Each man's interests are expressed by his values, his desires, his goals and their actual achievement. The rational man's values depend on the judgment of his mind. He is guided by his thinking and not his feelings or desires.
The man who chooses not to use his mind makes decisions based on feelings, emotions or whim which is illogical and/or irrational. He may desire an achievement but the mere fact that a man desires something does not constitute proof that the object of his desire is good.
The President urged Congress to pass health care reform before the August recess. What is the Administration's rush to reform health care? Is there a crisis? How did we arrive at this moment? What is our understanding of the predicament? Can we lift ourselves out of it? What must be done to recover from the "crisis"?
During World War II, government-controlled employer-based health insurance coercively imposed costs on others not the individual user. Medicare and Medicaid were enacted in 1965 and did the same thing. Thus government shifted costs from the individual user onto others that led to an explosion in spending. This inflated demand sent expenditures soaring, which led to more government controls, cuts to benefits and more government imposed regulation. Today, half of all spending on health care is by the government yet government "reforms" only expand government intervention. The Administration calls for massive government intervention, evading the government's manipulation of the free market that caused the "crisis".
How did government-controlled employer-based health insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid affect the budget and national debt? Was decision making distorted because of government intervention. Was it the primary cause? Did government encourage the less competent and more reckless at the expense of the competent? A genuine explanation of the health care "crisis" must take into account all of the facts. Have we heard the President say that government manipulation of the health care industry had any role in the present "crisis"? Entertaining such questions is not on the President's agenda because the fundamental idea of taking government out of health care prevents future manipulation. The analyst, Alex Epstein said, "The Administration does not seek a genuine understanding. The wisdom and necessity of government intervention is self- evident to them. Regardless of the evidence, the "crisis" can only be solved by government". By proposing government take-over of the health care industry ignores that this industry is among the most heavily regulated. Thus the Administration's only motive is to elevate a non-value in order to nullify a real value – capitalism.
The solution to the "crisis" is that government has to be phased out of health care. A free market in medical care has to be restored. Yaron Brook, Executive Director of the ARC for Individual Rights said, "The power of capitalism has to be unleashed in the medical industry. Competition motivated by profit to provide the best quality of services at the lowest prices would drive innovation and brings affordable medical care into the reach of all Americans".
While the President has not sought a real explanation of today's health care "crisis", Americans should. We should understand how free market capitalism works. If we do not, then we are condemned to the Administration's "solutions" – that is government debt, recently cited as $12.8 trillion and growing by billions daily, government controls and government decisions on individual health care. Alternative free market explanations for the "crisis" exist, ones that consider the inconvenient facts the administration ignores. Rational men should take time to understand the facts and exercise their right to discuss them.
