Oh my: Brookings Mayor Scott Munsterman, a good Republican, goes on a blog tear (nine posts yesterday! Good work!) and declares that "Health care is a right and not a privilege." Mayor Munsterman doesn't go full-tilt Dennis Kucinich and advocate a universal not-for-profit health care system; he sticks with the safe territory of promoting wellness and getting insurance companies to reduce administrative costs.
But Munsterman does make the key value statement that opens the door to the idea that, if government exists to secure the rights of its citizens, then government has a role in ensuring all citizens get the health care they need. Brookings already engages in some happy socialism with its municipal liquor store, which makes available all sorts of libations for Granny's "medicinal purposes." Perhaps Mayor Munsterman is laying the groundwork for creating a single-payer municipal health care plan? (If you are, Scott, I'll work on getting the Madison City Commission to join, too!)
By the way, what's up with elected chiropractors and blogging lately? Mayor Munsterman, Board Member Deutsch... is this a new mini-trend?
Update 23:15: maybe mayor Munsterman has been reading Paul Krugman in the New York Times....
Actually, I don't think they have the liquor store anymore.... unless they moved it. In that case, the business that is now in the building was very confused when I went in to buy some Vodka! LOL
ReplyDeleteYou sure you hadn't already gotten into the vodka before you went to the store? ;-)
ReplyDeleteEast 22nd, next to Hy-Vee. Salut!
That could be, but it was all a blur! LOL
ReplyDeleteIn any case, not nearly as long a drive for my compadres at Brookings Radio! :P
ReplyDeleteI think there's a fundamental flaw in the argue that "health care" or any other product/service is a right. If there's a "right" to something, that mean someone else has a requirement to provide that healthcare.
ReplyDeleteImagine that Cory and I were standed on an island, and he claimed he had a "right" to food. Should I be forced to toil, farm, and hunt for him because he has a "right" to food?
It's pretty much the same thing in the grand scheme of things. When you start handing out "rights" for people such as healthcare, food, and whatnot, you are forcing other people to work to provide for your "right," and that my friend, is called slavery.
Matt,
ReplyDeleteNo, you should not be legally forced to toil, farm, or hunt to feed Cory. However, if Cory were not able to toil, farm, or hunt for himself, you might feel morally obligated to care for him to the extent that you would submit to the law of a higher power demanding that you do it.
Obviously, this situation is complex, and that's why it is such an endless conundrum. Should you contribute to my care if I decide to eat cheeseburgers and ice cream, and drink and smoke and bungee jump and climb rocks without restraint? No? Well, you already do. And you are being forced to buy yachts and fancy cars for rich corporate executives, too, as part of the deal. Unless, of course, you decide not to have any health care for yourself at all.
Even HillaryCare or DennisKucinichCare would, it seems to me, be a lesser evil.
But no cheeseburger tax, please ...
Matt, I assume you'll be refunding me the tax money I provide for your police and fire protection?
ReplyDeleteI would happily pay my fair share to support a fire department. That's probably about the only government "agency" in town that I'd probably give any money to if it was a choice.
ReplyDeleteThe only time I've ever used the MPD's "services" in town was when I was pulled over for going 30 in a 20 when I was giving someone a ride home.
The problem, is that it's not a choice, and I'm forced to pay for these services whether or not I want to make use of them. That makes it so that government agencies have zero incentive to provide quality customer service, because they get my tax money whether I want to pay it or not.
There's a word that people used to use when you were forced to give the fruit of your labor to others...what was it? Slavery?
"There's a word that people used to use when you were forced to give the fruit of your labor to others...what was it? Slavery?"
ReplyDeleteSlavery? Really? Are you blogging from a forced labor camp? Have you been purchased? Have you ever been denied 100% of your due wages? Didn't think so.
With all due respect, I think you've confused slaverywith the social contract.
I still don't get this "social contract" argument. I never signed anything/agreed to saying I would do any sorts of things that a "social contract" requires. A contract implies consent of both parties, not just one.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have been denied my full wage, from every single job I have ever worked at as well as th revenue from my small business. It's called social security, medicare, the federal income tax and the decreased wages my employers had to pay me because of the costs of regulations they had to follow.
Not only that, I'm not even allowed to purchase goods in the state without bribing the state government.
Is it so wrong that I think I can make better use of my own money than the government can? If we had choice in the services that we opt-in to, organizations that provided them would have actual incentives to provide good services and treat their customers well.
Social contract -- it's a tacit thing. Government consented to do its part before you were old enough to spell "contract." You basically get 18 years free before government expects you to consent by staying and continuing to enjoy access to all sorts of government services for a price that you get to decide (voting, serving in office, electing fellow quasi-anarchists to replace all taxes with user fees). If you prefer not to participate, you can certainly try to join another society.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, the government built this nice Internet that we use to communicate and even make money. How nice. Social contract at work.