There is little common ground between the two opposing moral narratives on the implementation of Obamacare

Two weeks ago on 1 October, the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) began implementation, despite the government’s shutdown due to disagreements between the Republican and Democratic parties over its funding. Richard B. Saltman looks at the two opposing moral narratives over the ACA: one which focusses on the program’s health benefits, and a second which argues that the ACA represents a fundamental political and bureaucratic threat to the continued decentralized governance and economic future of America. Past experience with similar clashes between completely different moral narratives indicates that the US may well be in for a long-term war of political attrition over the ACA.