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Originally posted by wonderwench
The proper role of government is to protect citizens from those who wish to infringe on their liberty. This is why the military, courts and police are essential - to enforce the rule of law. We all share the expense of this effort - and rightly so. These functions should also be managed so as not to discriminate - all citizens should be equal before the law.
Such equality does not exist in the assertion of "positive" rights. There must always be a segment of the population who pays so that others may consume.
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how is this *NOT* true for the military or courts or police? there will always be haves and have nots in a capitalist society and the haves will always be paying more into government programs -- the rich are paying a higher percentage of the military, court, police, and education budget. when someone is accused of a crime and can't afford a lawyer the state provides him or her with one and guess who pays for this? I fail to see how health care is any different. enforcing the rule of law is only marginally different than ensuring a right to health care -- a serial killer is no different from a wave of contagious disease except for the protection issue. as a society we have agreed to provide criminal protection to all (Anyone can dial 911 and seek help from the police) but we refuse medical protection. by your logic we should perhaps have a privatized police force that only answers calls placed by those who can afford to pay them.
Quote:
Originally posted by wonderwench
You also confuse the concepts of life and happiness with equality of condition. There is no right to happiness btw - only the pursuit. The true meaning of these concepts is equality before God and under the law. There is no basis for a claim of equal condition of material wealth, health or any other physical circumstance.
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I am not arguing for equality of condition, i'm arguing for bare bones medical care -- I would not ask the government to cover elective surgeries or to spread out material wealth evenly throughout society. I think it is obvious that there is a great difference between medical care and material possessions. How can one pursue happiness if he/she is not given the tools to do so? I certainly cannot pursue happiness if i am dead (nevermind pursuing life). We have made many attempts to even the scales in this society (public education, public access to courts and representation, public access to highways and transportation, public access to information (via libraries), etc) and I see no way that health care is different -- in fact I think health care is probably a more important pursuit than the others mentioned since it is literally a mater of life and death.