Nanny State: American Version

Belmont to be first U.S. city to ban all smoking

Including anyplace that is not a detached single fanily home. This is, of course, nuts. This is also peculiarly American - we legislate away behavior that we don't like.

Example: here in Minnesota the Guv'ner has arrived at a solution that will provide Universal Health Insurance to all. He wants to make it illegal not to have health insurance.

The San Mateo Times article is telling. This whole catastrophe was triggered by some old fart who wanted to sue his neighbors for smoking. That's us my friends. Anytime we have an issue with a neighbor, we, in essence, call the cops.

Poor, sick, and uninsured? Damn well better not seek help in Minnesota - you'll get stuck with the full sticker price for treatment plus a fine.

Given to enjoying the occassional cigar in the privacy of your apartment? You're outa luck in Belmont. There's some geezer down the street who's primed to report you to the authorities.

American Health Care Kills

American health care tends to divide the population into insiders and outsiders. Insiders, who have good insurance, receive everything modern medicine can provide, no matter how expensive. Outsiders, who have poor insurance or none at all, receive very little. To take just one example, one study found that among Americans diagnosed with colorectal cancer, those without insurance were 70 percent more likely than those with insurance to die over the next three years.

In response to new medical technology, the system spends even more on insiders. But it compensates for higher spending on insiders, in part, by consigning more people to outsider status—robbing Peter of basic care in order to pay for Paul's state-of-the-art treatment. Thus we have the cruel paradox that medical progress is bad for many Americans' health.

The Health Care Crisis and What to Do About It