| Aielyn said: It is a right. But it's a right for a reason. There's a reason why you have a right to health care, but not a right to elective surgery. |
It isn't a right. Rights are things that are inherent unless someone takes it away from you. Your right to speak freely, for example. You cannot possibly have the right to something that someone else has to provide for you.
Treating things as rights has a lot to do with why nearly every developed country is trying to contain spiraling health costs. Once the government and other third parties get involved, it turns into chaos with everyone trying to make theirs by screwing everyone else. For instance, my 84-year-old grandmother had a doctor's appointment to go in and be told exactly what she had already been told two weeks prior just so that the doctor could get paid by Medicare for a doctor's visit. But for things like Lasik surgery and breast implants that we don't treat as rights, it's almost shockingly expensive. As soon as they do become a "right", as all things inevitably do, a new set of tits will run about $250k.
"Oh, you just need a better government comprised of TOP MEN!" You might pooh pooh the idea of smaller government, but it's a hell of a lot easier to reform a smaller government (not to mention see exactly what needs reforming to begin with) than it is to reform a slovenly gargantuan like the US government.
