Angry Doctor

Friday, March 19, 2010

'Right' to healthcare

"One of the misconceptions of rights today is that man has a ‘right to a job’, a ‘right to health care’, a ‘right to education’, a ‘right to a house’ – that man has a ‘right’ to things simply because he claims he needs or wants them.

The sanction of such alleged ‘rights’ is the first step toward the destruction of rights. If man has ‘rights’ to health care, to education, to a house, then the appropriate questions to be asked next are: Who is to provide them? And at whose expense?

Jobs, health care, education and houses are not products of nature, nor can they be products of government – because by the nature of government, it cannot be a corporation and a producer – but the products of the men who produced them.

If a man is entitled by ‘right’ to the products of others, it means that those others are deprived of their rights to earn and keep their own property and their rights to sell to whomever they choose. If a man is entitled by ‘right’ to the products of others, those others are essentially condemned to slave labor. A ‘right’ that violates the rights of others is a contradiction in terms. No such ‘rights’ can exist."

- Ho Say Peng

6 Comments:

  • The only reason I liked Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead was because it made this point very clearly in a wonderfully theatrical way.

    If I've read my political philosophy materials correctly, the right to one's own property is part of the pol philo known as libertarianism. Which has its other flaws.

    By Blogger SM, At March 20, 2010 11:18 am  

  • When you come right down to it, to be able to claim that you have produced something without anyone else's effort, you would have to create the universe from scratch.

    But in day-to-day dealings, the concept of what is yours and what is not is more clear-cut.

    And I think Ayn Rand is a good writer - unfortunately she lets her philosophy get in the way of her story-telling.

    By Blogger angry doc, At March 20, 2010 2:13 pm  

  • perhaps something closer to home. Don't you think these days, everyone seems to have the notion they have the "right to complain"?

    That perhaps is the first step towards destruction.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At March 22, 2010 1:07 am  

  • I don't see anything wrong with the right to complain. More importantly, I think not having the right to complain will be a worse situation.

    The problem, as I see it, is when people equate their right to complain to them being right.

    By Blogger angry doc, At March 23, 2010 8:04 pm  

  • This is Hannah Bevills, I am an editor with Hospital.com. We are a medical publication whose focus is geared towards promoting awareness on hospitals, including information, news, and reviews on them. Given the relevance of what you are offering from your site and what our mission is, I feel we may be able to collaborate in some way or another, I look forward to your response regarding the matter. Thanks!

    Hannah Bevills
    hannah.bevills@gmail.com
    Hospital.com

    By Blogger Unknown, At May 13, 2010 12:29 am  

  • We have this conversation at work all the time. Is healthcare a right or a privalege? Perhaps it's something else though? It's a need for sure and those with money usually get more of it and a better selection.

    I never have the answer in our debates, but it is a tough nut to crack. You make a good point yourself because ultimately, you have to provide the service without compensation or you have to pay for the gov. to provide your compensation.

    I'm sure this won't be answered in our lifetime.

    By Anonymous stop smoking help, At August 13, 2010 10:31 pm  

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