Earlier this week I blogged in response to a blog from Bill Doherty (his real name is Bob but he called me Kevin). His challenge was “show me an example where market forces have lowered the price of health care and increased access.” My response was this. He then re-responded. He mocked my pining for the old days before Medicare, saying that life expectancies had increased by 17 years after Medicare was enacted. This logical error, wrongly connecting cause and effect, would disqualify “Bill” from a formal debate. There is a name for this error (post hoc ergo propter hoc, I think). This is like saying that mortality rates fell in my neighborhood once I moved in, therefore my presence here has helped the health of the homeowners. Or, alternatively, the General Motors bail out decreased unemployment, therefore bail outs are a great thing! Never mind the devastation done to the private sector by this robbery.
Watch this video of Thomas Sowell “owning” some smug kid between the 1 minute and 2 minute mark. Sowell fires back..”..compared to what?” That is the devastating question required in any discussion when an elitist know-it-all declares that some government program is a success. Who knows what the market might have created if left alone or if Medicare had never been enacted. Perhaps a better system that hasn’t bankrupted the country? Who knows. Who knows what might have been done with the money that was flushed down the General Motors commode other than give it to their union members. Remember this money was extracted from the private sector (you and me) because someone thought they knew better what to do with it than what you and I would do with it on our own. As Lew Rockwell has said, “you bought a Pontiac but didn’t take delivery of the car.” We will be paying into the bankrupt Medicare Ponzi scheme and not taking delivery of medical care as Canada-style rationing is imminent if major changes aren’t made.
“Bill” maintains that he is not a socialist. He believes in free markets that are properly regulated and adjusted by someone more knowledgeable and brilliant than the average consumer, probably some “disinterested” committee or group in D.C. Oh well. I would be more cordial except this is the type of fellow legislators in D.C. have been listening to and the topic is much too important to allow this socialist tripe any credibility at all.
G. Keith Smith, M.D.
