Rights ...

I had an interesting argument with one of my friends yesterday ... we hadn't talked for a while, our political views are more different than alike, so of course we landed on the issue of health care. I would say the fundamental difference between the two of us boiled down to what we saw as a "right," though he may not agree.

He believed that health care was a right. I did not. I was called "uncompassionate." I pointed out that that was emotion, not argument. Evidently that made me even more uncompasionate.

My point was that "rights" exist, as defined by our founding fathers, as inalienable because they have been granted by God. Freedom may be protected by our government with laws and armies, but it is not granted by the government. In a narrow sense, I can have freedom without anyone else giving it to me.

Healthcare, on the other hand, cannot be a right by this definition (and I know people will want to fight that definition ... fine). The main point, though, is that SOME ELSE has to give it to you. This is not something you inherently possess in your spirit. Instead, it is a SERVICE, and now, an entitlement.

The other argument was that too many people go bankrupt because they don't have health insurance and can't afford their bills. Personally, I think this goes back to the entitlement thing. First off, I'll agree that getting hit with a $100,000 bill for surgery or even more for a long-term illness would be horrible. However, instead of saying that everyone should have insurance to cover that sum, why don't we look at why that bill is so high. Is it because the price of everything is inflated due to insurance/government programs paying fractions? Is it because prices have risen to milk insurance companies? Is it to cover the costs of malpractice insurance? Perhaps examining that would bear fruit.

However, this will sound extremely cold-hearted, but I 'm going to say it ... what responsibility does a person have for him/herself? How much do we, as a society, pay for convenience and self-gratification (cell phones, 1,000 cable channels, etc) at the expense of anything else? I'm not leaving myself out of this indictment ... I know I spend money I shouldn't when I should be putting it back for medical bills, car repairs, etc etc. Perhaps this is the ultimate price of a consumer-driven society?

Spend all you can now and, if something goes wrong or when you get old, someone else will take care of you.

BTW ... since health care was mentioned ... I do believe change was needed. I don't believe this bill, will all of the wrangling, back-door deals, and shady numbers (where it not only provided health care, but saves money ... assuming we don't pay the doctors) was the answer. I don't have an answer, but I'd trust a bill worked on by mostly doctors and medical professionals more than by elected officials (Republican or Democrat) who will never be bound by the system they put in place for the masses.

The problem with politics right now is that the two-party system is broken. If you are a liberal (or Democrat) then you are a socialist wacko gift-wrapping our country for Chinese takeover. If you are a conservative (or Republican), then you are a racist baby-eater stuck in the 19th century bent on world domination. I suppose the internet is not the place to plea for logical discourse .... ;)