On 07/15/2009 01:49 PM, steven wrote:
> Universal Health Care Isn't Worth Our Freedom, in the WSJ
> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124761945269242551.html
>
>
A good article, except where Szasz uses the collective pronouns -
"**Our** national conversation about curbing the cost of health care is
crippled by the vocabulary in which **we** conduct it. **We** must stop
talking about "health care"...". And then there is: "If **we** persevere
in our quixotic quest for a fetishized medical equality **we** will
sacrifice personal freedom as its price. **We** will become the
voluntary slaves of a "compassionate" government that will provide the
same low quality health care to everyone." (Emphasis added.)

I am not participating in a "quixotic quest for a fetishized medical
equality" and obviously neither is Szasz. There are many more USers also
who do not want to sacrifice personal freedom for government (tax) paid
health services, so it is incorrect to use the first person plural as he
has done. In fact, by doing so Szasz is playing into the hands of the
collectivists who are promoting "universal health care".

The sentences could easily have been written without this first person
plural usage, which is often claimed to be merely a literary style but
in actuality distorts one's thinking. (For more detail see "Collectivism
in Language: Its Effects on Valid Reasoning" -
http://selfsip.org/fundamentals/we.html )
My recommended wording:
"National conversations about curbing the cost of health care are
crippled by the vocabulary in which they are conducted. Everyone must
stop talking about "health care" as if it were some kind of collective
public service, like fire protection, provided equally to everyone who
needs it."
"If this quixotic quest for a fetishized medical equality prevails [more
appropriate and likely if the majority "persevere"] its price will be
the sacrifice of personal freedom. All those who use it will then become
the voluntary slaves of a "compassionate" government that will provide
the same low quality health care to everyone."
Even the last "we" used by Szasz (in regards to "voluntary slaves") has
been removed since individuals will still have the choice of whether or
not to comply with and use the provisions of a law that mandates that
they must be part of "universal health care".

Without these plural pronouns the article sets itself up much better for
Thoreau's remarks, speaking for himself, "If I knew for a certainty that
a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good,
I should run for my life." Note that Thoreau did *not* use collective
pronouns.

**Kitty Antonik Wakfer

MoreLife for the rational - http://morelife.org
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Self-Sovereign Individual Project - http://selfsip.org
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