Didn't the organizing principle of government or bureaucracies arise from the desire to live more comfortably, as opposed to living as a hunter gatherer?
We formed a government in order to take care of the things individuals can't provide for themselves. National defense, courts, not provide healthcare and retirement funds. They had health care and people retired when the Constitution was written. If the Founders really believed that was the proper role of government they would have said so in the Constitution.
Retirement is a relatively new concept that did not exist in the 1700s outside of a select few. That's not to say that SS is solving all our woes, but to pretend that Americans retired comfortably before the advent of SS is just patently false.
As for healthcare, it's become pretty clear that the free market is unable to provide sufficient care to a large segment of the population, be it due to poverty or preexisting conditions. If you're okay with that then go make that argument, but I think most people recognize that the government must play some role to correct the deficiencies of the market.
But people did get old, they did get sick and they did die. The very same certainties of life that exist today, existed back then.
Didn't the organizing principle of government or bureaucracies arise from the desire to live more comfortably, as opposed to living as a hunter gatherer?
We formed a government in order to take care of the things individuals can't provide for themselves. National defense, courts, not provide healthcare and retirement funds. They had health care and people retired when the Constitution was written. If the Founders really believed that was the proper role of government they would have said so in the Constitution.
Retirement is a relatively new concept that did not exist in the 1700s outside of a select few. That's not to say that SS is solving all our woes, but to pretend that Americans retired comfortably before the advent of SS is just patently false.
As for healthcare, it's become pretty clear that the free market is unable to provide sufficient care to a large segment of the population, be it due to poverty or preexisting conditions. If you're okay with that then go make that argument, but I think most people recognize that the government must play some role to correct the deficiencies of the market.
Can we please lay off the strawman's asswhole for just one day? I never claimed that people retired comfortably back in the 1700s. But people did get old, they did get sick and they did die. The very same certainties of life that exist today, existed back then and the Founders didn't believe that the Federal government had any role in ameliorating those certainties.
Our current healthcare system is about as far as you can get from a free market so it's not really fair to say it isn't able to provide sufficient care to a large segment of the population.
You're splitting hairs. Retirement was not a phenomenon at the time of the constitution that's the point. You can still disagree with SS and simultaneously recognize that fact.
As for healthcare, if you have any ideas that more closely resemble a free market then I'm all ears.
Didn't the organizing principle of government or bureaucracies arise from the desire to live more comfortably, as opposed to living as a hunter gatherer?
We formed a government in order to take care of the things individuals can't provide for themselves. National defense, courts, not provide healthcare and retirement funds. They had health care and people retired when the Constitution was written. If the Founders really believed that was the proper role of government they would have said so in the Constitution.
Retirement is a relatively new concept that did not exist in the 1700s outside of a select few. That's not to say that SS is solving all our woes, but to pretend that Americans retired comfortably before the advent of SS is just patently false.
As for healthcare, it's become pretty clear that the free market is unable to provide sufficient care to a large segment of the population, be it due to poverty or preexisting conditions. If you're okay with that then go make that argument, but I think most people recognize that the government must play some role to correct the deficiencies of the market.
Can we please lay off the strawman's asswhole for just one day? I never claimed that people retired comfortably back in the 1700s. But people did get old, they did get sick and they did die. The very same certainties of life that exist today, existed back then and the Founders didn't believe that the Federal government had any role in ameliorating those certainties.
Our current healthcare system is about as far as you can get from a free market so it's not really fair to say it isn't able to provide sufficient care to a large segment of the population.
You're splitting hairs. Retirement was not a phenomenon at the time of the constitution that's the point. You can still disagree with SS and simultaneously recognize that fact.
As for healthcare, if you have any ideas that more closely resemble a free market then I'm all ears.
Stated them here just a few weeks back.
