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ORIGINAL: Frumious

Interesting, you complained earlier about people using extreme arguments that don’t correctly illustrate the issue & then you use extreme examples. No one is talking about skydivers or race car drivers. How about “pre-existing conditions” like a family history of disease so that you cannot buy insurance or you develop cancer & get dropped & can’t buy new insurance or a policy that “renews” every 6 months & suddenly the next 6 month renewal is denied based on a pre-existing condition?

I suppose as long as I stay healthy & you are not so fortunate, I wouldn’t want to pay for you either.

 
You said, “But we already have something worse with the private insurance industry in that they can make coverage more expensive or just refuse to cover you, or cover you & then deny coverage or “renewal” if you live a dangerous lifestyle.”  That is different that someone with an existing medical condition.  What did you mean if not someone who chooses to preform occupational or personal activites that increase their risk for injury, disease or death.  To me it is compeletly fair for those (including myself) to pay more because of increased risk to the pool of insured.

 Repeat of the 1st paragraph regarding extreme arguments. It’s relatively easy to be affluent and healthy & then argue that anyone not affluent or healthy are victims of their own failures. As for Reinhardt’s mother’s foolishness, your argument holds no water. The example never tried to illustrate that even in Germany the system can’t be manipulated & your argument that it can be, ergo she is a fool? Because she refuses the “me first, screw you” ethos? Perhaps it’s more an illustration of your feelings of privilege and entitlement and rationalizations than her foolishness?

 
I woudl argue that your assumption that you should be taken care of with no risk by a grandfather like gov suggests more entitlement than a restricted gov that provides only opportunity and safety nets in extreme circumstances.
 
Maybe I missunderstood your point. you seemed to be holding her up as an example of an attitude held by people in other countries facilitate the health care utopia you wish for the US…ie they are benevolent to the extreme, even at the cost of their own health.  My point is that in your own example, you have another family member who not only had the will but the abiliity to manipulate the situation to undermind the system at the expense of people like Reinhardts’ mother….if not, why would he suggest it? Seems that people arn’t that much different.

  Sorry, but this is still paranoid musings. Big Brother can do this more effectively and cheaply than creating & staffing a new intrusion department monitoring your driving. Why go through all that bother, just raise the tax on fuel, the more you burn the more miles you’ve driven the more taxes are collected. No so hard.

 
raising taxes on fuel, while stupid right now, does not violate personal privacy….so yes that is better.

You covered all that in 4 years? Good. But how many people know comparative religion or the history & origins of their religious beliefs & how they compare with others’ beliefs? Most beliefs center around, “My God can lick your God” & “My Book was created by God and is word-for-word-true but yours is a lie” & “I’m going to Heaven & you’re going to Hell.” You were also concerned about non-believers & their children. My belief is that there are many ways to the truth.

 
oddly, most who have no religious belief also engauge in this….instead it takes the form of “if you are religious you are ignorant and stupid”…people always feel the need to look down on others.