Pulling oneself up by the deleterious boot straps

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the reluctance of some in America to support a public option healthcare plan. Some political pundits would have you believe that the Democrats lost the fight for the realization of such a plan, by simply naming it a “public option”, knowing that many in this country are adamantly against anything that may be perceived as a federal handout, and yet another burden to an economy grappling to recover. I however think that this notion is too simplistic, and offers little in explaining true reluctance towards such a plan. One would think that support for reform would be a no brainer in a country where the majority of adults are overweight, and chronically ill, and where claims for even those insured can be arbitrarily tossed out. Wouldn’t it be reassuring to have a federally backed plan in place, limiting gross abuses by health issuance companies? I think so, but apparently not everyone sees the proposals set forth by the proposed health care bill as solutions for Americas’ dysfunctional healthcare system. What I find particularly troublesome is that some of the biggest opponents to healthcare reform are those who need it the most. Working / middle class Americans who hold steadfast to an ideology counter their own self interest and support a status quo, in which they have no steak in. I totally understand why executives, and upper management of insurance companies, as well as lobbyist and the politicians whose campaigns they support, are strong opponents of healthcare reform, but I struggle to make sense out of the plumber Joes of America who also object to a plan that would have real beneficial ramifications in their lives.
When I hear the arguments spewed by some of the biggest critics of healthcare reform and the constant demonization of countries in Europe, whose populations are by the way markedly healthier than our own, despite spending far less on healthcare than we do, I’m baffled of how anyone can fall for an argument that in all estimations holds absolutely no weight. What’s more, the same people who vehemently argue against increased spending that the creation of a Public healthcare option would demand are shortsighted in their own ability to see how reform of America’s healthcare system directly impacts the country’s economic well being, by allocating less monies to inefficient entitlement programs, subsequently freeing up a larger portion of desperately needed GDP.
Listen, I may jokingly attack my country men on their embarrassing ineptness, but I do think that most in this country are intelligent enough to know a good thing when they see it. Yet for some strange reason an alarming amount of people here are having a tough time recognizing the good in ensuring that we have a healthy population. Are Americans so fiercely independent that they would undermine their own well being, rather than accept what may be perceived as a free hand out? Has the American legacy of “pulling oneself by the deleterious boot straps” run amok?