Envy, demagogy, Obamacare and the destruction of wealth

The tax surcharges crafted in the latest version of the Obamacare bill will hit hardest those considered wealthy.

Read more in AAPS online

Punishing wealth is a seasoned tool of demagogic reform. Envy always finds a constituency that enables irresponsible political leaders – such as those that are conspiring to confiscate American health care and more – to tax their way to their misdeeds.

Envy is the demagogic motor that drives redistributive “social justice" as Anthony de Jasay demonstrated in "The State". Envy fuels destruction. Wealth, however can unfortunately only be confiscated once. Once it has been taken away by government and wasted by its bureaucracies it cannot be confiscated again. The same could also be said of health! Though in this case the elderly and the destitute will be hit before the young and rich.

Can common sense defeat health care demagogy? US polls tend to prove so!

Reason seldom has an easy way when it challenges charismatic leaders who fuzz reality with unrealistic promises to satisfy ideology. And health care is particularly vulnerable to emotional arguments... One could have feared that Obama and his advisers would have a smooth ride to socialized health care. Yet current polls show that a majority of Americans begin to see through the demagogic smoke that obscures the bottom line of irresponsible road maps for health reform... and that they are making their voices heard.

Click to latest poll on US health care reform

Swiss citizens demonstrated the same wisdom when 71% (!!!) of them told their politicians that they did not need a single payer (i.e. a single decider) to manage their health care. This was not in polls mind you, but in a referendum vote on March 11th 2007 that international media largely ignored. By the way: close to 80% of Oregon voters did the same in 2002!!! (read more)

More on the demise of Swiss Social insurance