-totally hypothetical-
why should I not be able to choose for myself to:
have or not have a health care plan?
to smoke a cigarette in a public parking lot (away from the entrance door, beside my car) ?
to wear or not wear a seat belt in a vehicle?
to wear or not wear a helmet on a motor bike?
- - - - - - -
what is wrong with letting adults make their own safety decisions? and don't tell me I choose who is elected - I vote - but I don't choose who anybody else votes for. Well, it's like this: politicians are either stupid or evil. I've heard rumors that 1 or 2 don't fit into either of these categories, but I've never seen one. So, what do stupid or evil politicians do? They pass stupid or evil laws.
So, how does that relate to your question? It all started a few decades ago with 2 stupid / evil laws. The first was the law making it illegal for hospitals to turn away patients that can't pay. The second was Medicare / Medicaid. The result of these two laws was that hospitals began loosing tons of money and the tax payers were forced to pay for the medical expenses of morons. For example: before these two laws, some moron that did not wear a helmet on a motorcycle would crash and die. After these two laws, the moron would crash, be taken to a hospital, be given thousands of dollars of health care and then placed on Medicare for the rest of their life because of disabilities causes by the accident. So, the result of these two laws was hospitals loosing tons of money and skyrocketing costs to the government for Medicare.
So, what to do now? The stupid / evil politicians have caused 2 huge new problems because of their stupid / evils laws. The smart thing to do would be to repeal the laws. But the politicians are stupid / evil so that's not going to happen. So their "answer" is to pass a bunch of new stupid / evil laws to try to fix the consequences of their old stupid / evil laws. This is why we have laws against smoking, laws forcing you to wear your seatbelt or helmet, and other such laws.
In conclusion, yes, you should have the freedom to make your own decisions. But the only way to have that freedom, is to give freedom back to the hostpitals and tax payers to NOT pay for the consequences of your choices. You do have a choice. RIGHT NOW. But Im afraid if the wrong people get in power you wont. This country is market place driven. Those laws you stated up there should be JUST for children. You *should* have a choice. I think it's absurd that the government wants to regulate these things. Because the courts have lost the ability to reason. Just look at all the absurd awards granted in civil cases, particuarly when large corporations are involved. Cause people are sick of breathing YOUR cigarette smoke and the city is sick of scraping bodies off of the concrete when something as simple as a seatbelt could have avoided it.
But honestly I don't care what you do. Natural selection will win in the end. The kid who doesn't wear the helmet...doesn't grow up to have kids of his own. Maybe we shouldn't mess with nature. you clearly should have a choice in health care plan and even whether to have one at all. if youre in a parking lot, i didnt think there was a problem with that. is there?
seatbelts and helmets are kinda crucial... its just generally a good idea to wear them but to fine someone for not doing so is a little ridiculous too.
your question reaches into a broader topic of "is it the governments responsibility to manage and determine what is proper for people to do with their own bodies?" this touches on everything from self mutilation, piercings and tattoos, to drugs, to sexual relations and even suicide. if its ok for the government to tell us one thing is ok, and another is not, is it ok for the government to tell us all the things that are ok and all the things which arent? more over... how is that freedom? Welcome to Amerika..... According to the Nanny State
...your lack of health plan puts the burden on the public due to lack of preventive medical procedures
...your smoking at your car in the parking lot may influence the truant kids that see you to think it's cool thus causing others to pick up smoking
...not wearing a seat belt or helmet may cause psychological harm to others if they see you in an accident or your body flying around may hit a tree and cause it harm so the Nanny State must protect others from you.
Adults are incapable of making these safety decision because you will choice incorrectly so Nanny Laws must be enacted to protect you from yourself and of course others from you. I don't understand the helmet laws, the seat belt laws and a host of other personal choice laws either. Lobbyist are the culprit. Insurance Lobby to be more exact. They lobbied hard on seat belts and helmets and then the Federal Government forced the States to do it or lose federal highway funding. Most complied but some held out on the helmets. The same with increasing the drinking age to 21 and they used the same ploy. A very good example of corporate welfare, the insurance companies risk went down but the premiums stayed the same. You should have a choice, but your choice should not effect mine. If you don't have healthcare you can't use the er unless you can pay out of pocket. Smoke cigs but see above when you get cancer or copd. Don't wear your seat belt but if you are in a crash and it is not your fault I don't have to pay for you because your injuries could have been avoided or minimized. Don't wear a helmet so I can laugh when I see you eating bugs.
If we are going to make our own decisions we have to be responsible for them. I don't know you but if you can't use common sense then you are not capable of making your own choices in these matters. You should be able to to not wear a seat belt or a motorcycle or bike helmet. That's evolution in action.
You should be able to smoke in the open air when others aren't around. That's just common sense and the common courtesy too often denied to smokers.
