The dangers of socialized medicine
I could go on and on about how socialized medicine is a bad idea not only in general, but in America as well. I could point out the low quality of healthcare in places like Cuba, which has extremely poor hospitals and services for their citizens; Canada, which has such an understaffed healthcare system that many Canadians come to America for childbirths and simple medical procedures they don’t want to wait six months for; and Britain which now has citizens pulling their own teeth instead of going to government dentists. However, I won’t, because I don’t need to. Instead, I want to simply share the most negative impact of socialized medicine, how it limits our individuality and freedom.
The most appealing aspect of socialized medicine is the myth that it is free. People don’t like to spend their accumulated wealth, and who would? People are designed to constantly battle self-interest with the herd instinct, and since accumulation of wealth is self-interest, they don’t wish to spend money. They also don’t want to see those 40 million Americans suffer from disease because they don’t have healthcare. But in actuality, there is a huge cost to socialized healthcare. First, taxes increase; taking away more of your paycheck, making the prices on goods and services rise (there are imbedded taxes in all goods and services), and Canadians will stop spending their hard-earned dough on quicker medical services here. But there are other, non-monetary costs as well: incentives to going into the health profession will cease, as salary for doctors and surgeons will typically stagnate, quality of healthcare will decrease as waiting times for doctors, ER services and other medical procedures will increase. All of this accumulates into what is quite a costly system of healthcare; however, it doesn’t end there, this is only reactionary healthcare, or healthcare after one gets sick; the next step in socialized healthcare is ensuring a citizen stays healthy.
With the release of new statistical data, the United Kingdom is the “fattest” country in the European Union. They also have socialized medicine. On Oct. 23, Professor Julian Le Grand, chairman of Health England offered a plan to help curb obesity in the UK. His plan consists of two main parts. First, the implementation of an “exercise hour” that all companies with 500 or more employees would be required to give their employees. That is right, the government would require that a company allow their employees to stop being productive so they can exercise. As a result, business revenue will decrease while expenditures increase (have to buy that exercise equipment!) thus resulting in layoffs. The next part of the plan is the implementation of a smoking permit which would cost roughly $400 annually and would be required in order to purchase cigarettes and other tobacco products. With this plan, individual choice, in this case Government and the standards the Government wishes to set for its people again impede individual choice to smoke and freedom.
This is intentionally hindering of personal freedom of choice. If you do not believe me, former Prime Minister Tony Blair had this to say of Le Grand’s plan, “It is not like banning something, it’s a softer form of paternalism.” Paternalism for those of you who don’t know is, “the system, principle, or practice of managing or governing individuals, businesses, nations, etc., in the manner of a father dealing benevolently and often intrusively with his children” and is how many liberal economic and social policies are implemented. Liberals see the typical American as a child who needs to be parented in most aspects of their life, which leads to limited freedom and individuality.
But this has always been the threat of socialized medicine. A universal healthcare system only helps an American’s health after they acquire an illness. If this was implemented, the next logical steps would be socialized means of preventing health problems such as government gyms, mandatory bike ownership, limited productivity of business because of asinine ideas like an “exercise hour” and more idiotic paternalistic ideas. This is typical government and why I am a Libertarian, with each new program, with each new law that government implements, the less we are truly free.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Nov 1 2007. Filed under Opinion.
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