“Is access to medical care something that governments should provide, or is it better left to the private sector? Are their drawbacks to your choice?”

 This is the central question of socialism. What things, if any, are appropriate for society to bear versus private citizens or companies? I think that this question has several parts actually, how big is the topic being considered, does it have any ethical or moral implications, and is there any need for democratic oversight? When it comes to health care I argue that it’s a human topic, it’s vast and universal and it’s incredibly expensive. I think that  when it comes to healthcare, that society can best provide coverage more than private companies and that as a member of society I would be willing to underwrite the costs of covering every American so that none of us have to endure catastrophic loss because of a health issue. I also argue that companies are inherently amoral and unethical. Companies that are publicly traded have shareholders and the promise of good behavior is not for those receiving the healthcare but rather the welfare of the shareholders themselves. Even if a company is not publicly traded, greed still overwhelms the greater good and renders companies amoral and blind to ethics. Companies are not people, companies have no conscience, they have no compassion. They are a mindless thing, sometimes the best thing you can say is that a company that doesn’t rape, pillage, and plunder is about as moral and ethical as they can get. I think “rape pillage and plunder” is a natural expression for a company because when you add people together in masses beyond 150 members, their ability to understand the consequences of their behaviors drop precipitously to zero. It is also vital that there be some public (democratic) oversight of the entire structure and so in this last condition I think it’s best that government do the work as ultimately government can be taken to account for their activities through the judicial branch of government.

There is a sidelight to all of this, that America has a problem and that is we have celebrity career politicians. This, I believe, has to end. We have term limits for many parts of government and I think it’s vital to extend this to the legislative and judicial branches of government. I think that a congressperson should serve for a maximum of four years and then be barred from future service in that branch. They can pursue other branches if they wish, but that’s where it ends.

So that is my answer to this question. Best that healthcare be done by society and done universally. Single payer, nationalized, social.