Finally, Meteor Blade's diary
Rationing Health Care: An Overdue Discussion has sparked the debate that should have been taking place in this country at least since Reagan's time.
More below the fold
Meteor's rant has generated a great many responses that admit that there are things that a business simply should not be allowed to do.
There are things more important than money, and when dealing with those issues, a profit and loss model is not only grossly inefficient, it is grossly inappropriate.
I know that current economic theory claims that there are no such things as assets that cannot be assigned a dollar value, but that is bunk.
In his Diary the issue is specifically healthcare, but I think there are many, many other areas, that are the same. Namely that they are so divorced from monetary concerns, and so important to keep society functioning that to allow them to be driven by profit and loss is an abomination.
Now, the communists are just as wrong, and for some things, a business model IS the most efficient way to handle so issues. But this liaise-faire, market based anything goes capitalism is going to destroy our socity, if it has not already.
The short list as I see it, of things that bussines has no bussiness doing includes
Public education,
Defense,
Civilian law enforcement, and this CRITICALLY includes incarceration and other forms of punishment and rehabilitation.
Public health,
Interstate commerce REGULATION, and
International trade agreements and treaties.
The use of Public rite-of-ways, and other shared property. (public airwaves, at least under tight regulation, National parks, forests, and wildernesses, public roadways, etc.)
Sanitation, and other critical utilities. (power, water, arguably phone and internet.) Almost by definition, a utility that has to lay out huge capital expenses to reach homes and businesses is a monopoly. There is no other method that works, even though we have tried AND FAILED at a number of deregulation shell games.
The air traffic control system, including security.
I am sure others can add to my list, and I know full well that some will argue with what I have already listed, but we MUST have this debate, and we must have it nationwide. I wish it could have been a topic during the election cycle, but as President Kerry goes about fixing all that the republicans have broken, we had better have this debate loud and long and clear across the entire nation. Our survival in a world that is qyuickly leaving us behind could well depend on it.
A "free market, capitalist" society is as dead as fascism, and communism, and the quicker we dig ourselves out of this fantasy, and rejoin the world, the stronger our place as leader going into the future will be.
Mr Tek.