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Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggar Man, Thief: A Satirical Essay by Sam Aurelius Milam III Part 2:
He Found A Crooked Sixpence
Coming Soon: Part 3:
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Book Review
Patient Power by John C. Goodman and Gerald L. Musgrave Source: Cato Institute Books "In today's bureaucratically dominated health care system, the patient's major role is to sign the forms that authorize one large, impersonal organization to release funds to another. Government, through Medicare and Medicaid, buys close to half the health care provided in America today. Most of the other half is paid for by insurance companies, through policies purchased by third parties, because the tax laws encourage people to rely on first-dollar health coverage from their employers. "When health care appears to be free or very cheap, people buy more than they would if they were paying the full cost. The resulting casual attitude toward shopping for health care drives up prices, which drives up insurance premiums, which creates hardship for business and those without insurance. That eventually harms all users of health care, but the process is so circuitous that people fail to see the connection with their buying habits. "Goodman and Musgrave propose to create a cost-conscious private system of competition and innovation. At the center would be the consumers, whose freedom of choice and responsibility would bring to the medical marketplace the value, innovation, and efficiency found in other markets. Patient Power demonstrates that market-oriented reform is the only way out of the crisis. As the comprehensive survey of health care, it is indispensable to understanding this critical issue. Patient Power will be at the core of the debate over the health care crisis and how it evolved." This book is offered for sale by Cato Institute Books, 942 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94103. 671pp., $16.95 in paperback. What's a palindrome to a dyslexic?
Your Car: The American Dream Machine by Sam Aurelius Milam III So you finally made that last payment, and the Machine is yours, all yours. But .... What happens if a cop has it towed away? You didn't give permission, he just did it. There are only two possibilities: either he stole your car, or he didn't steal it. If he stole your Dream Machine, you could have him arrested and recover it. Obviously, you can't do that. This demonstrates empirically that he didn't steal it. Since he didn't steal it, that necessarily means that he didn't take it away from the owner. To do that would be stealing it, and he didn't steal it. Since he didn't take the car away from the owner, there are (again) only two possibilities. Either the cop owned the car, or he was acting as an agent for the owner. If the cop owned the car, he'd keep it and use it himself, or sell it. This isn't what happens. He turns the car over to someone else. Clearly, he was only acting for the owner. Who's the owner? Well, think about it for a minute. Who determines what equipment is required on the car, and what insurance it must have? Who decides what kind of fuel to use in it? Who determines how fast it's allowed to go? Who requires that the operator must be licensed before he can use the car, and decides what qualifications are necessary for the license? Who requires the operator and passengers in the car to wear seat belts? Who requires that the operator pay an annual fee for the use of the car, and determines how much the fee will be, and will reclaim any car which doesn't display evidence of current payment? Who? Right. The state. That's who owns the car. Is this the American Dream or a day-dream? Instead of dreaming, we ought to wake up. A day-dream manufactured to government specifications is a nightmare.
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Frontiersman
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