With a little over eight months until the 2008 Presidential election, many are starting to ask the questions that will ultimately decide their vote. That said, I have THE question to help you decide which way you should cast your ballot:
Who’s job is it to take care of you? (Pick One)
Mine The Government’s
I am a huge proponent for personal responsibility and believe strongly that it is NOT the government’s job to take care of me. Thus, whoever is elected will not make my life any better… however, they could make it worse. As I continue to live in a free, capitalist society, I can continue to work hard, create jobs, and ultimately create more wealth, but if the government continues taking more and more in the way of taxes and regulations, at what point do entrepreneurs throw their hands up and say “It’s not worth it?”
Why am I so adamant about this? Let’s look at a few issues:
Housing/Real Estate/Mortgage Crises – Many people have seen their adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) rise over the last year, and have pointed their fingers at the government and said, “fix this!” Others have seen the value of their home drop significantly, and have been unable to get out from underneath their situation. They too, have pointed the finger government’s way. Is this the government’s fault, or even their place to fix the situation? ABSOLUTELY NOT!! Home ownership is not for everyone. Most likely those who have ARMs in all reality, could not afford the house they purchased to begin with, and had to opt for a less than favorable financing arrangement. Why in the world should the government bail you out?
Retirement/Social Security – This is probably one of the most evident places that government should not be involved. Why in the world as an able-bodied, working citizen, would I (or should I), ask the government to take my money and hold on to it for when I retire? To me, this idea basically says, “work your whole life, spend everything you have, and then, we will take care of you.” How about we throw a little bit of personal responsibility in there and A) live on less than what we make, B) invest our own money in good growth stock mutual funds, and C) take care of our own retirement. It’s shocking to me that the government has a plan that tells me I’m not smart enough to take care of my own money, yet their program is inching closer and closer to bankruptcy every day.
Universal Health Care – Oh boy, this is a big one these days. Now, not only am I not smart enough to take care of myself during retirement, I guess I’m not smart enough to take care of myself during my working years either. It looks like big government is about to strike again and start taking care of our health care for us. Having served in the military, I’ve seen Universal Health Care at work, and it’s not pretty. Yes, all prescriptions are filled for free. Yes, all surgeries are performed for free. Yes, all check-ups and regular care is free. However, the quality of service is subpar. Think about it this way, if a doctor has his patients given to him, guaranteed that they will keep these patients, and then told they will only make half of what a private doctor would make – what would motivate this doctor? If you answered absolutely nothing, you would be correct. What would drive innovation? Discovery? Medical breakthroughs?
Regardless of your thoughts on these issues, how about we ask a different question, where does the money come from for these government programs? It comes from able-bodied, tax-paying citizens, and the more we make, the more they take. Kind of sounds like a redistribution of wealth to me, and correct me if I’m wrong, doesn’t that sound an awful lot like socialism? If we continue to let government take care of us, when does it end? What’s next? Are they going to provide housing for us? How about a car? Why not go ahead and throw in season tickets to our favorite sports team!
2 responses so far ↓
1 Julie Hunter // Mar 3, 2008 at 6:45 pm
I am in full agreement and could write my own long, rambling soliloquy as a response, but I think it’s best summed up in the words of the brilliant Shel Silverstein:
I believe that if you don’t want to do anything, then sit there and don’t do it, but don’t expect people to hand you a corn beef sandwich and wash your socks for you and unzip your fly for you.
~Shel Silverstein
2 Chris Tirado // May 29, 2009 at 8:50 am
Alright, I do agree with all of the above, except the universal health care. While I do believe in the idea that competition and innovation come from having a private industry health care system, I do think that we fail when it comes to taking care of our citizens as a country on this issue. It is great that the best doctor in the US gets the big house, the nice car and all, definately a driven individual, and has earned his place, but the poor family/child/ senior citizen that is the hard working, blue collar member of our society can not afford him, and will suffer for it.
Let’s face it, the idea of our private health care system is out of control and is completley run by the insurance companies. There is so much fraud that it could probably refill the majority of our prisons if ever prosecuted. Not only are we talking about insurance, we cant talk about proper health care without discussing the cost of medication.
A recent study just listed Canadians as outliving Americans by 3-4 years, and that is on a universal health care system. The government regulates and provides medication. We both went through the military medical fiasco, but let’s be real here, this is a system set up to fail because our country does not know, nor do they care to know about how to run a UHC plan.
We live in a society that is driven by money, mostly to the point where it is screw the little guy, I want my money. MAYBE your arguement is that these people should have planned better, that they should have had a better education, received a better insurance plan, got a better job, or just all around not have been sick, but despite the excuses (which I am sad to say come from most of the conservative side) these people need to be taken care of.
I am not a fan of welfare, but I am a huge advocate for the care of human beings for the sake of caring and not finding every means possible to squeeze them of the money they work for.
Now all that being said, I think that universal health care can work, and work well. Can privide a competetive environment for medical members, and not screw over the little people.
As far as it limiting discovery, most of the money that goes to the study of medicine is already funded by the government. It doesn’t come from the drig companies, they are too busy putting what they earned into their greedy little pockets!
Just to be clear, I am not talking about the idiots who want plastic surgery, or drug addicts, or special dentistry…..by all means, charge thos idiots to the fullest extent.
All this can be summed up by saying CANADA has a better health care system that our private industry health care system…Nuff said!
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