Socialized medicine in U.S. is inevitable!

Perhaps it has already occurred to you that Social Security isn't exactly one of the grandest schemes ever devised by public servants. Maybe you've also come to the realization that our system of government-owned and union-operated indoctrination centers known as "public schools" are doing a less-than-excellent job educating our children. You might even understand that this Medicare prescription program that seems to be the political rage right now will eventually become an uncontrollable $100-billion-a-year nightmare.

Believe me, you ain't seen nuthin' yet.

Brace yourselves my friends, for it's time for a nasty dose of reality. Socialized medicine is inevitable in the United States. It's coming fast, and it's unstoppable. There's a perfect health-care storm brewing just over the horizon comprised of two converging fronts. This storm is going to destroy what's left of competitive influences in American health care and, eventually, the system itself.

On the one hand, we have an onrushing public front which overwhelmingly believes Americans are entitled to medical care – that medical care is a basic right that they should neither have to pay for nor be denied. We also have an extremely dangerous political front made up of thousands of politicians and bureaucrats who are collectively approaching a level-5 (as measured on the FDR scale) state of terminal drooling over the possibility of having the entire population of this nation by their medicinal short hairs.

Logic cannot support the premise that health care is a right. Health care is a service that is administered by another human being with the requisite skills and knowledge. To claim that health care as a "right" is to claim a right to the services of the health-care provider. In effect, this means you are claiming a "right" to a portion of that person's life – both a portion of the time already spent developing his skills, and a portion of the time spent practicing those skills on you.

Only through a mutual agreement, a contract, can one person claim a right to a portion of another person's life. Anything beyond that is either charity or slavery.

But, as I said, its coming. Socialized medicine is the future of health care in the United States, and many of you couldn't be happier.

Forgive me while I proceed to attempt to burst your little health-care-utopia bubble. There have been a few stories in the media over the past few weeks that you might find a bit interesting.

A few weeks ago, the Telegraph of London had a rather interesting story about major surgery under Britain's National Health Service as compared to the current system in America. It seems that a patient is four times more likely to go on to the eternal celestial dirt nap after undergoing major surgery in Great Britain than in the United States. This study was conducted by University College in London and Columbia University in New York and followed 1,000 patients undergoing similar surgeries. One of the researchers explained the results of the study by pointing out the higher quality of post-operative care in the United States.

I guess the Brits should quit complaining about this disparity, shouldn't they? After all, it's not like they're paying for their operations over there, is it? I guess you get what you pay for.

Another lovely little look into our socialized-medicine future comes by way of a Sept. 13, 2003 New York Times article. Times reporter Gina Kolata finds that visits to doctors offices have become a regular daily part of the social life of certain wizened citizens in Boca Raton, Fla. Kolata writes: "Many patients have 8, 10 or 12 specialists and visit one or more of them most days of the week." She adds: "They bring their spouses and plan their days around their appointments, going out to eat or shopping while they are in the area.

Boca doctors report that there is "no apparent medical benefit" from these daily or weekly visits. Kolata reports that researchers agree that this is "... a case study of what happens when people are given free rein to have all the medical care they could imagine."

There's our future, my friends. You want your "right" to health care, and the politicians want their "right" to your vote. They'll end up giving you what you think you want, and then, during every election cycle, they'll frighten you by telling you that their election opponent wants to take it all away again. In the meantime, you'll stand in line waiting for the Boca matrons to finish their socializing so you can get your turn with your government-employed doctor.

Question: When the post-surgical fatality rate in the United States starts to go up under the auspices of government medical care, where are you going to go for that surgery? Canada? You'll die waiting.