One of the most important debates in Washington, D.C. is centered on the nationalization of healthcare, essentially putting all or most Americans on the equivalent of Medicare.
The proponents of such an idea can often be heard saying that Americans have a “right” to medical care or that no one should be denied this right simply because they can’t or don’t want to pay for it.
As a nation, we continue to move away from personal (individual) responsibility. We see this with children, our workforce, corporate leadership and sadly even with our elected officials.
Whenever, you do not accept personal responsibility for your behavior, choices or finances you abdicate that responsibility to others.
Before, deciding if you are for or against nationalized healthcare – ask yourself this question. How well run or efficient is our federal government? And, do you think that the same people who have stolen the Social Security funds collected from your paychecks, manipulated the Consumer Price Index, and continue to manage the devaluation of the U.S. Dollar will do a better job with healthcare?
The argument regarding being denied healthcare due to inability to pay is simply untrue. Because, it is currently a legal obligation of hospitals and emergency rooms to provide care to everyone.
Regarding, our right to healthcare…
The second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence says in part: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Nowhere does it mention anything about free Viagra.
In school, we were taught that the first 10 amendments to the Constitution were ratified in 1791, and collectively they form our Bill of Rights. The First Amendment states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
The Second Amendment enumerates the “right of the people to keep and bear arms.” The Fourth Amendment guarantees “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” The Fifth Amendment says someone shall “not be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself,” and the Sixth outlines the “right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury.”
We could go on, but these rights bear a common thread. Each restricts the government from taking what Americans naturally possess. You have a life, the liberty to do as you wish, and the ability to pursue whatever happiness means to you. No one has to give these rights to you because you naturally begin life with them.
Rights are not about giving you something for free; they are about protecting natural liberties from those who would take them away from you.
For instance, the Second Amendment guarantees the right to bear arms. It does not however, say that you get guns for free if you don’t have one.
This is analogous to the issue of health care “rights.” If socialized-medicine proponents argued that everyone should have the right to go where and when they want to receive the medical treatment they want and need, I would agree with them. But instead, they argue that someone else should be compelled to pay for the costs of medical care that others want to receive.
When you hear someone say that health care should be “free” or that the “government” should pay for it, they are really talking about two payment methods. The first requires doctors, nurses, and other medical care providers to work without compensation, via government fiat, so that the patient doesn’t have to pay. The second option provides that the government will require others to work for nothing in order to transfer their income to pay for the health care of another.
In reality, the current healthcare proposal does some of both. But by doing so, it effectively restricts the rights of people by forcing a significant part of the population to work for free so that others get the benefits of their labors without charge. Make no mistake, such proposals deprive the populace of freedom; they do not extend it.
A “right” to services without charge, that forces someone else to provide for you, does not and should not ever exist. No one in a free society should have a “right” to anything that requires others to toil against their will on behalf of those unwilling to provide for themselves.
There absolutely should be a number of changes in the healthcare system and as a society; we have a number of ways to care for the indigent. But we should move farther away from the failed government-controlled medical models, rather than expanding that failure. Addressing healthcare is something we are already prepared to do. By empowering private enterprise we can achieve more economical, advanced, and better alternatives to that of a government-run health care system. In so doing, we can enhance the ability of the people to embrace the true fundamental rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Unfortunately, crazy zealots on both the left and right side of the aisle would have you believe it is the other guy’s fault. American it is time to stand up and do your own thinking!
