Comments on: What Are Rights?

By: Shawn

Shawn — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:07:27 +0000

To Amber: The private health care industry hasn’t violated anything! The government has. Surely you know that you can get a better deal on Health Care by negotiating your bill and/or services with the health care provider up-front. Usually you’ll get a much better rate than you would with non-private health insurance.
If everyone shopped around for the best deal on services and cut the insurance and government out of the equation, then the health care system would function much more like the free market system.
Sure I think the government may have some place for providing some means for individuals that can’t provide for themselves, but once you open that box then everyone else is screwed. It’s a pretty difficult situation…I’ll give you that, but to say that socialized medicine is the answer is just plain wrong.
And before you tell me that I don’t understand…again you’d be wrong. My wife was just diagnosed with a potentially debilitating disease and the last thing I am going to do is wait for some insurance company or government program to step up and help us out. Now that may happen, but in the mean time I am going to work my butt off to provide for my family, live below our means, and ’shop’ for the best deal I can find.
The worst thing that can happen is for the government to dictate to me how I should provide for my wife and her disease. And yeah, some may think it sucks, that money that could be put away toward retirement, college educations, or even groceries and gas is being spent of health care…a right by your definition, but it’s life and you play the hand your dealt and don’t look across the table for someone else to slide you five aces.
I am truly sorry for your health troubles, I understand, but you have to make the most of it and do for yourself….you should know…no one else will.

By: sadcox

sadcox — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:06:05 +0000

TCH,
No, I’m saying boxing gloves are so benign that no one would ever protest to your right to wear them in public. Safer for the punchee? Not sure about that…they allow the puncher to hit the punchee a whole lot more times without breaking his hands. I’m sure those aggregated punches do a lot more damage.

Food is the obvious “next big thing”. If the price of fig newtons goes up any higher I may have to switch to socialism.

By: tch

tch — Mon, 19 May 2008 13:16:37 +0000

So are you saying boxing gloves are weapons? I always thought they made it safer for the punchee.

I think the best place to look for an analogy is food, childcare, and other welfare, not the bill of rights. I am too lazy to look up why the legislatures enacted these programs, but once you entitle the government to steal your money, if you can get about 275 or so people to agree with how to redistribute the money, bam -congratulations – you are now entitled to, say, digital converter boxes for your television.

By: Amber Lee

Amber Lee — Mon, 19 May 2008 02:38:35 +0000

The right to healthcare comes from the understanding that we have the right to health. In a world where we are kind, unselfish, and careful this is a low priority problem. Each other wold be sharing home remedies and bandaging each other up. The problem is that we are a broken world that involves superbugs, needles, and end stage renal disease. You have the right to be healthy and safe. If someone is charging $4000 a CT scan (my latest bill) and you can’t afford the private health insurance, the private health sector has violated your right to be healthy and safe.
Your example would work if companies were not violating peoples right to be healthy and safe. Since they are, there has to be a guard set up. My government convictions, though, don’t stem from anyone popular. I’m a congolmeration of Hobbes, Locke, and Kant.

I’ve lived overseas. I was given better care in a social healthcare setting in a country that I was not a citizen of than I do here when I have to be hospitilized and taken to the ER (happens a lot to me, unfortunately). The debate and anger socialized healthcare creates is a phenom that happens only in the States, when it comes to if we should have it. Currently, our healthcare system is about as fantastic as, oh, Nigeria.