Cory 2006-09-28 2

From Summa Bergania

From: David Bergan

To: Cory Allen Heidelberger

Date: Sep 28, 2006 1:32 PM

Subject: Re: A chance to attack the entitlement mindset

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Hi Cory,

These appear to me to be your potential solutions:

I. Trust in God

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Do you really think you deserve better health care than, say, Saint Paul? The real answer to the problem of trusting in your money is to trust in God.

Of course you can respond, "But I'm an atheist." To which I will tell you that good advice depends upon truth, not someone's personal beliefs. You could say that you don't believe in radioactive particles... but I'm still going to tell you to wear the yellow suit when you enter the reactor. But since I'm a nice guy, I'll offer a few other solutions that might suit your worldview.

II. Put the money into your own health savings account

Let me tell you at once that you have about a 99% chance of spending more money on health insurance than they would spend on your family. You, Erin, and Katie have way above average health. Putting money into insurance means that most of it is going to pay for other people's careless lifestyles. Of course you lose some security... you could have a car accident that requires goo-gobs of surgery, and not have enough saved up for that... and that's how all health insurance is sold: fear, uncertainty, and doubt. But the numbers are far and away on your side. If you looked at the situation as a stock broker (or a shrewd gambler in Vegas) you would never invest in something with such an unlikely return.

Aside: Reading your Patriot Act blog, you often chastise Americans for having too much fear of terrorists... which makes it possible for legislation that invades our privacy. But is that desire for no-terrorism-security in Americans any different than your desire for health-insurance-security? Obviously, health insurance carriers aren't invading our privacy... well, they are, but they aren't wiretapping (yet). It just seems like a contradiction in bravery, and I would be interested in hearing you clear up my misunderstanding.

III. Become a doctor

It's not too late to go to med school.

IV. Befriend a doctor

Strike up a deal with a physician to exchange health care for private tutoring her child.

V. Switch to a job with health benefits

It may not be as fun as teaching kids... but many many people shift careers to cover their medical insurance needs.

VI. Make more money

Sell more art? If you want the product of health care, you have to afford the price of health care. If you're content to live with Van Gogh's health insurance plan, then you can paint your heart out. But if you want drugs and surgeries like the sultan, you had better make money like the sultan.

VII. Move

Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cuba, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, The Republic of China (Taiwan), and The United Kingdom are among many countries that have various types of universal health care systems.

Montrose, South Dakota is a tough place to try to scratch out a living on a single public school teacher's income. There are many many places in the world that would be a better fit for your career. Personally, I don't want you to move. I want you to have a better salary, and raise a bright, cheerful family on the shores of Lake Herman. But when one takes an inventory of their talents and career prospects, moving makes a lot of sense. I have no doubt that I would have better luck with my video game goals in Silicon Valley... and I may end up there sooner or later. Erik Johnson realized he was better off at a private school on the East Coast than teaching English in Madison. I'll stand in the trenches on the front line right next to you when it comes to increasing public school salaries in South Dakota... but we are in a democracy, and we're only two votes against many. For some reason, education bureaucrats in South Dakota think sham consultants are more important than teacher pay. But there are other places that don't.

What would a single-payer system solve? Your understanding is that people on the poorer side of the economic spectrum would be able afford health coverage that they currently cannot. But where's the magic trick? The trick is that the money comes from (A) the richer side of the spectrum and (B) forcing down what hospitals charge. Are those the principles that we want to base our nation on? Do we want the government telling a private corporation what they can charge for their service? Do we want to Joe Stalin our entrepreneurs? Maybe it's because I'm finishing up The Fountainhead (I'll have to read some of Chesterton's thoughts on distributism for balance), and Rand's rant against everything that holds back a man of purpose is fresh in my ears... away with the traffic and roadblocks that hinder the high-performance personalities. But while I think personal charity is a virtue (Ayn Rand doesn't), government charity is an oxymoron. The former provides inspiration, self-examination, and gratitude. The latter: laziness, rottenness, and bitterness.

Charity aside, how about simple responsibility? If you are responsible to your body (and you are), why should you have to pay for someone else's smoking or obesity-induced ailments? That was one of the responses on the political survey that really surprised me:

Question: Smokers should be required to kick the habit before receiving medical care for smoking-related illnesses

Cory - Disagree

David - Strongly Agree

Does your answer change at all if the medical care is publicly funded? Do I have a non-Christian obligation to pay for my neighbor's alcohol, drug, sex, food, or gambling addiction? I am a firm believer that the best laws are based on responsibility... personal, corporate, and government. Universal health care is totally against this idea... even private health insurance at least has underwriting, which makes one accountable for their addictions/dangerous hobbies before the system is willing to pay out on their behalf. Universal health means that I needn't take any responsibility for personal harm... I can go swimming at Falls Park, ride a motorcycle without a helmet, scuba-dive with sharks, ghost ride the whip, and snort coke on the weekends. The government is there to pick up those idiots from the Jackass movies, put them in a $1000 a night hospital, and then turn around and have the audacity to expect the sane and sober hard-working Americans to pay for it.

But that isn't the part of universal health care that appeals to us. What's appealing is the thought that we could (a) have health care coverage (Melita and I currently go without) and (b) get health care coverage cheaper. Come to think of it... above I had written that universal health care does two things: distributes money evenly and forces costs down. I think I would be content with just part 2. Government regulates the costs of utilities, even though utility companies are usually privately owned. I don't mind paying for office visits out of pocket so long as they aren't $120 for a 20 minute routine physical. Still is a bit unsettling for my capitalistic heart, but I guess I don't have an issue with utility regulation. So that seems to be the balance that would help us against rising costs, and yet ensure personal responsibility.

Kind regards,

David

--David Bergan

"I wish I had never been born," she said. "What are we born for?"

"For infinite happiness," said the Spirit. "You can step out into it at any moment..."

-CS Lewis (The Great Divorce)