“Here’s what’s actually happening. The US is the only major industrialised country that does not provide regular healthcare to all its citizens. Instead, they are required to provide for themselves – and 50 million people can’t afford the insurance. As a result, 18,000 US citizens die every year needlessly, because they can’t access the care they require. That’s equivalent to six 9/11s, every year, year on year.”
– Johann Hari, Republicans, religion and the triumph of unreason (via powazek)
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Little point in posting here. I’m certain you’re as likely to change your views as I am mine. But your short diatribe needs some rebuttal. So here it is.
Of the so called 50 million uninsured, most are illegal aliens. Then you have 5 or so million who can afford insurance but choose not to because they would rather have a big truck or a nice college degree. That leaves about 12 million, not 50 million. But let’s stick with your 50 million. That means you endorse paying for illegal aliens.
Fine.
But why stop there? Why do we only buy insurance for people who happen to be inside our borders? Let’s just buy health insurance for the whole world. I’m sure there are some needy families in Africa. Why don’t you want to help them? Hope it’s not because you’re a racist or something.
If it truly is a moral imperative to guarantee health care for everyone, then stopping at your borders is hypocritical at best. You can’t justify denying health care based on borders. Either everyone deserves free free health care or nobody does.
If we are responsible for everyone in our country, then we are, by simple extension, responsible for the whole world. It becomes a human right, after all.
What makes a poor person in California more deserving of free government health care than a poor person in Kenya? You can’t justify it.
“But Troy,”you might say, “we just don’t have the money for the whole world.” Too bad. We all have to stretch what we have a lot more to include everyone — EVERYONE. Human rights don’t stop at the borders and our health care shouldn’t either. At least according to your logic.
So what’s it going to be? Is health care a human right? If it is, please get out your checkbook and start sending your checks to Africa, and Asia and Eastern Europe — wherever the poor congregate. Maybe I’ll see how wonderful the world can be made by your good example and follow suit after you’ve shown me the way.
People need homes, cars, food, health care, love and a lot of other things. But I can’t be responsible for providing all of this to everyone just because you’re feeling guilty about having something while others don’t. So if you want everyone to have health care, you should start paying for it yourself. Stop trying to make everyone else pay for your guilty conscience.
Posted on August 23, 2009 at 12:03 pm.
So your argument is “since we can’t do everything, let’s not bother doing anything?”
Posted on August 25, 2009 at 8:03 am.
The healthcare system we do have isn’t all that hot. Insurance companies work hard to deny payment. It galls me to spend around $200 a month on coverage when I have to worry that they’ll try to screw me if I actually need to use it. If we had a Canadian-style system, I wouldn’t have to worry about this.
As for the Kenyans, Troy, they don’t pay U.S. taxes, so they wouldn’t be entitled to having the U.S. government pay for their health care.
Posted on August 25, 2009 at 9:47 pm.
I realize this is months old, but for the record, “Of the so called 50 million uninsured, most are illegal aliens.” is false. See http://factcheck.org/2009/06/the-real-uninsured/
The rest of Troy’s response has nothing to do with the issues. It is an rant at immigrants, the poor (here and overseas), and people who do not see things as is author does— they are immature idealists crying out for freebies; they are hypocrites; they just don’t get it. I guess the fact that Americans pay more for health care and get less (if they aren’t denied coverage) isn’t an issue. In fact, the entire topic of health care— what should be done? how can we make it cheaper? better?— isn’t an issue. The only purpose of health care, apparently, is scaffolding to support Troy’s misinformation, anger, and resentment.
Posted on October 7, 2009 at 7:52 pm.