A MINORITY VIEW
BY WALTER WILLIAMS
RELEASE: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 2010
Is Health Care a Right?
Most politicians, and probably most Americans, see health care as a right. Thus, whether a person has the means to pay for medical services or not, he is nonetheless entitled to them. Let's ask ourselves a few questions about this vision.
Say a person, let's call him Harry, suffers from diabetes and he has no means to pay a laboratory for blood work, a doctor for treatment and a pharmacy for medication. Does Harry have a right to XYZ lab's and Dr. Jones' services and a prescription from a pharmacist? And, if those services are not provided without charge, should Harry be able to call for criminal sanctions against those persons for violating his rights to health care?
You say, "Williams, that would come very close to slavery if one person had the right to force someone to serve him without pay." You're right. Suppose instead of Harry being able to force a lab, doctor and pharmacy to provide services without pay, Congress uses its taxing power to take a couple of hundred dollars out of the paycheck of some American to give to Harry so that he could pay the lab, doctor and pharmacist. Would there be any difference in principle, namely forcibly using one person to serve the purposes of another? There would be one important strategic difference, that of concealment. Most Americans, I would hope, would be offended by the notion of directly and visibly forcing one person to serve the purposes of another. Congress' use of the tax system to invisibly accomplish the same end is more palatable to the average American.
True rights, such as those in our Constitution, or those considered to be natural or human rights, exist simultaneously among people. That means exercise of a right by one person does not diminish those held by another. In other words, my rights to speech or travel impose no obligations on another except those of non-interference. If we apply ideas behind rights to health care to my rights to speech or travel, my free speech rights would require government-imposed obligations on others to provide me with an auditorium, television studio or radio station. My right to travel freely would require government-imposed obligations on others to provide me with airfare and hotel accommodations.
For Congress to guarantee a right to health care, or any other good or service, whether a person can afford it or not, it must diminish someone else's rights, namely their rights to their earnings. The reason is that Congress has no resources of its very own. Moreover, there is no Santa Claus, Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy giving them those resources. The fact that government has no resources of its very own forces one to recognize that in order for government to give one American citizen a dollar, it must first, through intimidation, threats and coercion, confiscate that dollar from some other American. If one person has a right to something he did not earn, of necessity it requires that another person not have a right to something that he did earn.
To argue that people have a right that imposes obligations on another is an absurd concept. A better term for new-fangled rights to health care, decent housing and food is wishes. If we called them wishes, I would be in agreement with most other Americans for I, too, wish that everyone had adequate health care, decent housing and nutritious meals. However, if we called them human wishes, instead of human rights, there would be confusion and cognitive dissonance. The average American would cringe at the thought of government punishing one person because he refused to be pressed into making someone else's wish come true.
None of my argument is to argue against charity. Reaching into one's own pockets to assist his fellow man in need is praiseworthy and laudable. Reaching into someone else's pockets to do so is despicable and deserves condemnation.
Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. To find out more about Walter E. Williams and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2010 CREATORS.COM
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John Adams “The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.”
Ronald Reagan: 'Everybody that is for abortion has already been born'
"I never said I was worth it. I only said I wouldn't do it for less " William F. Buckley Jr.
Would you rather have the government say it wasn't a right? It certainly is a right in this country.
The problem people have is believing the government has the right to provide it. The answer to that is are those in charge of it threatening the stability of the nation. To many people the answer is yes. If that is found to be true the government can go so far as declare war on the health care industry. That's history and the authority to do it has been further cemented through the use of the term "foreign and domestic". WWI was started for the same reason. U boats were hurting our economy. We were supply aid to Germany's enemies and they didn't care for it. They thought they could end the war quickly if aid was stopped and most likely could have, but it went on at enormous lose of life. Americans lost about 100,000 lives far less than the others the least of which was Britain with almost a million. Germany lost the most with around 1.8 million, Russia with 1.7, France 1.4 and Austria-Hungary at 1.2
All the government has to do is prove the health care industry is a threat to this nation and it has the right to do whatever. The talk that has gone on and been allowed is proving they have the authority to do it.
Would you rather have the government say it wasn't a right? It certainly is a right in this country.
The problem people have is believing the government has the right to provide it. The answer to that is are those in charge of it threatening the stability of the nation. To many people the answer is yes. If that is found to be true the government can go so far as declare war on the health care industry. That's history and the authority to do it has been further cemented through the use of the term "foreign and domestic". WWI was started for the same reason. U boats were hurting our economy. We were supply aid to Germany's enemies and they didn't care for it. They thought they could end the war quickly if aid was stopped and most likely could have, but it went on at enormous lose of life. Americans lost about 100,000 lives far less than the others the least of which was Britain with almost a million. Germany lost the most with around 1.8 million, Russia with 1.7, France 1.4 and Austria-Hungary at 1.2
All the government has to do is prove the health care industry is a threat to this nation and it has the right to do whatever. The talk that has gone on and been allowed is proving they have the authority to do it.
