Who Are We?

This week, while Americans were giving thanks for our blessings, the British Parliament legalized assisted suicide. Poetic, considering it comes near the end of a drawn out suicide of what was once the shining beacon of Western Civilization. This is the same Britain that recently let murderers and rapists out of prison to make room for thought criminals who post anti-migrant sentiments on social media, that has justified mass migration from third world countries in the name of propping up its socialized healthcare system.

Euthanasia has always been the inevitably end state of socialized medicine. Sarah Palin was roundly mocked, even on the right, for saying that Obamacare would result in government death panels. Yet she was absolutely right. What does it mean for society when the value of a human life is reduced to a simple cost/benefit analysis, leaving life or death decisions to a random bureaucrat — or worse, a computer algorithm?

I believe that the greatest question facing humanity for the remainder of the 21st century is one of identity. What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be male or female? What does it mean to be American? What does it mean to be Idahoan?

• What does it mean to be human? Are we sentient beings, made in the image of God, with moral agency and a right to life? Or are we numbers on a spreadsheet, detritus to be deleted when we no longer contribute to GDP?
• What does it mean to be male or female? Do we have innate biological characteristics that make us uniquely able to be fathers and mothers, working together to raise the next generation? Or are those characteristics malleable and changeable with drugs, surgeries, and laws to protect our self-identity?
• What does it mean to be an American? Does citizenship convey a special status in this nation, including the protections of certain rights and the privilege to take part in the operation of our Republic? Or is it just a trifle, a checkmark on a piece of paper, and we have no more right to the country our fathers created than anyone else on earth?
• What does it mean to be an Idahoan? Does living in the Gem State make one part of a special community? Or is that reserved only for those whose ancestors settled here before statehood? Who best represents the voice of the people of Idaho — corporate interests or the grassroots?

The answers to these questions all have serious policy implications. The same technocratic motivation that enacts death panels to remove the elderly and the infirm from the rolls of socialized healthcare also demands we import millions of migrant workers rather than pay American citizens a living wage. If people are just numbers on a spreadsheet, then why not exchange a few variables to make the system as efficient as possible?

The road to dystopia always starts with good intentions. Why not get government involved in the healthcare system? After all, people face substandard care and high bills in the current system, so why not use the force of law to make things better? Look at Britain, look at Canada, look at any nation that has gone down that road and you’ll see the answer. In Canada, bureaucrats were caught recommending euthanasia for patients with depression. It’s darkly ironic that our northern neighbors now have two suicide hotlines — one to talk you out of it, and one to talk you into it. In socialism, you’re often worth more dead than alive.

Remember that as we begin the legislative session a month from now. Our lawmakers must resist the temptation to evaluate each issue in a vacuum. It’s not just about forcing insurance to cover more contraception, or using tax dollars to subsidize workforce training. Each such bill is one more little step on the road to a hellish dystopia.

The election results over the past six months have given us a renewed hope that we can save our state and our nation. It starts with remembering who we are. We’re not just numbers in a spreadsheet or gears in a machine that produces GDP. We are humans, made in the image of God, male and female. We are fathers and mothers, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters. We are Americans, we are Idahoans, and we deserve a future of dignity for ourselves and our posterity.

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