Reply #37: Single-payer universal health care and same-sex marriage are a dozen years or more away

[zulchzulu]

Most people, whether moderate or left, know that single-payer universal health care and same-sex marriage reform are not going to happen any time soon.

Is it a shame? Yes.

In order for single-payer universal health care to happen, a LOT of chiseling away at the pharmaceutical industry and the insurance industry needs to be done. It will unfortunately have to be incremental, due to absolutely powerful lobbies that will hold on to every last molecule of control they can.

In order for same-sex marriage laws to reform, it's going to take incremental legislation like domestic partnerships and civil unions to come into law. Reframing the term "gay marriage" needs to be done. We have to wait for the older generations to die off... it's a fact that is tragic, but a reality.

There is the need to have reforms like single-payer universal health care and same-sex marriage. Then there is the reality of actually getting enough votes in both houses to pass legislation... it's like the dreamer facing the pragmatist. The dreamer eventually wins... in time.

You can be for single-payer universal health care and same-sex marriage... but you can also look at the actual reality of it happening in the immediate future. What do you do if you are in a position to govern on these issues? As is nearly always the case with turning the tide on such issues, it's about incremental legislation where people of all political stripes work together to make change. That's how democracy generally works.