It is a simple question: Is the provision of health care a right for every human, or is it a privilege for those who can afford to pay for it?
One can make claims and arguments in favor of specific healthcare systems, from our human history and specifically from our American experience, for both positions. Whenever evidence for one position or the other is cited to “prove” what type of health care system we should have in our land, such evidence is ultimately advanced in order to prove as correct one side of that question or the other. I’m not convinced that we will achieve consensus in our land concerning the crucial issue of health care, unless we deal honestly with the basic question. The fundamental issue: Is a person’s health connected to his/her life, liberty, or pursuit of happiness? I believe it is. Any discussion of basic human rights includes aspects an individual's civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights because these rights are inexplicably linked to each other. This includes the health and well-being of individual members of society, and how society deals with this right. If you believe this, then it follows that society, as a whole, has some responsibility in establishing a way that the health and well-being of it’s members is protected and provided. It is at this point that some people equate access to healthcare with the provision of healthcare. There is truth to this. When a person has access to healthcare then they are able to receive the benefits of the system that gives them access. However, when such access is dependent upon the individual’s ability to pay for services, then those who can not pay - do not have access. The actual effect is the denial of services. It is then the denial of this basic human right. The establishment of a system of healthcare that makes legitimate attempts to provide services for all members of that society does entail a cost to that society, but the failure to make such a legitimate attempt is a failure to honor basic human rights. If we are to be a people who practice our belief that all people are entitled to human rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - then we must see to the health and well-being of our people.
0 Comments
During the years of increasing polarization of American society leading up to the American Civil War the Federal government passed a Fugitive Slave Law (1850) which attempted to compel government officials (federal, state, and local) in the non-slave states of the North to assist in the capture and return of slaves to the South. This fueled the abolitionist cause and contributed to the growing divide in our nation.
There are parallels between that portion of our history and the immigration crisis in our land today. The anti-immigration fervor that is being stoked by the executive branch of government is causing a strong backlash by those who recognize the positive contributions of immigrants. The move to arrest and deport immigrants, with the resulting breakup of families, pulls on the heartstrings of compassionate people. When the Federal government then attempts to coerce state and local governments to assist in that effort (or bear the consequences of losing funding) then the citizens in those local situations resist. More and more people feel it necessary to provide sanctuary for their friends and neighbors, and feel compelled to resist the over-reach of federal authorities. As a nation, and as individuals, we would be well served to remember that we are a nation of immigrants and that it is the contributions of immigrants and their children that have made America great. Local communities should not have to be sanctuary cities. In the words of Judge Milton Hirsch, of Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit, who recently ruled on the Executive Branch’s effort to crack-down on sanctuary cities, “Miami is not, and has never been, a sanctuary city. But America is, and has always been, a sanctuary country.” |
Time for Common Sense AgainCommon sense commmentary by Joel Kreger (unless noted and credited to a guest writer) Archives
November 2018
Categories |