Health Care vs Nazism

It is painfully obvious that the healthcare debate has become one of the most volatile and divisive issues in the country. Everyone has a view and seems to be getting into the debate. Doctors, nurses, insurance companies, patients, lobbyists, drug companies, politicians and ordinary citizens have strong opinions.

seem to be a growing number of groups and individuals who have stopped debating the merits of healthcare reform proposals and have instead resorted to fear and intimidation tactics. While this serves to shut down honest and direct dialogue about the healthcare issues, there is an alarming increase in the appearance of one particularly offensive and vile bit of dialogue. I have noticed the use of the word “Nazi” used when attacking health care reform and its proponents, including, and perhaps especially in reference to, the president and the Democratic leadership of Congress.

The awful comparison between healthcare reform advocates and Nazis has manifested itself in a number of ways. Swastikas have been spray painted on congressmen’s signs and property, President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have both been compared multiple times to Adolf Hitler, and healthcare, including stem cell research, has been directly compared to Nazi eugenics.

Rush Limbaugh is, not surprisingly, the king of this mess. “Obama’s got a health care logo that’s right out of Adolf Hitler’s playbook,” Limbaugh said “Now, what are the similarities between the Democratic Party of today and the Nazi Party in Germany? Well, the Nazis were against big business — they hated big business. And of course we all know that they were opposed to Jewish capitalism… It is liberalism that’s the closest you can get to Nazism. It’s all bundled up under the socialist banner. There are far more similarities between Nancy Pelosi and Adolf Hitler than between these people showing up at town halls to protest.”

Limbaugh was responding to Nancy Pelosi’s criticism of the people attending town hall meetings carrying Swastikas.

Let’s set the record straight right now: Nazism was one of the single greatest evils ever perpetrated by humanity. Nazism led to the deaths of 60 million people in World War II, of whom 40 million were civilians. 85 percent of the 60 million people who died were fighting to end Nazism. There was intentional genocide perpetrated by both Germany and Japan, which led to the sadistic attempted extermination of Jews, homosexuals, POWs, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Roma, the disabled/mentally ill and other groups. Even today, Nazism, whether in the form of Neo-Nazis or Holocaust deniers, remains a destructive ideology embraced by ignorant people bent on discrimination and violence.

To accurately describe the horrors of Nazism would require far more space and time than available. And yet this is in some way comparable to reforming healthcare? Does the systematic extermination of 6 million Jews and the misery of concentration camps remind anyone of a public option? This comparison is totally absurd.

One of the consequences of using hyper-charged references to Hitler and Nazism is that the healthcare debate has totally broken down. Instead of engaging in an honest exchange of views and perspectives followed by a negotiation of what is best for the American people, the far right Republicans and non-supporters of reform have now completely shut down the debate. What is particularly ironic about this is that there are good arguments to be made to oppose certain reforms. Why would these Republicans choose to use a cheap and pathetic parlor trick to ruin the debate instead of engaging in it? Maybe they do not have confidence in the ability of their arguments to persuade the American public, and resorting to fear and intimidation is the next best thing.

One undeniable truth about any Nazi comparison, especially when it is as ridiculous as it is to health care, is that many people find it incredibly offensive. It is offensive because it makes Nazism seem trivial. The sacrifices that were made to stop Nazism are unimaginable. What do you think our veterans and their families think when we compare the storming of Normandy and other heroic actions to curbing insurance costs? And the 6 million Jews who were exterminated in concentration camps? Is that comparable to subsidizing insurance rates for the poor? Does legislating and supporting healthcare, as President Obama and House Speaker Pelosi have, make them equivalent to Adolf Hitler? Anyone who makes these absurd, idiotic and horribly offensive comparisons should be ashamed of themselves.

Jack Melamed is a sophomore in Newcomb-Tulane College. He can be reached at jmelamed@tulane.edu.