Shrinking government isn’t only solution

We have a good number of states, as well as individuals, getting back in benefits (Medicare, Medicaid, military bases, crop subsidies, etc.) much more than they pay in taxes yet want to shrink government till they can drown it in a bathtub. Every person for him/herself, they say. If you’re rich, you’re right; if you’re right you have all the rights (and no responsibilities for the infrastructure that got you there).

Interesting how these same bootstrap, Ayn Rand individuals, who ostensibly take care of no one but themselves, cry out for help from the government (i.e. all of us through our tax dollars) when hurricanes, tornadoes and illness devastate their property and lives.

We have people, who can’t get or can’t afford health insurance, forced to seek care in ERs when their situation is critical. It’s expensive, but the hospital is morally and legally bound to serve them. And we all pay the extra costs with higher insurance premiums (if we can get insurance) and bankrupt families who are charged an artificially bloated price for their care. We have an imperfect plan that is the beginning of a fix for this (Affordable Care Act). Yet the people who want to kill government, all while demanding its benefits, want to do away with this, too.

Not everything in life is either/or; some things are “and.” Breathe in and breathe out. Community and individual. Government and private. Individual responsibility and community responsibility. It’s called balance, and without it we have brutality, catastrophe and chaos.

Barbara Muehlhausen

Schaumburg