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Insurance and Socialism
By Paul | October 18, 2009
I have a number of friends who are all up in arms over our inevitable slide into socialism just because we are trying to make healthcare more accessible and that got me thinking about definitions and the power of words. Important note, a number of these folks are in insurance and have enjoyed considerable success.
The verbiage we hear tossed about are communism, socialism, and free-market capitalism.
Free-market capitalism — that is what America has for a system. In this system each person is responsible for their own future. You work hard, you make yourself valuable causing others to pay you fairly for your efforts. It’s a great system, and the heart of America’s economy. It does however presuppose a somewhat level playing field and a stable set of rules.
Socialism — a group of people has banded together and accepted a common goal of everyone’s needs being met. Defining needs and how extensive is a problem but in it’s simplest for, everyone tosses the money in a pot, needs are met, and the assumption is everyone works hard to keep the system sustainable.
Communism — Socialism with some seriously negative social controls inserted and some terrible restrictions on what members can and cannot believe, religion for example. I only mention that here because some folks seem to want to equate socialism and communism and while they may have some similarities, I don’t think they are synonymous.
Socialism, not a system I want but in a perfect-world scenario, I think it could be awful attractive. People working together, when you are up and your neighbor struggles, helping them out without the complexities and indignity of them having to ask and knowing if you fall on hard times, the same will be done for you. Problem is how do you deal with laziness and how do you make the system sustainable.
I got to thinking about it and as I work things through I simplify the details to get to the nut of the conversation, stripping away the distractions.
No let me see if I have this right.
– You join a group
– You add funds to a common resource (savings account, mason jar, something)
– If you have a need, you can approach the group, which you have joined, share your need, and the collective organization assists.
HMMM, let me try this again!
– I take out a policy
– I pay my premiums
– If I file a claim the organization assists.
Insurance is socialism, admittedly on a very basic level but it works on a system with some similarities. Now I can hear the first argument now, insurance is voluntary, you are not forced into the group but intellectually, the question has to be asked, if that model can work in a specific instance, why can’t we have a civil conversation about tweaking that model so that everyone in our country has healthcare.
Topics: Cleveland, Ohio, Dallas, Texas, Political, social healthcare | No Comments »
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