The way Democrats frame an argument, if not outright deceitful, is at the very least spectacularly cunning. Instead of advocating the merits of universal healthcare and trying to win over the public, they instead just claim healthcare is a human right. If they can make the public believe it’s a right, then they win the issue without debating everything else. We can then wave goodbye to free market capitalism, private property and individual liberty.
Rights that are natural or self-evident are rights given to us by our Creator. The U.S. Constitution doesn’t grant us these rights, but protects our natural rights from the government itself.
For instance, private property is a natural right that’s protected under the Fifth Amendment. Any property that someone acquires belongs to that individual and not the government or another group. This is self-evident. E.g., wages earned through labor or for what wages can buy is property that belongs to that person. It doesn’t belong to the guy across the street.
Other God-given rights are freedom of religion, free speech, the right to assemble, the right to bear arms, the right to petition the government, the right to have a free press, and the right to individual liberty. Last of all, we have the right to have a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
The above rights are God-given, self-evident and not dependent upon others to be granted. They exist naturally absent an authoritarian government or some tyrannical ruler.
If healthcare were a right, like those listed above, then it would exist naturally without cost. But that’s not the case because it costs money to provide healthcare. How can something that costs money be a right? In order for healthcare to be a right, we would then need to force people to provide it for free.
Forced Labor
The obvious group that should provide this free service are those with the skills to do so. We should be able to force doctors and nurses to provide care free of charge. After all, it’s a supposed human right that should be free.
The reason no one would advocate forcing doctors to work for free is because it violates their individual liberty. Not only that, but forcing doctors to provide free service would deny them the ability to earn an income to support their families. That’s certainly not fair to them and would discourage people to work in the medical field.
If that’s not an option, perhaps we can force them to provide care without charging the poor and uninsured. Then everyone else with a job with insurance would have to pay. At least then the medical providers would still earn an income.
The problem with compelling doctors to work for free, even just part-time, is that it violates their individual liberty still. We’re a free people, not slaves to our government.
The left doesn’t, however, want to compel doctors and nurses to work for free to provide this human right. Instead, progressives want to tax others like the so called “rich” to pay for it. But, by taking the income away from one group is just the same as compelling a doctor to work for free.
Remember, money is just a medium of exchange. Income earners exchanged work for their money. Liberals want to then take their money away, essentially forcing them to work for free to provide this unnatural right. It’s exactly the same as if they wanted to force doctors to work part-time for free.
Okay, what about all the things that government does? We have a progressive tax system where the people who earn the most, pay the most. Aren’t we forcing them to work for free to partly pay for the national defense, Medicaid, social security and food stamps?
Yes, anyone that pays taxes is working for free to fund the government. The difference is the services our government provides through taxation are benefits, not rights. Theoretically, we can decrease our government spending or eliminate programs at any time because they are not rights, only benefits.
Healthcare Should be Debated
If something is a human right, then there’s no debate. It must be provided no matter the cost or the harm to our free market system. Granting this right then becomes preeminently more important than any other concern, thus eliminating the debate.
Conservatives and libertarians cannot cede this ground to manipulative politicians. They must push back that healthcare is a right so that we can debate the real issues. Let the American people decide our course that’s not based on a false moral right.
Politicians are already bypassing the legitimate arguments over the issue by claiming it’s a right and that action must be taken immediately.
The latest example of this is Cynthia Nixon, the defeated New York Democratic nominee for Governor. She advocated for a single payer system just for the state of New York. Nixon told the Daily News before the primary that the legislature should pass her plan and “then figure out how to fund it.” To those that claim it’s a right, making it law becomes paramount over all other concerns.
The American people need to have a discussion if we should provide this benefit or not. Should we wait until our debt is paid off first and future obligations like social security are fully funded? Who will pay for it? How will this affect individual liberty, private property rights, our free markets, future innovation and the quality of care?
Nothing in our budget is a natural right that cannot be eliminated or changed. There are mandatory budget items such as Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security, but these programs are not considered natural rights. They are benefits that our country has chosen to provide.
The discussion about universal healthcare needs to get pass “healthcare is a right” because it’s not a right. Healthcare costs money and therefore free healthcare would be a benefit that our society would choose to provide, not compelled.
Universal healthcare is not a restoration of a natural right and individual liberty, but would only be a benefit and a step toward socialism. We need to get beyond it’s a right and begin asking how, who, why and should we? Let the debate begin.