Utopia Versus Freedom

"Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom." We have heard that many
times. What is also the price of freedom is the toleration of
imperfections. If everything that is wrong with the world becomes a
reason to turn more power over to some political savior, then freedom
is going to erode away, while we are mindlessly repeating the
catchwords of the hour, whether "change," "universal health care" or
"social justice."

If we can be so easily stampeded by rhetoric that neither the public
nor the Congress can be bothered to read, much less analyze, bills
making massive changes in medical care, then do not be surprised when
life and death decisions about you or your family are taken out of
your hands-- and out of the hands of your doctor-- and transferred to
bureaucrats in Washington.

Let's go back to square one. The universe was not made to our
specifications. Nor were human beings. So there is nothing surprising
in the fact that we are dissatisfied with many things at many times.
The big question is whether we are prepared to follow any politician
who claims to be able to "solve" our "problem."

If we are, then there will be a never ending series of "solutions,"
each causing new problems calling for still more "solutions." That way
lies a never-ending quest, costing ever increasing amounts of the
taxpayers' money and-- more important-- ever greater losses of your
freedom to live your own life as you see fit, rather than as
presumptuous elites dictate.

Ultimately, our choice is to give up Utopian quests or give up our
freedom. This has been recognized for centuries by some, but many
others have not yet faced that reality, even today. If you think
government should "do something" about anything that ticks you off, or
anything you want and don't have, then you have made your choice
between Utopia and freedom.

Back in the 18th century, Edmund Burke said, "It is no inconsiderable
part of wisdom, to know much of an evil ought to be tolerated" and "I
must bear with infirmities until they fester into crimes."

But today's crusading zealots are not about to tolerate evils or
infirmities. If insurance companies are not behaving the way some
people think they should, then their answer is to set up a government
bureaucracy to either control insurance companies or replace them.


If doctors, hospitals or pharmaceutical companies charge more than
some people feel like paying, then the answer is price control. The
actual track record of politicians, government bureaucracies, or price
control is of no interest to those who think this way.

Politicians are already one of the main reasons why medical insurance
is so expensive. Insurance is designed to cover risks but politicians
are in the business of distributing largesse. Nothing is easier for
politicians than to mandate things that insurance companies must
cover, without the slightest regard for how such additional coverage
will raise the cost of insurance.

If insurance covered only those things that most people are most
concerned about-- the high cost of a major medical expense-- the price
would be much lower than it is today, with politicians piling on
mandate after mandate.

Since insurance covers risks, there is no reason for it to cover
annual checkups, because it is known in advance that annual checkups
occur once a year. Automobile insurance does not cover oil changes,
much less the purchase of gasoline, since these are regular
recurrences, not risks.

But politicians in the business of distributing largesse-- especially
with somebody else's money-- cannot resist the temptation to pass laws
adding things to insurance coverage. Many of those who are pushing for
more government involvement in medical care are already talking about
extending insurance coverage to "mental health"-- which is to say,
giving shrinks and hypochondriacs a blank check drawn on the federal
treasury.

There are still some voices of sanity today, echoing what Edmund Burke
said long ago. "The study of human institutions is always a search for
the most tolerable imperfections," according to Prof. Richard Epstein
of the University of Chicago. If you cannot tolerate imperfections, be
prepared to kiss your freedom goodbye.

http://www.tsowell.com
http://townhall.com/Columnists/ThomasSowell/

Send your compliments to