Oversoul
The Tentacled One
Well, I couldn't agree more about housing loans, electronics, and most stuff, really. But I think access to medical care should be a different discussion, because it has different consequences. One can do without a car. I live in a part of the country where it's inconvenient, but hey, life isn't always convenient. One can do without cell phones or televisions. I do without those things myself. One can do without computers or, as you point out, use public libraries. One can do without a house. But, depending on the circumstances, it's sometimes not the case that one can do without medical care. I've been fortunate, I think, myself. I was hospitalized once as a teenager for a broken bone and once as a precaution during a bout with gastroenteritis because my mother was scared. And I haven't needed to go to a hospital since, except when I did so to help other people (relatives and a neighbor) out. I had a doctor prescribe me medication for shingles and I think by that time I did have medical insurance (for a while I didn't) and they paid for part of it, but even then it wasn't a life-threatening illness or anything. I could have done without. I think I've taken, let's see, one sick day from work ever. I've spent time with no medical insurance and suffered no repercussions from it. But not everyone is the same as me. I recognize that sometimes people, despite trying, need help.
You call it "entitlement." And yes, that's exactly what it is. There's a notion a lot of people have that I can understand that people are entitled to certain basic things. Not cell phones or televisions, sure. But things that are essential to life. As you say, we are a wealthy country. Is it unreasonable to contend that we should take care of our people if they need help? Now, I've seen it pointed out that this sort of attitude would be exploited by freeloaders, and some people are particularly averse to having their tax dollars going to support freeloaders. I think that's a fair point. Maybe your preference would be to cull all entitlements. Tell people life is tough, so live with it. Or, failing that, die with it. And I'm not necessarily opposed to that. I'm not being sarcastic. I'm being, I suppose, flexible. I could have it either way, because I think either way could work, more or less, and it depends on what things one values. I'm not saying I'm certain that a society where nothing is free is one I'd like to have. I'm saying I'm open to at least discussing it. I'm not ruling out. I can actually think of some pretty nice advantages if we went down that road.
But, just for the sake of consistency, I should also point out that there are other entitlements that you haven't mentioned. Maybe just because you didn't care to in your post, but they do exist and I happen to know that some people who are very much against having access to medical care as an entitlement are also very much in favor of these entitlements. Some examples...
Police. As you say, "It's your life, take care of it!" This applies to protecting oneself and one's property. Protect yourself, or hire someone else to do it. I don't want my tax dollars going to protect people too lazy to protect themselves.
Education. I had to pay for some earlier this year, incidentally. And if I get accepted to that university, I'll be paying for even more a couple months from now. It's completely unreasonable that I must buy my own education while my tax dollars go to fund schools that my freeloading neighbors send their little brats to without being charged a penny.
Roads. I have potholes in my driveway. I deal with it. But last year, without my consent, the government had sent people to do maintenance work on the roads in my neighborhood even though they were in better shape than my driveway. Why should my tax dollars go to that? I could have used that money to fix my driveway and instead it's going to help my freeloading neighbors drive their children to those schools that they're apparently entitled to. That is, unless their kids take the bus. And speaking of that...
Schoolbuses. Oh, come on! What an entitlement this is. Freeloaders don't even have to take their children to school. The government will do it for them. Your tax dollars at work. I'll be those yellow monstrosities cost a lot to maintain. Don't you think so?
The military. It has its charms, but not being attacked by foreign invaders is definitely an entitlement. If some Canadians or whatever decide to come over here and boss me around, I will smash them. I spend years training in martial arts and paying for it out of my own pocket, and yet my tax dollars go to hiring soldiers to keep my wimpy neighbors from being enslaved and forced to work in a Canadian hockey stick factory or whatever.
Edit: And please don't misunderstand. I'm not making fun of you or anyone else. I'm just saying, well, exactly what I'm saying. These things are entitlements. So is access to medical care. I could live in a society that takes them for granted or one in which one must pay the price. Sometimes I prefer the former and sometimes I prefer the latter. I'm an extremist, but I'm a fickle extremist.
