Rice County Republicans

During a recent conversation with an avowed Northfield Marxist over the health care bill we quickly realized two things. The first was that she did not even have a concept of what the new bill would cost and frankly, she did not care because “health care is a right”. Which leads to the second realization, which is that we did not even have a common concept of rights are. She is clearly in the cohort that says that everyone has a “right” to food, shelter, education, (and now) health care. Maybe phone service, cable and a TV too (since we can’t isolate people from society based on income). Meanwhile I am talking about rights in terms of freedoms, personal choices, and liberties. No wonder she and I cannot find a common ground. Its as if we were on the sinking Titanic and I was arguing for getting into the life boats while she was arguing for a better dinner selection. We are not even using a common measure of value, and we are certainly not addressing each other’s concerns. If we are losing the health care arguments in the press, it is may be because we have never been able to speak with a common voice on the core principles of freedom that we believe trump any call for a “right” to services. We are all equal before the law, but in matters of economics, we are free people. Bill Paulsen (former candidate for the SD25 Senate endorsement) was very careful to make it clear that society might want to provide public assistance to the needy, but he always seemed to be equally careful to not use the entitling language of “rights” to back that position. This is a subtle distinction that may be lost in the translation from principled discussion to campaign rhetoric.