Rand Paul: 'Right to health care' is slavery

[aGameOfThrones]

A hearing of the Senate HELP Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging looked at emergency room use and took an odd turn Wednesday when Sen. Rand Paul compared the “right to health care” to slavery.

“With regard to the idea whether or not you have a right to health care you have to realize what that implies. I am a physician. You have a right to come to my house and conscript me. It means you believe in slavery. You are going to enslave not only me but the janitor at my hospital, the person who cleans my office, the assistants, the nurses. … You are basically saying you believe in slavery,” said Paul (R-Ky.), who is an ophthalmologist.

"Our founding documents said you have a right to pursue happiness, but there’s no guarantee about physical comfort. When you say you have a ‘right’ to something there is an implication of force. ... I will always treat people who come into the ER because that is what we always have done and because I believe in the Hippocratic Oath.”

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54769.html

[Vessol]

Woo! Go Rand!

[teacherone]

ohh man... the spin that will come out of this...

[aGameOfThrones]

ohh man... the spin that will come out of this...

Read the few comments.

[SWATH]

Well if getting free healthcare is a right I need to call the government and get my free guns too. I should also sue them for all the ones I had to pay for.

[jct74]

Awesome. This should be in Rand Paul forum though.

[TheNcredibleEgg]

Ok, it's silly to use the word slavery to describe this - and there will be negative backlash.

It's not slavery because he can still choose not to do it. Slavery implies no choice whatsoever - plus no fiscal compensation.

That being said - I'm not defending the govt. Just the poor use of word.

[Wesker1982]

It's not slavery because he can still choose not to do it. Slavery implies no choice whatsoever.

Just like a slave could choose to not work in the field etc. There is a choice, but its like saying when a mugger holds a gun to your head and says "give me your wallet", you can still choose not to give him your wallet.

[jct74]

Here's the video:
http://help.senate.gov/hearings/hear...6-58410b00ed72

I skimmed through it briefly and Rand speaks at the following times:

18:00
42:15
79:55
96:55 (slavery remarks)

I think that is all of them but not sure.

[TheNcredibleEgg]

Just like a slave could choose to not work in the field etc. There is a choice, but its like saying when a mugger holds a gun to your head and says "give me your wallet", you can still choose not to give him your wallet.

And what would happen if a slave refused to work in the fields?

And what would happen if Rand Paul refused to treat a patient?

Rand Paul could walk away. The slave cannot. Bad, bad choice of words.

[S.Shorland]

Of course it is slavery.If Healthcare is a right,the consumer has control over the provider.

[low preference guy]

And what would happen if a slave refused to work in the fields?

And what would happen if Rand Paul refused to treat a patient?

Rand Paul could walk away. The slave cannot. Bad, bad choice of words.

If someone has a right to another person's labor, then the latter is a slave. It's that simple. Perfect choice of words by Rand.

[Vessol]

And what would happen if a slave refused to work in the fields?

And what would happen if Rand Paul refused to treat a patient?

Rand Paul could walk away. The slave cannot. Bad, bad choice of words.

What happens if I decide I don't want to pay the taxes that support that "free" healthcare?

[Guitarzan]

And what would happen if a slave refused to work in the fields?

And what would happen if Rand Paul refused to treat a patient?

Rand Paul could walk away. The slave cannot. Bad, bad choice of words.

So what happens to the 'right' if Rand, and every other person who provides the service walked away?

[Cutlerzzz]

How much money, and how much time, does it take to become a doctor? That could not an easy profession to walk away from.

[TheNcredibleEgg]

What happens if I decide I don't want to pay the taxes that support that "free" healthcare?

Taxes would be more akin to slavery - because you have no option of walking away from taxes.

But doctors (as bad as option as it would be) do have the right to walk away - and do something else. They are still free.

The ones that stay would be voluntary slaves (but is a volunteer slave a slave?) - or possibly indentured servitudes (if there is debt preventing them from walking away.)

But using the word slavery to describe doctor's plight is just a bad analogy.

[TheNcredibleEgg]

So what happens to the 'right' if Rand, and every other person who provides the service walked away?

Perhaps it would become slavery then if enough doctors truely walked away.

