Handing Over Control

Let me make this clear, I'm not, at this point, alleging that this is a malicious act by any one person or entity. I'm not advocating, nor do I ever advocate, violence against Americans. There, that's out of the way. And I have to say that, because a lot of people think that what i'm saying is somewhat controversial.

Our liberty is being taken from us one handout at a time. Control of our lives is being absconded in the name of the greater good every day.

Lets look at a model for how to take control of an individual. Suppose a friend of yours comes to you and tells you how they lost their job and they ask you if you can put them up for a week. You have enough money for yourself and one other person for at least a week. It might be a little imposition but what's that when compared with doing the "right" thing and helping out a friend? So you decide you will put them up temporarily. Well this temporary plan in your mind becomes more permanent as your friend realizes that he does not really need to work. Other than the fact that he is becoming increasingly dependent on you for his lifestyle not much changes the first week or two. Eventually though, because you are the sole provider for both of you, you have to start setting boundaries on him. It starts with turning off lights, to conserve money. Next you realize you're struggling at work because he watches movies till late at night, and you don't get to sleep. Still not too restrictive he easily agrees to turn off movies at 10pm and all is good. A month into the ordeal you come home to your friend coughing. 2 weeks and $1600 later, you have been to the emergency room and bought his prescription . It occurs to you that this could have been worse, you really don't have the money to do it, but its just wrong not to cover his health care is it? Now to be fair to him, he's now looking earnestly for a job, and promises to pay back your kindness one day. His friends of course hear the story of the nightmare. What kind of friend would let him go for two weeks without seeing a doctor? You did after all agree to help him out. When you mention that you didn't have $1600 lying around they point out that it was irresponsible for him to not have health insurance. 5 of his friends suggest that you all chip in and help him out with health insurance, its only $300 a month and if you split it up it won't be that big of a deal. These people, naturally, make less than you and you wind up footing half the bill while they split the other $150 for a policy with a $750 deductible. Of course when you do this, you have to limit your liability, so you tell him that his nightly trip down to the courts can't happen any more because you really can't afford to pay $750 for a the emergency center. Additionally, he has to quit smoking because that got you a discount on the health insurance premium. Of course at this he balks. How dare you try to control him? How dare you not see him as an individual? You wind up in a big fight, which ends up with him calling another friend to come get him. As they are walking away his friend turns around and reminds you that you need to give him $150 to cover the next months insurance, that's the least you can do to help out a friend in need.

Now, this all seems a little crazy. There is no way this happens in real life because even the best friend isn't going to pay for your health insurance... They aren't responsible for your health care.
And you never set out to control anyone's life. why would you want that responsibility?

Of course, you have an uncle who wants to dedicate his life to this. In the name of the greater good, or of the good of the community, we are all being asked to be that friend. Well almost all of us. Admittedly, I see polls every day citing that an overwhelming majority of Americans want some sort of government run healthcare. The problem is we never have a chance to see the questions that are asked. If you ask 100 people if they want free health care, 90 of them will say yes and the 10 doctors you ask will say hell no. What if you ask the people if they want to be "you" in the little story above?

If that's the case where does it end? Should we make sure milk is passed out? Why don't we all just invite a poor person into our house and offer them the milk and cheese they need? And what do we get in return? Am I obligated to pay for your life because you won the race to the egg? Does that somehow entitle you to free stuff?

How would you like to be the friend? Don't you have to cede some measure of control to your life to the person footing the bill? Do we honestly think that the government isn't going to place more restrictions on our lives than it already has? Its a dangerous slope you slide down, when you start handing over rights and decisions to someone else just to get a break. Everyone has that friend that is willing to help out, if you'll take his conditions. They have an uncle like that too. Uncle Sam.

Don't even get me started on where in the constitution these powers originate from. I'll leave you with one final thought. If you have the opportunity to move to any state you want. Would you chose the one in which anyone who makes, well $200k or more a year, has to pay an insurance surcharge? How many people who make over $200k do you think would move there? What happens if not enough people make $200k+ a year? Do you charge it to anyone with an icome of 150k? 100k? anyone with a job? In the end doesn't it become a state of mostly unemployed people? And who pays for it all now? When does it stop now?

Its just food for thought while I do some actual research for my next post.

Texanmike