| burning_phoneix said: Paying taxes= Government Paying for health insurance= Private enterprise.
Private Enterprise=/=Governemnt.
Stop using tax money and "I didn't want to pay for the Iraq war" an excuse. The government is a public democracy with public representives voted by and endorsed by a majority of the electorate to manage a nation. Private companies are privately owned entities, you don't vote for them, you are not forced to work FOR them, you are not a CITIZEN of a corpration. You do NOT PAY A CORPRATION TAXES....THEY PAY YOU A SALARY. That changes the argument significantly. |
Oh, I agree - it's absurd that Americans have to pay for private health insurance rather than having a public option.
Here in Australia, everyone is covered by public health care, and then you can buy private health care to extend coverage to optional things, to get reduction in costs when going to private hospitals (public hospitals are covered by public health care), etc. It is absurd that companies have to pay for health care... but until you Americans grow up and realise that public health care is actually cheaper for the government than private health care (don't believe me? Look at per capita health care spending by government in America and Australia), and that public health care is not socialism or communism, you're stuck with it.
In the meantime, you're speaking as though the corporation is like the government in the analogy. It's NOT. The corporation is the equivalent of the person, the health insurance company is the equivalent of the government and the individual is the equivalent of the public. Corporations have to pay for things they don't support all the time, just like individuals do.
As it has been so perfectly pointed out before, corporations seem to be getting all of the perks of personhood, with none of the responsibilities. Being a citizen means that you have to pay for things the government does that you don't support. Being a corporation means that you have to pay for things your employees do that you don't support. Not all things, of course, but certain specific things that you are legally required to pay for. And privately-owned companies are the equivalent of private citizens (as opposed to public figures) - are you suggesting that only famous people should be bound by laws? If not, then you've missed the point of the analogy entirely.
