Rights and Benefits

Posted on 07/13/2009 at 1:12 pm by Bob Cesca

Ezra Klein:

Access to health care should not be dependent on the kindness of your employer.

And being employed shouldn’t be the exclusive passport to, you know, not dying. But if it is, then why aren’t lesser concerns like speech, religion, assembly and habeas corpus considered “benefits” of employment, rather than unalienable human rights? Put another way, petitioning the government is considered a constitutional right, but medicine is considered a marketable commodity. America is weird.

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  • RED

    Stupid question for the early American historians among us; What was the cost of healthcare during the drafting of the Constitution?I am willing to bet that the cost of “bleeding” someone or “amputation” was fairly affordable. I am also willing to bet that very few Colonials had to file bankruptcy or go to debtors prison due to their medical bills. I know that time, space and reality are not relevent when debating issues in Congress but if we could image for a moment that different times call for different solutions.

  • El Mystico

    O/T but I figure Bob would get a kick out of this if he hasn’t seen it: The Brownback-Landrieu anti-animal human hybrid bill. Awesome. Thank Jeebus we have Sam Brownback out there conducting the business of the nation.

  • http://www.osborneink.com Matt Osborne

    Yes, what is it with the right-wing fixation on employment as the key to all problems? Until, that is, you’re talking about a government job. Working for government is somehow not really working.