Pundits on the right have characterized the Affordable Health Care act as a Robin Hood program, one that takes money from the rich and middle class to help the poor find medical coverage. Judging from the increased premiums that I am finding in my mailbox, and despite Obama's denials, there may be some truth to the Robin Hood analogy.
For those who hold private property sacrosanct, for those who, like John Locke, believe that private property is the bulwark of civilization, such acts of forced redistribution are nothing less than an egregious injustice.
But all the moaning makes me wonder, if Americans could be assured that with a 5-10 percent increase in their health care costs all of their fellow Americans would be covered, would we be willing to check off the box? Of course, most of Western Europe has gone in the direction of "tax me more and cover all." To be sure, life is more expensive in the likes of France, Germany, and Scandinavia. There is less disposal income but you won't find many sick people sleeping on grates, nor, it is true, will you find as many folks driving their Mercedes to their summerhouses.
There are many who grouse that Obamacare is poorly designed and will never work. Perhaps they are right, but hypothetically speaking, how many of us are willing to pay a little more to make sure that everyone can make an appointment with a doctor? If the answer is "not many" what does that reveal about our character as a nation? It has to say something. Perhaps that we are running a compassion deficit?