The health care debate has been raging for years. I’ve listened with considerable intensity to sort out what the issues really were. And I found myself going back and forth. On the one hand, I certainly want all to have access to affordable health care. It’s the compassionate and humane thing to do. I am proud that I live in a country that demonstrates this kind of concern for others.
On the other hand, I am concerned about whether we, by way of our federal government, can really afford to offer another entitlement. With skyrocketing deficits I fear that my kids and even my granddaughter will be burdened with stifling debt.
Of course this internal conflict is reflected in my daily life. I’m a psychologist who attempts empathy for all who choose me as their care giver. I’m some sort of bleeding heart with those whom I interact. But on the home front I guess you would call me a fiscal conservative. I try to live on a fraction of my income and I certainly don’t like anymore debt than is absolutely necessary.
So the public debate and my own internal conflict about health care reform rages on and then I heard a commentator boil it all down. He said that for one side this was about empathy and for the other side it was about numbers. At that point it dawned on me! This debate has, at least in part, at its core the RightBrain Revolution. This is a political debate that is viewed very differently by those who live more in their right brain than by those who live primarily in their left-brain.
You’ll remember that the right brain is relational and empathic. It is therefore a sympathizer with the notion of universal health care because if says, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” And who can argue with that?
But also remember that we have a left-brain and it says, “Break this down, analyze it and be logical.” The left-brain says, “Can we afford it?”
In my everyday life my right brain tells me that I really love this sculpture that I found in an art gallery. The right brain sees intuitively. It knows what I like. And my left brain, through a careful analysis, tells me whether or not I can afford it. I don’t want my right brain running me in to bankruptcy but I also don’t want my left-brain drowning out my emotion, creativity, love and compassion for others and my appreciation for beauty.
And so it goes in Washington. The right brain compassion versus the left-brain practicality. Of course the right brainers try to appease the left-brainers by offering that the bill is a fiscally responsible plan. And the left-brainers try to counter the right brainers that it’s not that they don’t want all to have access to health care but it has to be done in another, less costly, way. And of course it is true that the right brainers are not intentionally fiscally irresponsible any more that the left-brainers are without concern for those who are uninsured and without affordable access to medical care.
The issue of the health care legislation is, of course, layered with political complexities and nuisances far beyond right brain versus left-brain perspective. But, in the midst of this intense debate the notion that these divergent groups were operating from different parts of their brain helped me to appreciate that I too was having the internal debate between these two distinctly different perspectives. This insight also provided context that helped me to see that there wasn’t truly a right and wrong perspective, just different viewpoints.
It further caused me to wonder why the two sides couldn’t find compromise. After all, as individuals we work best when we engage both halves of our brains. Wouldn’t that likely be true for our country too?
It takes reflection to appreciate different points of view. And reflection is a consequence of maturity. The more immature we are the more we know that we and we alone, can not have all the answers. The more mature we are the more we can work toward the common good. I long for maturity in myself. I work to grow and embrace it. I long for it in those making decisions in Washington too. For all of our sake, I hope they become more reflective soon.