Quote:
Originally Posted by Kosst Amojan
I've been healthy my whole life, worst thing I've ever had was strep throat when I was nine. Why should I be forced to pay for other peoples health care? If I do get sick, I have insurance and I can pay the rest or get a loan for it. If someone I care about gets sick, I can help them out IF I WANT TO.
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Because their health is of concern to you, and vice versa, unless you live entirely isolated from other human beings (in which case, you don't need to pay taxes at all).
Because the health of others is what provides you with roads to drive on and clients to work for and movies to watch on the weekends. All those people are working to benefit you--you can pay into their health care the same way they pay into your enjoyment and convenience of life.
Yes, they get paid for doing those jobs. But they can't do them at all if they're not healthy, and if they're not paid enough to manage their health (and the health of their children), then those jobs don't get done. That's a big part of why we have strikes, and why epidemics are treated seriously.
There's also an element of basic human compassion involved. Pay-for-yourself healthcare boils down to "poor children die a lot more than rich children." And I find that it's usually Libertarians and the occasional Randite who can throw that off with, "well, tough luck; life isn't fair; I'm not paying for someone else's mistakes."