At Least the Jackboots Will Have Sensible Heels.
National Health Care has nothing to do with health care and everything to do with progressives making you into what they want you to be. When the government controls health care, it also controls every behavior that can influence your health, no matter what the behavior is.
So if you’re in perfect health and stay that way, have no vices and never attempt to gain any, and live the Übermensch lifestyle, all will be well. If not…
Imagine a country where the government regularly checks the waistlines of citizens over age 40. Anyone deemed too fat would be required to undergo diet counseling. Those who fail to lose sufficient weight could face further “reeducation” and their communities subject to stiff fines.
Is this some nightmarish dystopia?
No, this is contemporary Japan.
The Japanese government argues that it must regulate citizens’ lifestyles because it is paying their health costs. This highlights one of the greatly underappreciated dangers of “universal healthcare.” Any government that attempts to guarantee healthcare must also control its costs. The inevitable next step will be to seek to control citizens’ health and their behavior. Hence, Americans should beware that if we adopt universal healthcare, we also risk creating a “nanny state on steroids” antithetical to core American principles.
Other countries with universal healthcare are already restricting individual freedoms in the name of controlling health costs. For example, the British government has banned some television ads for eggs on the grounds that they were promoting an unhealthy lifestyle…
In 2007, New Zealand banned Richie Trezise, a Welsh submarine cable specialist, from entering the country on the grounds that his obesity would “impose significant costs … on New Zealand’s health or special education services.” Richie later lost weight and was allowed to immigrate, but his wife had trouble slimming and was kept home. Germany has mounted an aggressive anti-obesity campaign in workplaces and schools to promote dieting and exercise. Citizens who fail to cooperate are branded as “antisocial” for costing the government billions of euros in medical expenses.
There is no way to prevent government from having that much power so long as it’s footing the bill. But, as computer programmers say, the power isn’t a bug but a feature. Progressives want to have that power more than anything else in the world. They don’t want to come right out and ask you to hand over control of your life, so they bait you in with a promise of wonderful and free heath care hoping that you’ll bite. Once you’re hooked, they’ll go about molding you into the Perfect Person who will live in contentment in the oppressive cage they call Utopia. Sure, there’ll be jackboots, but at least they’ll have sensible heels and pillowed insoles so you won’t throw your spine out of alignment.
Sound like fun? If it does then by all means push for national health care. But don’t you dare whine to me about George Bush and lost “civil rights” when you do. I’ll just laugh in your face.
Well, so long as laughing’s considered good for your health.
Other Posts of Interest:
- Leading Off for the Obamas, Tom Daschle
- The Nanny State Tax Scam Comes to Maine
- The Safety of Progressivism is the Safety of the Cage
Category: Health Care Craziness, Progressives
