Guilt - Tactic to Put You on Defense

I am going to write more about this later but just have to get it off my chest.

I was listening to a proponent of national health care or universal health care or single payer health care or whatever. Their basic point is that tens of millions of Americans do not have health insurance, and if we just brought the system under federal control, all would be better. Of course, this is not true. People do have access to health care through various programs and certain rights to obtain care.

What annoys me is that the "tens of millions of uninsured" line is designed to make us feel guilty. Somehow we are responsible to provide what others don't have. I agree that we should help, and we do now through taxes and through charities. It is our responsibility to help our fellow human beings, but our help should be tailored to the situation and to our ability to pay. A government program will not do that.

A government run system will grant equal benefits to irresponsible people. Should we have to pay for equal care for persons who take illegal drugs, who have more children than they can support, who choose not to work, who are criminals, who behave recklessly, etc.? Why?

What is the purpose of taking responsibility for your life - planning, working, sacrificing...? The point is that unless we believe that we are responsible for the decisions of others or the just plain bad luck of others, we should not be taxed to support them. What is the point of working? Probably the liberal response would be something like self actualization or some similar platitude. But most of us work because it is our responsibility to take care of ourselves.

Think about it. What if the United Nations said that the United States, a rich country, is responsible to provide health care equal to our own to the peoples of other countries and was going to tax us to do that. How many would agree that we should pay that tax? Are we responsible for the situations in these countries that make living in them so tenuous? Can you imagine how paying for their health care would affect your pocketbook? What we do is provide help when a catastrophe strikes; we provide aid to countries but within limits. We are compasionate but don't take full responsibility. We don't tax ourselves to provide the same services in those countries as we have here. There are limits.

Perhaps if we could be certain that our payments for health care through taxes would only benefit those who worked hard and sacrificed but who were hurt by circumstances truly out of their control, most of us would support the idea of coverage for them at our collective expense. But that is not the case. A government run program will never do that. It will dole out care with little control over cost. We will pay dearly for that.

And furthermore, should the level of care be the same for all? Should one not be able to choose a higher level or faster access by paying for it himself? Why not?

We saw what happened when congressmen pushed for home loans for people who did not have the means to pay. The system collapsed and tens of millions of people saw their savings go up in smoke. Taxing for universal health care is a similar bad idea and will further erode the financial health of responsible people. How would we like to pay 20% to 25% more for all of our purchases on top of the income, property, sales, use, and other taxes that we pay now?

The secret to a vital health care system is for us to pay for routine care and insure for catastrophes. When people have to pay for their decisions they will take responsibility for them.