But, you need to have a health plan. Hospitals are going out of business at record rates from the expense of treating the un and underinsured. The problem is that people without insurance don't see a doctor until their condition is expensive to treat. And, in view of bioterrorism, it's a major security breach. The uninsured can infect hundreds of others each before seeking treatment.
We should join the rest of the developed world and have National Health, modeled on Medicare. That would be a lot cheaper and provide better care than what we're doing now. We pay half again as much as Europe for Health Care and are rated 32nd in quality. A simple answer to this is that you CAN make your own decisions where these things are concerned but there are consequences when you make the wrong decision. At the end of the day, (speaking hypothetically) I know which consequence I would prefer to experience after having an accident on my motorbike and having NOT worn a helmet (i.e. a 拢150 fine after getting caught by the police or disfigurement/injury or loss of life). The laws are there for a reason and are all common sense based. Remember some people don't have common sense. I get your point and I hope you get mine. I am all for those freedoms you listed above. There is a caveat to the support however.
With freedom there comes responsibility. If you injure yourself and can't pay for your own care. I will be forced to ante up. Until I am free from the responsibility of paying your bills, I see nothing wrong with placing restrictions on your behavior. Now, that said, I am all for the government stopping supporting stupid people who don't care for themselves. If they die, they die. I don't think that's ever going to happen though. Too many bleeding heart liberals would come to your rescue. I wouldn't mind them chipping in to pay the bills for your care. The problem is, they want to make me do it by taking money by force from me, and calling it "my fair share of donations."- (read taxes) H. L. Mencken once said. All elections are simply advance auctions on stolen goods. Wow. everything that bothers you has nothing to do with a National Election. It is all decided state by state with the exception of seat belt maybe but then its enforced at the state level not the national.
You are voting in the wrong election for any say over those issues. You need to get involved at your local level to change things like that.Hopefully the Federal Government will never be able to dictate to the states on subjects like you mentioned.
And yes you do have a choice as long as you do not infringe on the rights and freedoms of others. Your choice most likely will upset others.
Talk to your insurance companies about the helmet and seat belt, they are the ones driving that issue.
Talk to your City and County about smoking, they decide that issue.
The health care plan is your employer and state at the moment but some are trying to take over control from us and mandate it through Washington DC and that's wrong. I oppose a dictatorship at the DC level Health care: If you don't have a health insurance, then, when you become ill or have to go to hospital, guess who pays the bills? The taxpayers. We don't want to pay your hospital bills.....buy your own insurance.
Smoking: I agree with that.....as long as a person obeys the "non-smoking" rules, he/she should be able to light up when and where he/she wishes.
Seat belts: Seat belts save lives and prevent injuries. When a person is injured due to not wearing a seatbelt, the insurance company pays for a higher doctor/hospital bill. This increases insurance premiums to ALL of us. We don't want to pay for your carelessness.
Helmets: Reckless behavior increases insurance premiums and health care costs to all of us. We don't want to be responsible for your irresponsibility.
No man is an island. You live in the world with several million other people. You are responsible for your own behavior and should not look to others to pay for your recklessness. Because being free, spawns free thought, and free thought is bad, for the people who would like to be in power.
Giving you small decisions, and then taking them away, and making you worry about those decisions makes you think that those are all thats going on, and distracts you.
Also, those in charge like to see you squirm.
Why should you be able to choose?
Oh, I don't know, God isn't real so we have no God given rights... RIGHT?????
Wrong.
And - as long as your not harming anyone but yourself, why take away freedoms?
Because allowing abortions, and banning smoking by your car, is NOT STUPID.
RIGHT???????????????????????
Wrong.
But, thats the world today. haven't you gotten it by now: the government is here to protect you from yourself. The government is your daddy...listen to him! He knows best!
-You are your brothers caretaker, that's why you should pay for the healthcare of every lazy, stupid, American bastard!
-Cars are too dangerous. Forget telling kids not to drive drunk, you should have to wear a seatbelt that way you don't die when a drunk kid runs into you at 100 MPH.
-(see what i just said about seatbelts)
Metallica is screwing with your brains man! they say 'master of the puppets' like it's a bad thing! Don't you want a master that will ALWAYS protect you (except from terrorists, first degree criminals, and everybody else who is dangerous)? I honestly can't give you a reason.
Maybe the governments afraid that if we start thinking independently about safety and making our own little decisions... It might lead on to thinking even more independently and making our own big decisions that are so rightfully ours. You CAN choose to have a health plan or not have a health plan.
You CAN smoke a cigarette in a parking lot, away from the entrance door.
You DO have the choice whether or not to wear a seat belt - feel free to get a ticket.
And actually, it is not illegal in my state to ride a motor bike without a helmet.
So the answer to your question is, you always have a choice. | 