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We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
–from our Declaration of Independence
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Liberty. Independence. The pursuit of Happiness. These are the concepts that the Constitutional framers focused on when creating “a more perfect Union” in 1776. Nowhere in our founding documents will you see references to retirement security or universal health care. You won’t find anything in there about income redistribution. As a matter of fact, you won’t find any references to the state’s obligation to perform works of charity for those that are poor or infirm. Why? Because our founding fathers believed that the responsibility of caring for oneself and one’s neighbors rested on the shoulders of individual citizens– NOT their government.
Now don’t misunderstand me. I’m all for charity. To take money out of your own pocket or time out of your day to care for someone who is less fortunate than yourself– these are noble decisions, and indeed they should be a regular occurrence for those of us who hold Judeo-Christian values. But above all else, such decisions should be a result of individual choice, NOT legal coersion.
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One form of ‘forced charity’ is our Social Security system. When the government takes money out of your paycheck to provide for Social Security, your money briefly resides in a pool. For retirees, the division of the current pool is based more upon their need than the actual amount of money that they’ve contributed to the pool themselves. (i.e. With relation to the income you’ve earned over your lifetime, you’ll receive proportionately more benefits from Social Security if you’ve made less money.) Here, the government is forcing higher wage earners to provide greater retirement security for lower wage earners. This is socialism at its best: taking from the wealthy and giving to the poor, without asking anybody’s permission and without regard for who is more deserving.
(For anyone who doesn’t understand Social Security– It’s a pay-as-you-go system. The money that we currently put into it is being removed right now by current retirees. There is no Social Security savings account which guarantees that your money will be there by the time you retire. So even at its lowest level, as soon as your money enters the Social Security system, it’s being paid out to somebody else.)
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Medicare and Medicade are socialist as well. And what’s worse, proposals for government-sponsored universal health care neglect a fundamental question–
Are you entitled to something that you can’t afford?
Do you have a right to be taken care of when you can’t take care of yourself? The proponents of socialism’s nanny-state would surely say “yes.” But think about it. Every time the government provides some form of charity for its ‘underpriveleged’ citizens, it must confiscate the resources of its ‘overpriveleged’ citizens in order to do so. Or, in more specific language– Under a state-sposored insurance system, your government must tax your peers before it can provide your health coverage. Whether or not this redistribution of wealth is fair… well, that’s not so cut and dry.
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It’s important to distinguish between morality and social policy. As a conservative, I divide the responsibility of caring for an infirm individual among three entities: (a) that person’s family, (b) his friends, and (c) the individual himself, pre-ailment. I do not push such a responsibility onto those who — to put it bluntly — have no vested personal interest in seeing the person recover.
Let’s be honest– If you’ve saved enough money to absorb a catastrophic health failure, or you’ve paid into a private insurance plan which will cover such an event, you’ve done well for yourself. You thought ahead, and you will be looked after.
But if you haven’t planned ahead for such a possibility, whose responsibility is that?
Those who know and love you will give of themselves to see that you pull through. But beyond your family & friends, no one should be obligated to look after you.
(Another aside: There are many people who sacrifice their time and money regularly for strangers, without needing any prodding from the government. And chances are that you already know where to find them– They meet in the same place every Sunday.)
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My overall point is this: We have no right to force anyone to take care of anyone, because we both know that it’s OUR responsibility to take care of ourselves.
And from another angle– Except for “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” we are not entitled to anything that we have not earned for ourselves. If we haven’t earned a comfortable retirement, we do not deserve one. If we haven’t earned a safety net against the decline of our health, we do not deserve that either.
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So here’s my advice: Don’t be a financial burden on anyone but yourself. Look to the future. Save your money.
Your health will fail. It is only a matter of time. Do whatever it takes to provide yourself with a monetary buffer against the inevitable.
And after spending 30+ years in the workforce, there may come a time when you just want to stop. Allow yourself that choice. Give yourself a chance to enjoy life after employment. Maybe you’ll want to travel– You can hit all those places in Europe that you missed when you were in your 20s. You can’t do things like that when you’re living on Social Security.
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Lastly–
Enjoy the freedom granted to you by God and country.
Respect your fellow man. Respect the wealth that he earns, and respect the property that he owns.
Look after your family and friends. Give help to those who ask for it.
Take responsibility for your own life.
And recognize that you are entitled to the pursuit of happiness, not happiness itself.
