September 7, 2009 - On this Labor Day, when so many are losing hope for the public option, The Feinstein 1200 sends you an image of authentic courage: Lech Walesa, the legendary Polish Solidarity leader who, in his fight for workers’ rights, ended up indirectly challenging the brutal Soviet empire – and won.
Walesa, like many of today's primary care doctors working in the shadow of the U.S. health insurance empire, understood his Goliath. He knew that the creaky imperium was far weaker than the powerful image it had purchased with the lives of others.
So Walesa made a calculated, pragmatic decision to invest in those ordinary people who supported him, rather than succumb to a corrupt system.
Like the public option, Walesa’s Solidarity movement offered workers a broader range of choices, and in doing so, helped to defeat a brutal system. Similarly, a robust public option would give ordinary Americans leverage against the for-profit U.S. health insurance monopoly.
Why didn’t Walesa betray his friends and their goals, even when the Communist government in Poland imprisoned him in a secret cell in Soviet territory? And how did he win against a Leviathan far more deadly than a bunch of sleazy health insurance lobbyists?
Perhaps it’s because Walesa, who lacked a formal education, understood that victory didn’t come by lying down.
This month, let's stand strong for nothing less than a robust public option, and let’s ask the same of our President.
Take heart - and fight.
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