely a predicter of success or defeat. The Left has always understood this, and they always foster a sense of triumph. It is why they manage to win at least some concession out of our side in every battle, so they can show their foot soldiers that they are making headway. Our side, on the other hand, always gives ground. We feel like losers, they feel like winners.
And this is so established that a guy like Krauthammer cannot fathom turning this around. So, despite the despair on the Left these days, he still confidently predicts the Left will get their hearts' desire with healthcare.
If he thinks this he should keep his mouth shut, or at least predicate it with lots of qualifiers.
Our side will never even hold ground if we don't come to understand the importance of thinking like winners.
Writing at American Thinker, Jon N. Hall makes a persuasive case for reform of "universal healthcare". And while I appreciate what Jon is trying to do, his article underscores what is wrong with the Conservative movement and why we keep losing.
From the article:
"On multiple occasions recently, Charles Krauthammer has observed that since the passing of Obamacare, a consensus has emerged in America that government should guarantee that all Americans be covered by health insurance. Obamacare, however, doesn't cover all Americans; the ACA itself even grants exemptions to its mandates. And then there are those who would rather pay the tax/penalty than pay insurance premiums. Also, many Americans are too just busy ruining their health to be bothered with procuring health insurance. In all, Americans who have neither public nor private health insurance number more than 28 million.
Dr. Krauthammer predicts that within a few years, America will end up with a universal health care system, perhaps even the dread "socialized medicine," i.e. "single-payer," where the government runs the whole shebang."
[...]
"If Dr. Krauthammer is correct, and we are indeed headed toward a universal health care system, then Republicans need to beat the Dems to the finish line so they can put their own imprint on that new system, and maybe even beat the Democrats in the "compassion sweepstakes" of the 2018 elections. It's not health insurance that people need; it's health care. By guaranteeing that the medical bills of the uninsured will be paid, Republicans would be instituting a de facto universal system. And unlike Obamacare it would not omit 28 million Americans."
End excerpts.
First, this is exactly why I have never had much respect for Charles Krauthammer. Old Kraut has always been, in my opinion, a slavish follower of conventional wisdom, and that convention is set inside the beltway. Contrary to his reputation, he is solidly bound in the bubble and his views are only original as corollaries to the fundamental presumptions of the Establishment. Consider that Dr. Krauthammer actually believed Obama was a moderate until well into his first term; how can one be considered an intellectual powerhouse and not see that Obama was a radical from the beginning? Krauthammer had the wool pulled over his eyes there, and many other times.
And it is, sadly, people like Krauthammer who accept the conventional wisdom and wind up getting our side to surrender. There is such a thing as a self-fulfilling prophecy, and to predict we will have universal healthcare aka socialized medicine (and a guy like Krauthammer should understand the importance of using the propoer terminology and not just accepting liberal appropriation of language) helps to make it so. Thus, when we accept his argument we accept the battle has been lost - as we always have for the last quarter century or more. The argument is never about the thing being pushed by the Left, but about how long we can hold out before our side waves the white flag.
And while I greatly respect Jon Hall, I feel he has done a disservice here by telling our side the battle is lost before it is fully engaged.
We have GOT to stop doing that! It is the reason the GOP now does not want to repeal Obamacare, despite being elected on that very promise; they think it is political suicide because the country has moved that way, and some polls are trotted out that show this is so. But these are the same polls that showed Hillary trouncing Donald Trump. Polls can say what one wishes, and the media has used them to panic the Beltway Republicans on more than one occasion.
We need leaders who will attack and not simply fight a rear-guard action. Sadly, we have few, and people like Krauthammer are certainly not among them. The people who win BELIEVE they are going to win. Victory rarely goes to those who figure the battle is lost. Confidence is most of any sort of battle, and poor morale is definitely a predicter of success or defeat. The Left has always understood this, and they always foster a sense of triumph. It is why they manage to win at least some concession out of our side in every battle, so they can show their foot soldiers that they are making headway. Our side, on the other hand, always gives ground. We feel like losers, they feel like winners.
And this is so established that a guy like Krauthammer cannot fathom turning this around. So, despite the despair on the Left these days, he still confidently predicts the Left will get their hearts' desire with healthcare.
If he thinks this he should keep his mouth shut, or at least predicate it with lots of qualifiers.
Our side will never even hold ground if we don't come to understand the importance of thinking like winners.
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
10:04 AM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 819 words, total size 5 kb.
25kb generated in CPU 0.137, elapsed 0.2609 seconds.
35 queries taking 0.2494 seconds, 182 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
35 queries taking 0.2494 seconds, 182 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
