On Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 7:29 PM, Nick Arnett<nick.arn...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Is health care so unimportant that it deserves no regulation? We are starting from different worldviews, I think. I believe in freedom for people to make agreements with each other as they choose -- that is my starting point. You appear to believe that freedom is something that is to be permitted by government, when it concerns something unimportant, otherwise, if something is important, than the government should restrict the freedom of people to make consensual agreements. So I would say that health care is important, and therefore people deserve to have free choice in the matter. > Is health care so unimportant that people should have to compete with each > other (that's the other side of the equation when the companies are > competing) for basic care? I cannot answer the should, I can only answer that the fact is that people do have to contend for limited resources in the world. There is not enough health care to give everyone in the world unlimited care. And several people that have posted here do not seem to believe that Americans should allocate their health care resources equally among all Americans AND non-Americans. So there is definitely competition among people in the world for health care. Just as there is competition for food and shelter. > If we take it as a given that a consumer-driven > market for health care is better, then why not do the same with roads, > police, water, oxygen, etc.? I'm not sure I follow the oxygen part. For the others, I would like to see more privately run roads and less government interference in water companies. I've stated here recently that I think police are best handled through government, since I think it is less likely to be suborned than private police. Another related question is why are the markets for essentials like food and shelter largely free of government interference, while health care markets have such extensive government interference? I think it has to do with people being afraid and emotional about health care, and not being good at rational analysis on the subject. _______________________________________________ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
