Suffering has become a thing to be outsourced, not eliminated. The healthcare debate of the past several years is a perpetual reminder of this. We have become so good at choosing those who will suffer that we have developed a sophisticated rhetorical apparatus for convincing them they should be grateful for the honor. Shirley Jackson’s short story, The Lottery has been fare for many a high school English class. If you are not familiar with the story, it is about a small village that holds an annual lottery wherein a community member is randomly chosen to die for the benefit of the rest of the village. The villager who is chosen is Tessie Hutchinson and she insists on the unfairness of the lottery only when she is the one chosen to die. Jackson was always reluctant to reveal the point she was making with the story but we can find precedence for it in the Bible in the story of Achan (Joshua 9). In this story, Achan saw some pretty things among the rubble of Jericho and took them for himself. Now, the Israelites were explicitly instructed not to take any of the things “devoted to God” for destruction. This cat, Achan, couldn’t help himself. His weakness caused the death of other Israelites as they went into battle. When his sin was discovered, Joshua drew lots, a system almost identical to that used by Jackson’s villagers, to determine who was to be killed. Achan and his family and all that he owned were destroyed for the sake of the whole community.
In her short story, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, Ursula LeGuin describes a utopian city that was famous for its blissful inhabitants and their decadent festivals. The dark secret, however, was that, deep in the bowels of the city there was a single child kept in complete seclusion and squalor. The artful LeGuin doesn’t do the work for the reader. We are left to figure out what to do about the abused and neglected child. When this becomes known to the Omelas-ians, some choose to leave rather than countenance the practice of treating a child this way. The child bears all the sorrow and suffering for the city so the other citizens can enjoy themselves.
So, back to healthcare. What does Achan, Tessie Hutchinson, and the child of Omelas have to do with healthcare? All three of these individuals were chosen to suffer on behalf of the common good. What this implies, of course, is that those chosen to suffer are not considered as part of the common good.
We have increasing incarceration rates for certain segments of the population based mostly on socioeconomic status. And these people have been assigned to suffer for the “common good”.
We have our clothing and electronics assembled in Asia and South America by people who do the labor in appalling conditions so that we can consume our shit more cheaply. And these people have been assigned to suffer for the “common good”.
We have intractably homeless people, including children, who wander our cities and towns trying to scrape together even the most rudimentary needs for survival. And these people have been assigned to suffer for the “common good”.
There are innocent civilians throughout the Middle East who are killed by our military action so that we can maintain our access to their natural resources. And these people have been assigned to suffer for the “common good”.
We have millions of people in our country who have chronic illnesses and who are at increasing risk of diseases like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes who have no access to healthcare. And they have been assigned to suffer for the “common good”.
The Common Good is not so common either. Those with great wealth and influence are assigning suffering to people who, like Tessie Hutchinson or the child of Omelas, have no means for changing their fortunes. Would it not be better for us to work toward eliminating suffering rather than simply outsourcing it to others whom we consider our inferiors? We need universal healthcare and it is not as difficult to accomplish as politicians would have us believe. It is especially challenging for them because their constituents, the wealthy and powerful, have built a sophisticated mechanism for ensuring that they will not have to sacrifice and suffer. If it is so difficult, why are we the only industrialized nation lacking universal healthcare? I can answer that. We are afraid to sacrifice for the benefit others. May we develop the courage to be the ones who walk away from Omelas.
smoke for light 