Drugs, i.e. Dope: Part II

My government has a responsibility to protect me from people who would try to use government to:

>shield me from the consequences of my actions;
>force the dictates of their “commanded moral code” on me;
>demand any sacrifice of me to shield them from the consequences of their actions;
>tax my productivity so that my wealth may be redistributed;
>tell me what consenting adult I may sleep with;
>tell me what I can read or view;
>tell me what I can put into my body;
>force me to acknowledge their God.

People who call for “universal health care” appeal to needy citizens who see an opportunity to relieve themselves the burden of having to provide for their own health care. Because of government intervention in all aspects of the health industry, the cost of health care has skyrocketed over the past few decades. Economic liberals blame this phenomenon on capitalism, corporate America, greed…failing utterly to identify the problem: politicians in bed with the political entrepreneurs of the health industry. The problem is not free markets, but rather, the subjugation of free markets to K Street political patronage, cronyism, neomercantilism. Rather than advocating the extraction of political influence from the economy, economic liberals advocate a complete take-over of health industries by government.

Politicians and their patrons, powerful lobbyists, political influence peddlers, they claim, poison the health industry: Their solution? More poison. Hand over the entire health industry to the politicians. This is insane.

Putting aside for now the economic injustice of socialist health care schemes, there are some sinister side effects to placing our health choices in the hands of government officials that, I think, few people have even begun to consider. There are costs associated with universal health care that have nothing to do with "progressive" taxes or rationed health care services. The greatest cost is the loss of the right of individuals to choose their own life-style.

A universal health care system hands over to government the moral authority to determine what we put into our bodies…not a great leap from where we are today, where government claims the power to criminalize certain substances in the name of what’s good for us, where government claims the right to sample our bodily fluids [a clear violation of the 5th Amendment protection against self-incrimination], and where just last year Metro Nashville Public Schools issued a mandate:

“It is the duty of each local education agency to integrate a minimum of ninety (90) minutes of physical activity per week into the instructional school day for elementary and secondary school students. Opportunities to engage in physical activity may include walking, jumping rope, playing volleyball, or other physical activities that promote fitness and well-being” (TCA-PC 1001).

If government is covering the cost of your health care, then government has the power to determine your diet. They’ll begin as they have already in a few deep, blue communities in California and New York. They’ll ban smoking….first indoors and then out of doors. [Now, even tobacco states like Tennessee have legislated smoking bans.] Next, they’ll ban trans fats and begin to move against fast food restaurants. In time they will justify the authority to mandate exercise even for adults. “We’re paying for your health care. According to the Surgeon General, the best preventative medicine is healthy diet and exercise.” This decree will be followed by a long list of banned consumables: dope, tobacco, trans fat, whole milk, greasy burgers, ice cream…And the list will certainly grow.

I expect We the People will begin to acknowledge the monster we’re creating when the Health Police snap on the anklet to monitor our daily exercise.