Reply #38: Is your world really that BLACK and WHITE?

[FreeJoe]

I don't think that any of my Republican friends want to completely and abruptly end Medicare, SS, unemployment, food stamps, et al.

Take Medicare, for example. Several support Ryan's plan to switch it to private health insurance accounts. They think that people will get better service at less cost to the country as compared with Medicare. No one can argue that SOMETHING has to be done to reform Medicare or, assuming that current trends will continue, the cost will become unsustainable. I think that moving the nation to a single payer national health insurance is likely to provide the solution. They believe that private insurance does. All of us want people to have access to medical care, but we disagree on what the most fair and efficient way is to provide that.

Why is it that some people can't accept that the people they disagree with have good intentions and bad ideas?

Similarly, do you think that Republicans are a monolithic group? Are Democrats? Do you completely agree with every plank of the Democratic party platform each election? I certainly don't. One of the benefits of having a diverse group of friends and associates is that you get exposure to lots of different viewpoints. I often feel that I am trying to get them to see my perspective (frequently alien down here), but I freely admit to having my views adjusted by listening to their views.