Monday, October 05, 2009

A Little Story About "Free" Health Care

For all those people who believe in government funded, universal health care, here's a little story that shows what's wrong with that idea.

Several years ago I worked at a fast food restaurant. One day one of my co-workers complained of having a headache. Trying to be nice, I offered her a couple of the Advil tablets I always carried with me. She happily took them and soon felt better. A few days later another co-worker had some sort of pain and asked me for some Advil. Trying to be nice again, I said sure. He took them, his pain went away, and all was right with the world. Then, a few days later this scenario repeated itself. My co-worker took the Advil, his pain left, but all wasn't right with the world that time.

After it became known that I was the girl with the meds, every day somebody had a ache or a pain and came to me for relief. I became a provider of free "health care" for my co-workers. Free, that is, to them. It was costing ME money. I had to put a stop to it, and I closed the free drug store. No more Advil, I told my co-workers. From now on they had to buy their own, just like I did.

Do you see the lesson in this little story? Something that started out as a friendly gesture quickly turned into an entitlement. Nice people, my co-workers, developed the bad attitude of what I call "expectant ingratitude". Expectant ingratitude is when people expect to be given stuff and then are ungrateful for it because they believe they're entitled to it. They care nothing about the effort and expense involved in providing that stuff for them because they're not involved in said effort and expense. They're only involved in getting "free" stuff. That's what happened to my co-workers; not one of them offered to help me pay for all that Advil. That's why the Advil faucet got shut off.

Expectant ingratitude is what will happen on a national scale with universal, government funded health care. People will liberally and carelessly use things they have no personal stake in. "Free" health care will become an entitlement we simply can't afford, but the country won't be able to shut off the faucet as easily as I did. It will bankrupt the country. That can be avoided, but only if we heed the lessons of human nature...and this little story about "free" health care.

12 comments:

Skunkfeathers said...

All of the liberal hellthcare 'proposals' in the pipeline right now -- the Republicans don't have one, because Bela Pelosi won't allow any of their amendments or plans to see the light of floor debate, just as her sleazy Senate counterpart is prepared to blockade on the Senate side -- have all kinds of dishonesty and disingenuous traps and triggers in them, with attempts to cleverly word them so the more worried about getting re-elected libs can have deniability to something they bloody well know is in there (higher taxes, rationing, gradual undercutting of the private sector insurance companies to force a single-payer government plan, money for abortions and illegal aliens).

And it was very revealing that many on the lib side could be summed up as one HuffPo wench went public with, during the tempestuous town hall debates of August: "it isn't necessary for them to know what's in the bill; it's only important that we pass it". Jane's kind of marxism explained in a sentence.

But the most revealing thing about this hellthcare being pushed by Barry -- and a lot of people are only now picking up on this -- is that he wants his plan to take effect in 2013.

Why the delay, if it's so important to pass this year?

Because...Barry knows the real objectives here (and he's lied about each and every one of them), and knows that if the American public awakens to this marxist monster before he can get re-elected in 2012, he won't get re-elected.

Game, set, match.

Jane will be having a cow over this comment, but the truth of it stands without her pantycramps of denial that are sure to come.

Jane said...

Right, because all the European nations, Canada, and Australia are going bankrupt.

You don't seem to care about money when its being siphoned off in the 100s of billions for a war that should have never been in the first place.

Skunky, please don't attach things to my name that I've never said, its dishonest and scummy.

Also, stop using words like marxism so liberally it shows off your abundant ignorance.

SA, your story hardly applies to the current debate on the Health Bill because countries with Universal Health Systems spend less than we do on health care.

And I'm sorry I am not as heartless as you when it comes to the 47 million people in this country without healthcare.

BTW, you didn't seem to have anything wrong with asking for money when it came to YOUR needs but when it comes to someone else...

Hypocrite.

Jane said...

Oh and Skunky, you can look whats up in the bill here http://www.healthreform.gov/

That should be a little more helpful than the dishonest Faux news pundits and Conservative politicans.

Your comment is riddled with paranoia and fear mongering, not to mention outright lies.

Skunkfeathers said...

Janeycakes, I know you from your plethora of denigrating and dishonest comments here, so I can attach what I reckon you'll say, 'cuz sure as can be, you'll show up and say it, after denying you'll say it. You're just like your fauxmessiah in that regard: say one thing in public, say something else in private.

