Again, I would respect the opinion of people who advocate for a free market system if they were consistent. If people think healthcare should be left to a free market, then why not firecare?

What's the difference, really? The firehouse would still put out the fire, in the same manner that people without insurance can go to an ER if their life is threatened. Same with police. A free market system wouldn't mean police don't save you if you're being mugged, you just need insurance to pay.

So, that's my retort to people who advocate for a free market. Get your employee sponsored fire and police insurance as well.

I know that's not your argument, but it irks me when I read people talk about “free market” and healthcare. It's crap.

Fair enough, you make an excellent point. Perhaps my articulation was
botched.

What I'm getting at is this. Every economic system has within it certain
features that are desirable. They also have feature's that aren't. Socialism
has the potential to re-allocate resources in a way that is more equitable
for all. The downside to socialism is that there's no guarantee that the
right people who hold the power have the required depth of knowledge and
understanding of how things work best.

Meanwhile, capitalism (meaning a culture of investing in the long-term as
opposed to an undisciplined approach) holds the promise of enabling the free
exchange of ideas without the political impositions associated with
socialism.

I believe both systems confer benefits to society. To simply disregard the
benefits and costs of one system over the other appears superficial (to me
at least).

BTW: All military institutions are socialist (I've never cut a check to the
DOD, but my taxes have funded it). The analogy to healthcare is useful
there.

Do you work in the health care system? Just curious.

Thank you very much for you commentary. You've given me some good thoughts.

Phil

It's strange that we live in a country whereby if someone deliberately sets my house on fire, the fire department will put it out for free, the police will investigate it for free, but the ambulance and doctors will charge me boatloads of money to fix me.

And for some reason, we're afraid of the last one, while we accept the first two. So I say this: be consistent: if you want to call single payer health care socialism, then call the firefighters and police socialism as well.