Quote:
Originally Posted by Patricia
I believe this is due to a strong preference in the U.S. for negative liberty (freedom from interference by an outside body) -- a feeling that people should be left free from government interference. So they should be left free to choose their own heathcare etc.
Meanwhile, in Europe, we have a strong feeling for positive liberty (freedom to be able to do things) so have allow governments to provide healthcare etc, so that citizens are in a position to maximise their options. (Your choices are very limited if you're chronically ill.)
The founding fathers of the USA had read their Locke (Two Treatises of Government) and believed that the state should only play the smallest role in individuals' lives. It should be a "night watchman" and see that life, liberty and property are defended. But going beyond that is an infringement of individuals' rights. Hence, in the 1970s, Robert Nozick argued that taxation for welfare purposes was slavery: the citizen was spending hours working for the government, not for him/herself.
Personally, I can't really understand the U.S. position. The richest country in the world seems to allow millions of its citizens to be without easy access to healthcare.
And it is (to me) an inconsistent position. The state provides free schooling, rather than leaving it entirely to individual families to buy an education for their children. If it allows free schooling, then why not free healthcare? In both cases people could choose whether to opt in or out--just as they can in Europe.
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Well put. And it's my general feeling as well. What I have trouble understanding is that the sentiment against anything government run seems to run in the very veins of (a lot of) americans. And it's just outlandish that everything that is just a slight regulation of free market is judged as being socialistic or communistic.