What about the disabled and elderly?

I recently embraced the libertarian philosophy but am struggling with one thing...those who TRULY do not have the ability to help themselves. I know private organizations or volunteer work is perhaps the only way to help those in need...but is it enough? Can EVERYONE who is disabled or old and cannot work be helped without government aid? Please help me understand the libertarian perspective on this important issue.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Libertarian
• Party
• liberal
• health
• care
• elderly
• disabled
• history
• politics
• Ron
• Paul
• presidential
• candidate

[robwe359]

Some group of Americans seems to just state that "goverment founded healthcare doesnt work" without futher explanation. I find this kind of statement quite surprising. I live in Sweden and all in all I would have to say that government healthcare works great. There are pretty advanced treatments you can get for free here. My mother has survived two cancer treatments that were very professionally arranged by government healthcare. So it works apparently.

[frionelhero]

you should watch my other video and comment on it. Its about health care where I explain we either need to be COMPLETLY privatized or COMPLETLY government controlled and have it free for everyone. this halfway crap we have right now is a monopoly...I would rather it be privatized, but you can cut through the spin and propaganda and point to countries like yours to prove that universal healthcare works.

[evolutionaries]

the ron paul approach, which i happen to agree with, is to honor our current commitments. if we promised a war veteran a pension or an elderly person social security, we honor our debts to them.

however going forward younger people are allowed to opt out of the system over some period of time and establish their own long-term savings accounts. thus by the time they are elderly they will have their own savings.

[frionelhero]

I agree 100%. Many people think Ron Paul will just END everything when its not true. He is a smart man and will follow through with the people who are already dependent.

[neue01]

It sounds to me like you have been living in a vacum of sorts. Your healthcare system could be much better. Your system like all socialist systems suffers from rationing. This is basic economics. If something is free there is a lack of incentive on the part of consumers to self ration. This creates a scenario where government then has to ration. Not to mention that it's immoral. Make sense?

[paulfor08]

The disabled or old are the responsibility of their families or churches. If they have not made strong enough connections to receive help, then they have very little recourse. So have kids and be a nice person.

[rolitofc]

"Who will take care of the disabled and elderly?"

YOU WILL.

[spartaeus]

Life is cheap when you're poor. It's all about money and nothing else.

[BriansJoy]

I'm chronically ill & unable to obtain disability from the govern., b/c my work exp was too short. If it wasn't possible for a lot of people to get help through govern. w/ all the red tape there would more likely be church/charities to help me out. Others are unable to "qualify" for disability despite years of SS payments. We have to keep SS for those who put their $ & trust in it, but not for gen X.

[markgg1]

im a big lefty, but i think its quite easy to counter this argument from a libertarian perspective. Charities or the familiy would take over the role of the state - so it is possible..

of course i believe in massive public spending so this is not for me - but i 'undertsnad' the counter argument

[titomartinez5]

I have already helped take care of several dieing family members and one dieing neighbor. If the government did not interfere, we would definitely help each other more.

[titomartinez5]

It is an incentive to be nice to people. When we rely on each other, we treat each other more civilly.

[robwe359]

Why do so many ideologists believe in extremes, such as completley one way or another? In fact, most thing in our lives require balance, like for example, we cannot COMPLETLEY omit fat in our diet, or we cannot COMPLETLEY just eat fat.

It is possible to have privatized health care production at the same time as the health care ensurance is from the government. Actually part of the swedish system works like that, and it seems like a doable way to combine privatization with public interest.

[frionelhero]

that is why I am for the libertarian philosophy and Ron Paul. a non-interventionist foreign policy so we can afford to take care of ourselves. Because medical technology isn't privatized it doesn't get cheaper like other goods and services. It is a real shame.