Scriptorium Daily
Government already has the biggest guns and so we should not give them control over the scalpels as well. The reason is simple: anything big is likely to hurt us and needs something just as big to check it.
Government power in the United States is great, but it is a blessing of living in our nation that it is not as great as in some other lands. We are in less danger of tyranny here than in many other parts of the world. Tyrants do not always reduce their citizens to subjects by cruelty, sometimes they make them dependent on their “kindness.”
My fear is that if we look to government for even more services, we will reach a tipping point of dependence on the state. Some good will done for us, but at too great a cost to the character of the citizens. Once we become dependent it becomes difficult to regain liberty, even if the masters change in character. After all, history never stops moving and pharaohs can arise that never knew Joseph.
One does not have to have “faith” or put much “hope” in the private sector in order to worry first about government. Big business can be just as cruel as government, but it does not have authority over the justice system. Whatever harms that Big Business can do, it cannot declare war or sit in justice over you. Wall Street can go to jail, but it cannot send you there.
This does not mean that Wall Street is to be trusted.
Most traditional American conservatives (as opposed to extreme libertarians) have supported some government regulation of big business as a check to abuse and harm that wicked men in the private sector do. Left alone, companies were happy to sell us tainted food until they met government regulation. Pure food laws were a sane, limited response, and enjoy bipartisan support.
We did not have government take over the production of food.
Medicine, insurance, and the legal profession are certainly three big areas that cry out for better laws to protect citizens against exploitation. The cost of medicine in the United States is too high and access to quality care is too limited partly because of bad practices that should be stopped.
The more government gets involved in medicine the more the money from big medical companies flows to corrupt government. Before government even considers writing more laws it should drive those involved in graft and corruption from its midst. Many of us no longer trust government when we see big bailouts for friends and donors of politicians.
Bet on it: if government takes more responsibility over health care, the same cruel executives that make insurance companies so unpopular will get jobs in the public sector. This time they will have the power of the state behind their barbarisms.
It is bad enough fighting a big private company with some small hope of help from your elected official, but it will be hopeless to fight when all the power is absolutely concentrated in government.
This does not mean doing nothing.
The free market eventually catches up with bad actors, but in medical care too many people are quickly harmed to allow this natural process time to act. Regulations themselves are dangerous so they should address clear abuses (denial of coverage based on gender would be an easy example).
The United States has tried to balance its approach to medicine with a mostly free market system with a strong social safety net. By the end of his political career, this is the system Ronald Reagan valued and strengthened. There are good reasons to fix some problems in the system, but it has produced innovation and quality medical care for the vast majority of Americans.
Failures abound, but when tinkering with the system we should first practice the Hippocratic wisdom of “doing no harm.” Congressman Paul Ryan, a conservative and bright rising star of good government, has proposed several ideas that would help without “doing harm.”
No solution will be perfect. Wicked men in the public and private sector will continue to misuse their power. Money will corrupt both sectors, but by keeping power over life-and-death somewhat scattered, most of us have the best chance to be allowed our God given right to “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.”