A threat to national security...Ah heck then, just let the corner gas stations charge 20 bucks a gallob, lets see who screams then. Oh right, the working stiff. who doesn't have the ways and means to do anything about it.
Is health care a legal right? No, I don't think so.
Do we have an obligation to care for those who need help? Yes, I believe we do.
In days past, that obligation was served by charitable organizations like the Churches. But it has now, apparently, devolved upon the government. So be it.
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Proud parents of our own "Daddy's Little Girls"
I heard Jesus He drank wine and I bet we'd get along just fine.
Do Americans have a legal right to health care? Basic medical services, yes, even convicts have that right. Do we have a legal right to health insurance paid for by another, hell no.
I do recognize that there will always be a segment of the population that won't ever be able to afford basic medical care, that's why Medicaid exists. If the current system were to be closely scrutinized, and all of the undeserving such as illegal aliens and welfare cheats were identified and expelled for life there would be left a system adequate to the task for which it was originally intended, as a safety net for the indigent. Anyone deriving benefits from said system should have to undergo testing to verify their health state, and drug screening. Periodically, each recipient should be rescreened for continued eligibility to avoid having leeches any longer than necessary. "Free" medical care should be limited, and not permanent unless the recipient should be found to need it that long, welfare should be treated the same way.
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Kevin Haendiges
NAHC Life Member
NRA Member
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http://hunting-indiana.com
Is it the governments responsibility to provide it-NO
Should we have access to it-YES
The constitution does not give the government any obligation to take care of us,nor does it give them any rights to protect us from ourselves.
obtaining and paying for Health Care service like any other commodity is our responsibility!
When will the progressives stop with how much they believe government owes us.??? Whats next?
Is owning a home a right?
Is owning a car a right?
Is having a job a right?
We do have a right to have all these things and more,but it is NOT the governments job to provide any of these things!
But we have the right to them if we choose to have them!
Think of it this way,if you have children its your responsibility to provide for them and you expect them to obide buy your rules,that is untill they are old enough to provide for themselves.
Well if the government provides your health care THEY will expect you to obide by there rules,and we will never be able to get out from under there thumb.How many RULES/LAWS are you willing to have forced upon you!If they control Health Care they will pretty much CONTROL us they will be able to regulate anything they deem UNHEALTHY-INCLUDING OUR GUNS!!!!!!!and Twinkies..lol
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Communism has never come to power in a country that was not disrupted by war or corruption, or both.
John F. Kennedy
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John Adams “The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.”
Ronald Reagan: 'Everybody that is for abortion has already been born'
"I never said I was worth it. I only said I wouldn't do it for less " William F. Buckley Jr.
I look at it in a few ways, if you're sick, you can't work, can't pay taxes/for your healthcare. Preventative maintenance is cheaper than fixing the problem later, ie 1 oz of prevention is worth a 1lb of cure. Seeing a doctor in private practice than stiffing the rest of us with the bill from the emergency room.
Also when you're well off, have a solid job, solid income, it's easy to say people should have to pay for their healthcare, when you're 21yo college student who can't find a job, or isn't making hardly any $$ at all, healthcare is a substantial cost, can be, now add to that if you're sick with something serious. No one should go broke from getting sick. Healthcare companies are greedy no doubt about it.
Pass concealed carry for all, and I'd happily give up police protection for universal healthcare.
I recently learned that the cutoff for # of children for where welfare pays was 6! so the more kids you have up til 6 the more you get paid. That's ridiculous, so the rest of us don't have healthcare while some poor person is having their 6th kid paid for...give me a break!
None of those arguments support establishing a "right" to healthcare. You could make all of the same arguments for a "right" to food; a "right" to a government provided house, a "right" to a nice car, etc., etc....
If Government paid health care is a right, then so should be all goods and services paid by the government.
Changing who pays for stuff doesn't change the cost. If "going paperless" saves so much money, then it will save money in the current system as well. So, go paperless. It will either save money, or expose the claim as a lie.
But offering to have the government pay? Just look what has happened when the government pays someone's rent. Have you seen subsidized housing!?!? How about when government pays for hammers and toilet seats? Have you heard the reports on nutrition on our government's funded school lunch program? McDonalds scores higher, for crying out loud.
So, are we supposed to trust the politicians who claim government paid health care will work so well? Have you ever been able to trust a politician with anything? We can't trust them with our tax dollars. They put us deeper into debt each year. Soon, China will OWN US outright.
I just can't believe that anyone trusts what these politicians' (read: Democrats and Republicans) plan. I cannot believe any claims about how our current coverage won't change if we like it, or we can say with our doctor if we like him, etc. Not when a politician says it, because when a politician is speaking, he is lying.
I can't believe the logic of some people who say, "Well, something has to be done."
If you have a headache, then "something has to be done," right? How about chopping off your head. That's something.
Or, Sitting quietly at my deer stand isn't working for me. Something has to be done, so I'm bringing cymbals next season...
"Doing something" isn't the same as "fixing," and "change" is not the same thing as "progress."
Is Health Care a Right?