But more likely the system would be altered to appease them.

[teacherone]

although to be truly consistent then "defense" is not a right either.

no one should be forced to fund my (nation's) defense.

[Theocrat]

No one has a right to a physician's service. As a matter of fact, the job of a physician is to keep the patient from being dependent upon him, as best as he can, as well as to empower the patient to take responsibility for their own health. Physicians don't owe their work to the patient, for the patient did not provide for their schooling nor contribute to their training.

Reading some of the comments on that article almost makes me lose hope that the general public is ready for liberty. They reason like dependent little children, and they can't even rebut Rand's points without personal attacks. Slaves indeed.

[Guitarzan]

Perhaps it would become slavery then if enough doctors truely walked away.

But more likely the system would be altered to appease them.

I asked about the 'right'...not the system.

[aGameOfThrones]

Taxes would be more akin to slavery - because you have no option of walking away from taxes.

But doctors (as bad as option as it would be) do have the right to walk away - and do something else. They are still free.

The ones that stay would be voluntary slaves (but is a volunteer slave a slave?) - or possibly indentured servitudes (if there is debt preventing them from walking away.)

But using the word slavery to describe doctor's plight is just a bad analogy.

Of course you can walk away from taxes. But...

[gls]

IIRC he said the exact same thing during the campaign and a bunch of liberals pretended to be offended back then too.

It obviously didn't hurt him much though.

[Lothario]

the comments on that article are vomit inducing...

[awake]

Government monopoly, whether through democracy or dictatorship is slavery - alive and well. Democracy takes a hell of alot more propaganda to keep in place.

[jct74]

ThinkProgress
h ttp://thinkprogress.org/2011/05/11/rand-paul-health-care-slavery/

Conservatives have slung all kinds of hyperbolic, outlandish, and phony attacks on attempts to provide health care to all Americans over the years, but tea party darling Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) may have taken the cake today when he equated universal health care with slavery. Speaking at a Senate Health, Education, and Labor Committee hearing, Paul argued that if you believe people should have a right to health care, you believe in enslaving doctors, nurses, and hospital janitors:

Full video of hearing is in post #9.

[AuH20]

Bump. I love this man.

[jct74]

LOL, this is the top headline on Raw Story right now in gigantic red letters.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/05/1...re-is-slavery/

It's also on the front page of gawker.com, which is a huge traffic website.
http://gawker.com/5801123/rand-paul-...ically-slavery

[JohnGalt1225]

So what happens to the 'right' if Rand, and every other person who provides the service walked away?

Get ready for Directive 10-289:

Point One. All workers, wage earners and employees of any kind whatsoever shall henceforth be attached to their jobs and shall not leave nor be dismissed nor change employment, under penalty of a term in jail. The penalty shall be determined by the Unification Board, such Board to be appointed by the Bureau of Economic Planning and National Resources. All persons reaching the age of twenty-one shall report to the Unification Board, which shall assign them to where, in its opinion, their services will best serve the interests of the nation.

[nobody's_hero]

Too many people still equate slavery with chains and whips.

It's too hard for them to wrap their head around the idea that slavery can exist in mindset.

At the height of slavery in America, the worst possible liablity for a slave-owner was a slave who had learned to read (therefore, it was made illegal to educate slaves to be literate).

Ignorant slaves could be controlled.

Example: The United States, 2011

[Sentient Void]

Perhaps it would become slavery then if enough doctors truely walked away.

But more likely the system would be altered to appease them.

Then this *proves* that healthcare is *not* a right - and obliterates any argument that it is.

If they were to enforce the claim that healthcare is a 'right' if everyone tried to walk away from the profession, this would expose the slavery.

Here's a litmus test for if something is actually a 'right' or not... If your alleged 'right' violates any rights of others, then it is not a right.

Rights are negative or positive. Inherent rights (self-ownership, the fruits of one's labor, property, speeh, etc) are 'negative rights'. Positive rights (such as a 'right to healthcare') can only be made through voluntary contract between the involved parties or through restitution vis a vis a violation of one's negative rights.

Positive rights say what one can do to others or what's others can do to one, negative rights says what can't be done to or by others.