The nature of the current debate surrounding the implementation of universal healthcare in America is troubling because it is comprised almost entirely of pragmatic arguments void of concern for the principles behind the project. Before one asks how much a thing will cost, how it will be organized, or whether “the uninsured” will benefit, one should ask whether enacting universal healthcare is in keeping with the values and principles of the American experiment. In other words, is universal healthcare good for America? Universal healthcare is not good for America. In America, universal healthcare would undermine principles important to the functioning of society; specifically, it would undermine individual liberty, free enterprise and free …show more content…
Though intended to provide medical coverage to its citizens and therefore protect their lives, universal healthcare would make the government an active agent in deciding when to end patients’ lives. End of life issues are an inextricable part of medical practice, whether they are related to elderly care, life-altering diseases, or controversial issues such as abortion or euthanasia. Instead of making a principled defense of its citizens’ right to life, universal healthcare would force the government to make pragmatic, cost based decisions regarding the perseveration of life. One can already see evidence for this in current debates about the cost of medical care for the elderly and serious discussions in the halls of congress about the economic value of euthanasia and abortion. Such debates ought to act as a warning for all regarding the means by which life will be measured and valued in a system of universal healthcare. Instead of defending one’s right to live, government would decide if one ought to live. And even if universal healthcare permits one to live, that one would find himself living in a less free and entrepreneurial society; a society that is supposedly good for everyone