Browsing the discussion forums on blogcatalog, I stumbled upon a debate on health care as a right versus privilege. One of the first responses was written by a flamingpoodle:
Health care is not a right, it is a service, just like hair dressing. You have to pay for any service, because someone had to invest their time, money and effort into acquiring the necessary skills to perform that service.
If you can't pay for a hair cut, then you should grow your hair long. If you can't pay for medical services, then you should ensure that you don't get sick.
To say that health care is a right implies that the state has the right to enslave certain health care workers in order to provide this service.
He equates health care with hairdressing! Take a moment to let the outrageousness of that statement sink in... There are so many fallacies in his logic that I don't even know where to begin!
Health care is not a right, it is a service, just like hair dressing.
In short, long hair won't kill you but a large, untreated cancerous growth certainly will. Should this patient be refused treatment, or not receive full treatment, on basis of financial ability, then this amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.
You have to pay for any service, because someone had to invest their time, money and effort into acquiring the necessary skills to perform that service.
Of course health care providers must be reimbursed for services rendered. That's what we pay taxes for.
If you can't pay for a hair cut, then you should grow your hair long. If you can't pay for medical services, then you should ensure that you don't get sick.
Wow. What a way to say "F**k Off" to those with cancer, Parkinson's, severe physical and neurological paralysis, etc., as well as to those who are forced into situations that make them more prone to sickness (i.e. needing to work multiple jobs and long hours in order to make ends meet).
To say that health care is a right implies that the state has the right to enslave certain health care workers in order to provide this service.
Because something is a right does not imply that the state has the right to enslave. There are countries where health care is a right such as France, Sweden, etc., and nobody there will tell you that they are enslaved by the state. In fact, when you become a doctor, you consciously "enslave" yourself to improving hea
lth in society by way of the Hippocratic Oath. Some doctors, most notably in the US, appear to be choosing to forget it, and practice medicine for obscene amounts of profit. I'm not against profits in the health care industry. I'm against refusal of complete treatment on the grounds of your financial/insurance situation.
A society that hails health care as a privilege tells me two things: they haven't evolved since the Industrial Revolution, and they impose cruel and unusual punishment of the less fortunate for being just that.
(images from iremind.co.uk and distractible.org repectively)
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Health Care is the Same as Hairdressing (nur auf Englisch)
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Does this make you wonder how humans actually made it to the Industrial Revolution?
ReplyDeleteAffordable Health Care is a RIGHT! And if insurance companies can't provide it, then (in my opinion) is the responsibility of the physician. Isn't that in the Hippocratic Oath? Unfortunately, doctors seem to be in it for the money, so the government is going to have to do something about it.
I work with 2 Canadians, one of them loves the way Canada provides for its people, the other hates it.
What is your opinion?
That we made it past the Industrial Revolution is credit to the sensible people on this planet =)
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot to love and a lot to hate about it. It's extremely expensive (in taxes) and inefficient, but then again look at the alternatives. I won't even begin about the US system, and on the other hand you have the Continental European system which would require an overhaul and reconstruction of the economy. Personally I prefer the European system, but I don't see that being implemented anytime soon =(
In fact, when you become a doctor, you consciously "enslave" yourself to improving health in society by way of the Hippocratic Oath
ReplyDeleteIn fact, taking the Hippocratic Oath is no longer a requirement to become a doctor.
He equates health care with hairdressing! Take a moment to let the outrageousness of that statement sink in... There are so many fallacies in his logic that I don't even know where to begin!
Give it a try. Claiming that there are logical fallacies in my statement and actually identifying them and pointing them out to me are two different things entirely.
Should this patient be refused treatment, or not receive full treatment, on basis of financial ability, then this amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.
You are assuming that someone who suffers from cancer would necessarily be reliant on a social health care system and won't be able to afford private health care.
By your logic, it is entirely acceptable for me to get a yacht by virtue of the fact that I can't afford it.
Or for me to have someone do my accounting for me free of charge, by virtue of the fact that I can't afford an accountant.
Where do you draw the line between a fundamental human right and a privilege?
Are the fundamental rights of those who can't afford health care not the same ones as those who are qualified to provide health services? If they are, then you can't say the doctor has to provide his services to someone who can't afford them any more than you can deny me a haircut because I can't afford it.
If they aren't, then all are equal, but some are more equal.
Thanks for dropping by Garg. Interesting comments - I responded on another post:
ReplyDeletehttp://cosmopolite-kaffeeklatsch.blogspot.com/2008/10/mariecel-vs-flamingpoodle-round-2.html