Healthcare is a human right.

I keep hearing people claim that health care is a right. And this keeps me wondering how people define "rights"--do people understand what a "right" is? Where do they come from? How do we get them? Do we all have the same rights? Are they given to us or do we just stake a claim to the ones we want? What have claims such as "housing is a right" or "health care is a right" done to our understanding of what constitutes a right. Books have been written about the nature of rights, so it would be silly for me to attempt an expansive discussion of the subject here. For the purpose of this discussion, I will simply say that while there are many moral obligations, a right is a LEGAL OBLIGATION, and under the philosophy and principles that guided the founding of our country, a right legally and equally obliges government to leave people alone, does not necessitate the violation or infringement of anyone else’s rights, and views all people as equal before the law. In other words, there is no such thing as a “right” to violate someone else’s rights—at least there wasn’t supposed to be. But that is exactly what happens when it is decided that someone has a “right” to health care, a house, a job, a car, or any other thing that requires that it be provided by someone else, because the only way government can “provide” any of these things for some people is by taking them from others, and forcing others to pay for these things necessitates violating other people’s rights to keep their own property. Again, our genuine “rights” don’t impose an obligation on any one person to provide any other person with anything. As we exercise our rights, the only obligation we have is to not infringe or violate anyone else’s rights. As an adult, my right to life requires only that I be left alone, not that someone else—or an entire community or country of someone else’s--be compelled to provide me with the means for sustaining my life. My right to liberty requires only that I be left alone by my government and everyone else. If I should be kidnapped or held captive, or somehow enslaved, my government has an obligation to see that I am freed because according to our Constitution the purpose of our government is to secure our rights, and my right to freedom would have been forcibly and unlawfully infringed upon. Likewise, my right to pursue happiness requires only that I be left alone, not that anyone else be required to provide me with the means for achieving whatever I determine happiness to be—and, it certainly doesn’t imply any guarantee that I will achieve happiness. Again, rights entail legal obligations, and while most of us certainly want a moral government, it doesn’t necessarily follow that everything we see as a moral obligation should be a legal obligation, if for no other reason than that our notions of morality change over time. For example, the Inquisition was a time when perceived moral obligations to purify the church became legal obligations giving some humans the “right” to torture and kill other humans. Coming back to the health care issue, I think it can be safely said that most people would agree that each of us has a “moral” obligation to take care of ourselves and our loved ones, physically, intellectually, and emotionally. But do we want that moral obligation to become a legal obligation, giving some people the “right” to force other people to eat a specific diet, exercise, take certain classes, or submit to therapy? However, led by generations of pundits and politicians, it seems most people in this country now believe every moral obligation should also be a legal obligation—a “right,” As rights are a function of government, they can be secured by force—by compelling people against their will if necessary (think police with guns) to refrain from violating someone’s rights. But moral obligations are a function of some moral authority, usually a religion, of which, especially in this country, there can be many different kinds. My church imposed a moral obligation that its members tithe 10% of their income, but the only thing compelling them to tithe was their conscience, not police with guns. Because tithing is not a legal obligation the church does not a “right” to collect ten percent, or ten cents, by force. Lastly, rights come with responsibilities, and are held by individuals, not groups, because only individuals can be held accountable for the responsible exercise of their rights. In exercising my free speech right it is my responsibility to see that my speech does not violate anyone else's legitimate rights, and to ensure that I exercise this right responsibly there are laws against slander, libel, and "yelling fire in a crowded theater." Likewise, excercising my right to life means I am responsible, to the best of my ability and to the degree that I desire, for maintaining my life, which includes looking after my health. So, to the question, “is health care a right,” my answer is no. If it should be decided that it is a right, i.e., a legal obligation on the rest of the citizenry to pay for health care, then we should prepare for a whole new cornucopia of "rights," because if some citizens are to be compelled to provide health care for other citizens, then the paying citizens will have earned the "right" to demand that those excercising their "right to health care" assume the responsibility that comes with this right, by conforming their behavior to standards that will optimize their health—i.e., no smoking, drinking, drugs, excess weight, or risky activities (skiing, skateboarding, sky diving, etc.), no more than one sexual partner, eating only approved food, and daily exercise that is both approved and verifiable (wouldn’t I make a great bureaucrat?). And, what happens to freedom? Just like everyone seems to have forgotten that rights come with responsibilities, they've also forgotten that freedom isn't free--there is a cost, and that cost is the willingness to accept responsibilty for your own life.