Compromise
Morality as outcomes vs. morality as process, revisited
In response to opposition from Republicans and some conservative Democrats, on Sunday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius signaled that the Administration might be willing to compromise on a government-run health insurance program – the so-called “public option” – in the health care reform plan and would consider proposals for a nonprofit health cooperative instead.
To political ideologues, “compromise” is a four letter word. It means giving in to beliefs; not standing on principle. It might suggest moral weakness; that the individual admits the possibility that the beliefs are wrong.
But, morally, is compromising really that bad?
First, it’s important to flesh out an important nuance: what exactly is being compromised by (potentially) ditching the public option? Clearly, the public option is a way to an end, not an end in itself. That said many supporters of the public option believe it is the only way to the end they seek – affordable, universal health care. So we’ll assume that a health reform plan without the public option will not achieve the ideal end. What is being compromised, then, is the full realization of affordable, universal health care.
From news reports, it seems that the Administration is considering this compromise, not because the President has changed his belief about the morality of universal health care, but because he has determined that the ends to be politically impossible to achieve. Faced with a choice between partial realization of affordable, universal health care and the status quo, the Administration has decided that some progress is better than none at all. This suggests that, to President Obama, morality is about outcomes, not process.
In a post a few weeks ago, I described a dichotomy between the “morality as process” camp and the “morality as outcome” camp. Those in the first camp would probably agree with the scathing critiques of compromising described above. Morality requires that we relentlessly pursue what we believe to be right. If justice requires affordable, universal health care (and, thus, a public option), then we stop at nothing in pursuit of such a policy. To do so would be to sacrifice the principle in which we believe.
On the other hand, those in the “morality as outcome” camp would claim that morality is about the achievement of ends, not the pursuit of them. What matters is not how stubbornly you fight for what you believe to be right, but how close the outcome is to your ideal. In other words, don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good: it is better to compromise in order to realize a 50% just solution (say, half of uninsured Americans have access to affordable health care) than to fight for the 100% just solution and achieve nothing (the status quo).
So readers, where do you fall?
-Marc
Update: After writing this post, I came across this Wall Street Journal article, reporting that on Monday, President Obama reiterated his support for the public option. Maybe he is in the morality as process camp after all. Or maybe he still believes that the public option is politically realistic making compromise unnecessary.
Related posts:
- Compromise
- Cash for Morality
- President Obama and The New York Times must read this blog
- On the site of public philosophy
- Does symbolism matter in the pursuit of justice?
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