Discussion Question Number 2
Is healthcare a Right or a Privilege? Feel free to define "right" and "privilege" in your comments.
posted by Ted @ 15:48
"It's just laser beams and power chords--there's no plot at all."
posted by Ted @ 15:48
9 Comments:
At 10/10/07 18:16 ,
KAISER ANDY I said...
I believe basic healthcare is a right. Of course, if I were to have unlimited wealth instead of true love, I could always "buy up"...
At 10/10/07 22:10 ,
Yankee John said...
Wow, what a question.
How about this: Healthcare is neither a right nor a privilege. It is a service. Goods and services are traded in the most basic of economies. Now that we have dispensed with the strict definition, we can address the moral and ethical implications.
How does one define healthcare? Are we talking a shaman who rubs you with a guinea pig then sacrifices the animal to examine entrails or a modern American hospital with the latest imaging and diagnostic equipment or an Asian herbalist with a millennium of unguents and salves with real medicinal properties? The answer is, or rather my answer is, you are entitled to whatever you can (afford to) get. That doesn’t mean it isn’t going to cost you a goat, a $4000 deductible or membership in the People’s Party.
I hate to say it, but being born in some third world cesspool, while not “fair”, is a reality for some people. Just as being born in Europe in the Dark Ages meant your medical treatment was less advanced than if you lived in the Muslim world at the same time. Or living in early 21st century America as opposed to 25th century (fill in the blank.)
People who work in the truly nasty places and provide healthcare to Stone Age Indigs are doing a wonderful thing. But that is a gift and not to be confused with a right or a privilege. Never forget that somebody, somewhere is paying for it.
At 11/10/07 03:44 ,
Jenny said...
This is a loaded question. I would say in an ideal world it's a right... but then I say if you want to treat your body like crap... well, you lose your right for me to foot your bill. So I guess a privilege is more my answer. I just wish it wasn't tied to wealth. Where is my happy grey area?
At 11/10/07 21:18 ,
Yankee John said...
hey dr. demontos (the freshmaker!),
why not give us the benefit of your four ha' pennies worth. or do you just ask the questions, Mr. Trebeck?
At 11/10/07 21:32 ,
Ted said...
"just" asking the question isn't that easy. These queries take time to carefully handcraft.
At 12/10/07 14:27 ,
Yankee John said...
Queries? So these are "gay" questions? Not that there's anything wrong with that..
Hey, now that you're a doctor, shouldn't you change your avatar from Rhino to Hipaa-potamus?
At 12/10/07 18:47 ,
Yankee John said...
why, Why, WHY!
WHY do you annoy me with the continued presence of the unofficial john steakley website? There hasn't been any new information since July 2006.
2006! By the four balls of Christopher Guest and Jamie Leigh Curtis - why do you maintain a link to this on your website. Nothing's happened. Nothing's going to happen. He's dead!
Been dead since the relaese of Vampires, the movie. Hell, it was so bad, I almost died.
Now I know this isn't directly related to the healthcare question, but you are pissing me off more than my old Humana Health Care PPO (PPO - please put out?, policy premium obfuscasion?, please punch me in the organ?)
So please, for the love of small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri, please either remove the link or post something yourself. Hell, I'll take the little f'n kitties again.
Thankyoucomeagain.
At 12/10/07 19:59 ,
Ted said...
Somebody actually follows my links? You have WAAAY too much free time, John.
However, I have updated the list for your continued edification.
At 12/10/07 20:15 ,
Ted said...
Speaking of frequent updates...
http://blackspotjer.blogspot.com/
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