A reindeer can't hit Granny with as much force as the government can

By Chris Basten

  As if dealing with my unbelievably stressful job at an insurance company (the name of which I will not disclose here) wasn't enough this week, I learned that I will probably be working harder and longer in the future to pay for broken hips, lots of Ben-Gay, an acre's worth of medication, and cheap hearing aids for millions of elderly people I will never know or come in contact with during my lifetime. Meanwhile, I bust my tail and put up with a lot of crap at work so that a sizable portion of my earnings can support wars and foreign policing in countries I will never visit and could probably never locate on a map (I am an American, you know). In addition, I suffer from burn-out and tension all day so that government leaders can give themselves raises and argue endlessly about raising my taxes further to keep themselves in business.

I'm trying to contain my volcanic fury but it is becoming more and more difficult these days. I'm a mere 26-years-old (going on 27) and I'm about as bitter as a Medicare recipient. With George W. Bush's signature added to Medicare's "reform" just days ago, I can officially declare the working-class of America f---ed for eternity. Because we've swallowed the poison of believing that our work requires an autonomous response with our earnings, we've built an empire that forces us to "give" to the less fortunate. Those who were probably fine to begin with have been groomed into parasites salivating for every damn government handout that can be waved in front of them.

Medicare is no more than a fancy word for aggression. Government dictators, in a feeble attempt to make it look like they care about the welfare of others, are literally robbing us at gunpoint to "help" the disabled and elderly with their medical bills. Instead of admitting that forced aid doesn't work and never will work, the politicians round up their disgusting herds and think up ways to advertise organized aggression without making it appear as such.

How could it have come to this? I ask myself. My mind can only grasp the notion that independence has been assassinated by the dominion of social conformity. We are enamored by the belief that the fruits of our labor and inventions must be yoked to the condition that everyone else gains something in the name of fairness. In doing so, we have become the paternalistic society that rationalizes men as incompetent to think for and take care of themselves. Since men are incapable as independent agents, the government will do the thinking and providing for them by defining the "right" ideas and mechanisms for all. The appropriate enforcement squads are then released to patrol our obedience at the point of a gun. Nonconformists face fine, imprisonment, or death. All this so Grandma can get her blood-pressure medication and watch reruns of Lawrence Welk in peace.

In sickening fashion, individual productiveness is scorned in favor of bigger Government to nanny us and create further barriers to the advancement and innovation of our species so that everything stays equal. The panicked question, "What will happen to everyone without Medicare?" only roots out our pathetic reliance on it and does nothing to evoke creative thinking. Without the government in charge of our healthcare, we have $2 trillion at our disposal to take care of our own bodies. We can spend this money more responsibly and mind our own welfare much better than any police state ever could. How excellent can your healthcare be when the guns of government are forcing the few who can afford licenses to do mounds of state-enforced paperwork, keep medications affordable, and see every man, woman, and child on earth? Government knows nothing about operating health and wellness industries with affordability and effectiveness. This should be left to those who practice in their chosen fields and stand to gain a profit in doing their jobs well. The government can do it any way it sees fit regardless of how many people wait in line for treatment or die trying to get medicine that has not yet been approved by the FDA monopolists. The government will keep getting your money and won't produce anything beneficial whether or not you live to talk about it.

The solution to Medicare is to annihilate it. Exterminate it. Bomb it into oblivion. It doesn't work! It never will work! It only serves to keep the thousands who regulate it in business without regard to what the results of the program will actually be! If we dissolved Medicare, it would free up money (which is yours to begin with) for you to take care of yourself, and your family if necessary, as you see fit. Government has no business telling us who we can and cannot see, what kind of treatment we can seek, and what drugs we can put into our bodies. The government can inform us of the costs and benefits of certain procedures, providers, and medications, but it has no right to force us with their guns to give up our freedom of choice with this information. Life is a risk and we are apt to take better risks than the government forces us to.

The next time you're waiting to receive some form of medical care, count yourself as one of the fortunate ones who can afford to. Socialized medicine creates long waiting periods and makes high-quality service more expensive because a system that is already overloaded and overburdened is forced by the government to abide by the laws and regulations that funnel everyone through it. A lot of people who need treatment yesterday don't have the luxury of waiting any longer for vital treatment. Life and death services are in the hands of bureaucrats who insist that you must do what they say while they rob you blind and waste your money on frivolous programs that don't work. Dead or alive, they keep the loot and spend it however they want.

When the government stifles your right to do what you want to with your body (as long as no physical harm is done to another), you no longer own your choices. If you no longer own the freedom to choose what to do with your health and well-being, you are a slave. Slavery never finds its forced participants in good health or suitable living conditions. And yet the government wants you to believe that it knows what is best for you because you can't be trusted to take care of yourself. Think good and hard about why Medicare is enforced. It isn't really about taking care of those who are deemed incapable of doing so themselves. It dishonors individual choice and accountability and does not allow people to reap what they sow. If someone saves money and takes care of themselves during their lifetime, ideally, they should be able to take care of themselves during the end of their lives. On the other hand, if others make bad choices and don't save for the future, they are left out in the cold. A truly self-sufficient nation would not need government hand-outs to rescue these people. They could rely on charity, a kind neighbor, or a family member to help them with all of the extra wealth accumulated from tax deductions that once supported Medicare.

It is not Government's responsibility to save the down-trodden or the irresponsible. In fact, the Government cannot do so because it always relies on force. Force cannot rescue or save anyone and it sure won't heal the sick. The sooner we dissolve Government waste, the sooner we are free to get what we need on our own strength. When we serve ourselves, we become more responsible. When we are responsible for our lives, we are less reliant on others. When we are less reliant on others, we take ownership for our well-being. When we take ownership for our well-being, we live by our own choices. When we live by our own choices, Government is no longer the necessity we once thought it was. If we are free to take care of ourselves with our own wealth and production, we are free to take care of ourselves and even Grandma, regardless of what runs her over.