Andrew Sullivan: No Problem WIth The Wealthy Getting Better Health Care

Gay conservative Andrew Sullivan, in discussing Michael Moore's movie "Sicko," writes on his blog:

I see no problem with the wealthy having access to better care than the
less wealthy...It seems to me that this is equivalent to saying: I see no
problem with living in a free society.

Now, let's see how many other items will fit nicely into this warped
formulation:

1. I see no problem with child labor, it seems to me that this is equivalent
to saying: I see no problem with living in a free
society.

2. I see no problem with workers having to earn their livelihood
toiling under unsafeworking conditions, it seems to me...,
etc.

3. I see no problem with workers not being able to organize or strike for better wages and working conditions, it seems to me...etc.

etc., etc., Again, Sullivan's warped conservative view that liberty always totally trumps equality is symptomatic of the skewed conservative philosophy that is preoccupied with liberty and unconcerned with justice. It is indicative of a case of arrested philosophical development, a fixation on Hobbsian/Lockeian self-interest as the sole driving force of human endeavor, without regard to the possibility of Humeian benevolence. For conservatives, the liberty/equality equation is zero sum, which is a reaction to the demise of the feudal state that gave rise to Hobbsian thought. The correct formulation is sum sum. We can have both liberty and a just society that addresses inequality, as formulated in the writings of John Rawls. I do see a problem with the wealthy having better access to health care than the less wealthy. It offends my sense of justice. Apparently, Sullivan has no sense of justice.

Jim