Seems to me a significant percentage of Americans don’t really care much about health. Many of us smoke, drink, are overweight, eat the wrong things and don’t exercise. of course there are many health conscious Americans who don’t fall into any of those categories. But a lot do. Why should the taxpayer cover their health care? I hear the argument that some sacrifice is necessary so that we can solve the health care crisis but why should the taxpayer be the first to sacrifice to pay for the health care of those who don’t seem to care enough to lose weight, quit smoking, eat right and exercise. Of course we will need a new cabinet level agency with authority to police all manner of behavior – let’s call it the Department of Health Security and we will give them authority to tell you what to eat , how much you should weigh and how many crunches to do each morning. If you get a good report card from them then the government will guaranty that you will live to be 100 and pay for someone to wipe your nose for you.
Obesity costs more even than smoking. Even if you argue that the taxpayer needs to pony up – how do you argue that Chubby has a right to Joe Sixpack’s money even before Joe has covered his own retirement? Well maybe we should socialize Joe’s retirement? Wait – even before Fred puts his kids through college? Ok college is good – let’s socialize that too. We already socialized K thru 12. Then there is access to broadband… and housing. Shouldn’t Johnny have access to a sports program? and Janey? Someone told me ex-cons could get free Viagra. It might make them less likely to commit a violent crime – right?
Seems like everyone needs everything and why isn’t that their human right? I have the right to be fat, smoke, drink, lay on the couch and to do so at taxpayer expense. Sounds good to me. Why am I still sitting at my desk again? It’s 11 am on a Friday – I should be at the bar eating a juicy burger and downing beers. Too bad I can’t smoke in the bar.
Or.. we could have a society where people take responsibility for their own lives, where it’s still considered a virtue to pay your own bills, to buy a house you can pay for and to work in a job where customers and not taxpayers pay your salary. Naw – that’s just silly.