-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Sun, Oct 22, 2000 at 08:12:45PM -0700, James A.. Donald wrote:
At 07:09 PM 10/22/2000 -0700, Nathan Saper wrote:
I think the government has a right to do whatever it needs to do to maintain the health and well-being of its population. That is the purpose of the government.
Then the government should be raiding your home to check on your consumption of chocolate, and spying on your messages to detect if you are secretly arranging for the purchase or sale of forbidden substances.
OK, granted, the government needs to be kept on a tight leash. Most people will not want the government breaking into their homes. However, I think most people would be willing to vote for a bill that would guarantee insurance for people with genetic abnormalities, even if that does mean that some CEOs and stockholders will have less money in their already-full pockets. And if some insurance companies do just pass the extra cost into higher premiums, some other insurance company will keep premiums the same, and they will consequently get more business. Again, it is a tradeoff between helping provide medical care for people who would not otherwise be able to afford it, and allowing for insurance company stockholders to continue to make huge profits. Call me a bleeding-heart, but I vote for the medical care.
That is one way of defining freedom. I view freedom as the right of people to live happy, productive lives.
As contented sheep.
How does that logically follow?
Fine, so the insurance companies won't be considered "good." Who cares? The point is, people who need medical care would be getting it.
We cannot provide all the medical care for everyone who might want it. The question then is who decides who lives and who dies?
We could easily provide healthcare for every American citizen. Just raise taxes a bit, and cut out most of our military spending.
If the fortunate are somehow compelled to pay for the less fortunate, that apparatus of compulsion is going to decide whether you deserve your open heart surgery or other expensive treatment.
I don't understand that statement.
James A. Donald 6YeGpsZR+nOTh/cGwvITnSR3TdzclVpR0+pr3YYQdkG GUBFD2UeVQbTblq9mDTKK3VT3Zb2kipPNZRPhilI 4bXMDF9BDJEBTLlQ+J9MAOym72PaOobmLE+ThdUZU
- -- Nathan Saper (natedog@well.com) | http://www.well.com/user/natedog/ GnuPG (ElGamal/DSA): 0x9AD0F382 | PGP 2.x (RSA): 0x386C4B91 Standard PGP & PGP/MIME OK | AOL Instant Messenger: linuxfu -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.0.4 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Processed by Mailcrypt 3.5.5 and Gnu Privacy Guard <http://www.gnupg.org/> iD8DBQE587l62FWyBZrQ84IRAohXAJ9v+SHvj+ZtGuLcshTFGFTTmssZQQCfYcsa NmCIYVEIph7icJ0eVkVfhgw= =354z -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----