Health Care is a Good, Not a Right.

Thanks to our Founding Fathers, those of us living in the United States of America have certain unalienable (as in, they can't be taken away) rights granted to us by God--or at least, that's how the Founders saw them.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

You'll find that line not in the Constitution but instead contained in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. However, the theme of that same sentence is echoed in the first ten amendments to our Constitution, frequently referred to as the Bill of Rights. If you'd like a quick read, click here: http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Am1 (sidenote: it's important to realize that "rights" are individual not communal, meaning they apply to every individual, not just a group of people. "Powers" are relegated to government. Therefore, the government does not have a right to do anything, only the power to do so. These powers are granted by the people to the government, not the other way around). The Founders did this not only because they believed in God, but because they felt it was very important to show there is a power higher than government. If we're granted our rights by God then we are born with them and become so equipped with our first breath of air. If we are given our rights by government, that very government can then take them away. This is why the phrase "endowed by our Creator" is so great because it establishes that government is not the end-all but that even it must respect its place in relation to a higher power.

You'll notice while reading the Bill of Rights that none, absolutely none, of them guarantee any type of product or service to anyone. Liberals love to say "Well, you have your right to bear arms so I should get my right to free healthcare." While there is SO MUCH wrong with that statement, let's focus on this:

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

While the Second Amendment guarantees your right to own a gun, it does not say the government will provide you with one. In saying "healthcare is a human right" ignores what healthcare is--specifically, the care part. To foster healthcare, care is given by one individual to another, in this case, by a doctor to a patient. A doctor that has gone through years of medical school, payed hundreds of thousands of dollars for a degree and spent countless hours practicing medicine. For you to say "you owe me healthcare because it's my right" is to ignore the rights of that doctor. As I mentioned earlier, the Bill of Rights doesn't award to anyone a type of physical product or service but instead lists individual rights that are not finite, meaning I can have the right to bear arms without infringing on your right to bear arms. There is no physical supply of that right, only the right itself. Healthcare is another story. If I'm in seeing a doctor, you can't be in seeing the same doctor. The hours in the day and people waiting for him are the limits placed on his care. Unless he wants to work 24 hours a day to provide his service, he must ration his care in a way he sees fit. To ignore those limits by making healthcare "free" and forcing him to open his doors to anyone makes the doctor a slave to those who want his care, which is taking rights away from one individual and giving them to another.

There is much, much more to this subject and in a couple of days I'll touch on why "free" healthcare isn't, and why, besides the slavery aspect, the new healthcare law is so overtly Unconstitutional that it's almost comical (hint: forcing Americans to purchase a product). For now, just realize a doctor's service is as finite as a landscaper's, an artist's, or a teacher's. You don't get free bushes in your yard, paintings on your walls, or a B- on your homework because you want them--healthcare is no different.