Make everyone contribute to a medical savings account or some similar vehicle when the first start working. Everything put into that account is pre-tax money that can only be used for healthcare. Let people invest and save that money just like they do with a 401K. Those are the funds you use to pay for your day to day healthcare costs. Get a cold feel like you need to see a doctor, break your arm feel like you need to see a doctor pay for it with the money you've saved in that account. Offer high deductible catastrophic health insurance coverage for everything else. Let people know that every dollar left in their account at the end of their life can be used as an asset to give to their heirs.
Give people an incentive to shop around for lower healthcare prices and eliminate 3rd party payers for all but the most catastrophic healthcare expenses. Currently there is no incentive for most people to shop around and it's damn near impossible to find out how much things cost unless you offer to pay in cash.
Didn't the organizing principle of government or bureaucracies arise from the desire to live more comfortably, as opposed to living as a hunter gatherer?
We formed a government in order to take care of the things individuals can't provide for themselves. National defense, courts, not provide healthcare and retirement funds. They had health care and people retired when the Constitution was written. If the Founders really believed that was the proper role of government they would have said so in the Constitution.
Retirement is a relatively new concept that did not exist in the 1700s outside of a select few. That's not to say that SS is solving all our woes, but to pretend that Americans retired comfortably before the advent of SS is just patently false.
As for healthcare, it's become pretty clear that the free market is unable to provide sufficient care to a large segment of the population, be it due to poverty or preexisting conditions. If you're okay with that then go make that argument, but I think most people recognize that the government must play some role to correct the deficiencies of the market.
Can we please lay off the strawman's asswhole for just one day? I never claimed that people retired comfortably back in the 1700s. But people did get old, they did get sick and they did die. The very same certainties of life that exist today, existed back then and the Founders didn't believe that the Federal government had any role in ameliorating those certainties.
Our current healthcare system is about as far as you can get from a free market so it's not really fair to say it isn't able to provide sufficient care to a large segment of the population.
You're splitting hairs. Retirement was not a phenomenon at the time of the constitution that's the point. You can still disagree with SS and simultaneously recognize that fact.
As for healthcare, if you have any ideas that more closely resemble a free market then I'm all ears.
Stated them here just a few weeks back.
Make everyone contribute to a medical savings account or some similar vehicle when the first start working. Everything put into that account is pre-tax money that can only be used for healthcare. Let people invest and save that money just like they do with a 401K. Those are the funds you use to pay for your day to day healthcare costs. Get a cold feel like you need to see a doctor, break your arm feel like you need to see a doctor pay for it with the money you've saved in that account. Offer high deductible catastrophic health insurance coverage for everything else. Let people know that every dollar left in their account at the end of their life can be used as an asset to give to their heirs.
Give people an incentive to shop around for lower healthcare prices and eliminate 3rd party payers for all but the most catastrophic healthcare expenses. Currently there is no incentive for most people to shop around and it's damn near impossible to find out how much things cost unless you offer to pay in cash.
I agree with almost everything you've said. Restricting insurance to non-routine medical procedures is a huge step, and it creates a free market for routine medical visits that should be paid for ala carte. Like any major overhaul though, similar to the Medicare 4 All proposals, effectively eliminating the insurance industry is a nearly impossible task. However we are seeing small markets pop up where clinics are offering medical services for reasonable fixed prices without using insurance. Perhaps those can organically grow enough to weaken the power the insurance lobby has.
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See: @RaceBannon
As for healthcare, if you have any ideas that more closely resemble a free market then I'm all ears.
Make everyone contribute to a medical savings account or some similar vehicle when the first start working. Everything put into that account is pre-tax money that can only be used for healthcare. Let people invest and save that money just like they do with a 401K. Those are the funds you use to pay for your day to day healthcare costs. Get a cold feel like you need to see a doctor, break your arm feel like you need to see a doctor pay for it with the money you've saved in that account. Offer high deductible catastrophic health insurance coverage for everything else. Let people know that every dollar left in their account at the end of their life can be used as an asset to give to their heirs.
Give people an incentive to shop around for lower healthcare prices and eliminate 3rd party payers for all but the most catastrophic healthcare expenses. Currently there is no incentive for most people to shop around and it's damn near impossible to find out how much things cost unless you offer to pay in cash.