HR 3200 is full of socialist/marxism, sorry that upsets you to hear. The truth sucks for your liberal ears, but it is what it is.

You even use the dishonest and inaccurate numbers of people without your idea of forced hellthcare that the Daily Kos, HuffPo, and DNC continue spew via the worst example of media in existence, MSNBC.

Your lies and your faux compassion is part of the great fraud that is your ideology, Jane. So it's easy to put words in your mouth; you continue to spew them with the same venom you have always spewed them with.

Europe's economy and hellthcare systems are, with perhaps one exception, staggering to a fall, and they are seeking private sector options to fix their socialist/marxist systems, because as is proven time and again in history, socialist/marxist philosophy is broken, corrupt, inept, and ultimately unworkable, as it violates the true human spirit of freedom, achievement and competition. Things you will forever fail to understand, it appears.

Have a nice day, Janeycakes.

Skunkfeathers said...

Oh, I apologize, Janeycakes...I forgot to close out my comments with a proper *bow* to your hellthcare Messiah, Barry HUSSEIN Soetero Obama...mmmmmm mmmmmm mmmmm

Anonymous said...

Free healthcare....Don't you live with your mother? Have'nt you built a life off mooching off others. You have stated you are overweight. Have you been checked out lately? If you have a stroke or heart attack...do you have insurance? Or you a JPS hog? I worked with you at Braums and I don't remember any Advil incident. I do remember you using people for money and everything else you could get from people. I also remember how happy we all were when they fired your ass. Where are you mooching now Dwana? I thought this was you when I first read your blog. Who else is this retarted?


Chocolate Kisses

Adam Lee said...

Sure that is a nice story but it doesn't reverse the fact that the government in the US spends more per person on health care and health care related programs than Canada or the UK do, and they have full fledged public health care!

I agree public health care is not the solution, but what we have now is already grown to be a sprawling unofficial public health care system.

There are definitely problems with corporate health care, as in this system hospitals and medical companies are looking for quick profits to please their investors. There needs to be change and hopefully Obama can consolidate the costs into an effective way to treat sick people while saving resources from other wasteful programs...

Adam Lee said...

by the way i am ashamed you are using the 'speak softly and carry a large stick' quote on your blog. It brings us back to the dark period of American history, almost as dark as the Indian holocaust.

Roadhouse said...

Jane,
Are you still using the 47 million un-insured statistic? REALLY? That was debunked back when Kerry tried to use it.
Even Obama toned it down last month with his revised 35 million number.
After you discount illegal immigrants, those between jobs, the self insured, and those who simply choose not to buy insurance, the number dwindels to twenty million or less.

But even if the fictitious 47 million were a real number, that still does not give the government the authority or right to take control of a private enterprize such as the health care industry.
It is the polar opposite of everything our founding fathers ever wrote in any and or all of our founding documents.

Roadhouse said...

Adam Lee,
The quote; "Speak softly and carry a big stick" is an old West African proverb made famous by President Theodore Roosevelt.

It means to make every effort to live in peace with others, but make it known that you have the ability to defend yourself if necessary. That way, your enemies are less likely to take advantage of you, but you still hold the moral high ground. This philosophy is as old as mankind, but somehow has escaped passed Obama by.

Seane-Anna said...

Anonymous, why do you keep coming back here if I'm so "retarted"? Go flip some burgers.

And Jane, there are NOT 47 million people in America without health care. There are about 35 million Americans who, for various reasons, are without health INSURANCE, not health care. That bogus 47 million number is arrived at by including the 12 million illegal aliens in the count. Of course, they don't belong in the discussion. Now on to other countries.

Health care costs may be lower in some other countries but that's due, at least in part, to rationing, Jane.

Health care costs will probably be lower if people have to wait weeks or months to get certain types of care. Health care cost will also probably be lower if the government can decide what kinds of medical care will be available. But that might also mean you won't get the best possible treatment for your injury or disease...unless you also have private insurance. 90% of the French have private insurance to cover what their "model" government health system won't.

Private health insurance has its problems, but so does government health care. Portraying government health care as a panacea is just dishonest. If liberals want a civil debate on this issue, as they claim, they should start by telling the truth.

Seane-Anna said...

And Roadie, thanks for informing Adam on the meaning of "Speak softly and carry a big stick".