Them Vs. Us

Joseph Ellis is a history professor that wrote an op-ed in the LA Times recently with the above title. He argues the controversy over health care reform is a continuation of a long argument that Americans have been having about whether our political system empowers the individual or supports a community approach.

“Put succinctly, the dispute is between those who regard government as ‘them’ and those who see it as ‘us,’” he writes.

I’m pretty clearly in the latter camp. But take a look at his piece and see what you think.

I heard him interviewed on NPR on Monday. Something he said at the end of the interview stuck with me enough that I looked it up on the Web site:

“I think what we've discovered—historic[ally] conservatives and libertarians have opposed each of the major changes in the 20th century. They opposed the Federal Reserve. They opposed Social Security. They opposed banking legislation. The Wall Street Journal said the Glass-Steagall Act would represent the end of Western civilization. They opposed desegregation and Civil Rights Act. They opposed the Environmental Protection Agency. They opposed Medicare and Medicaid. And so that's a consistent position, and I would just simply look back at that record and say if we want to continue it.”