Posted by
Radwarrior on Friday, February 29, 2008 6:40:05 PM
Reviewing the Reviewer
By Phillip H. Blanton
I was recently reading a book review in the New Republic, on a book called “Revolutionary Wealth” by Alvin and Heidi Toffler. The reviewer iss Robert M. Solow. You can find the full review here…
http://www.powells.com/review/2006_05_25.html
I was taken aback by the reviewer’s comment on government spending on health care in America.
Regarding the fractions of GDP spent on health care by major advanced economies, Toffler states…
“The number for the United States exceeded 14 percent. How far can that number grow before the bankruptcy lawyers arrive?”
To which Mr. Solow says…
“The reference to bankruptcy is exactly wrong and unhelpful. An individual hospital can go bankrupt; but presumably a large and growing volume of health care expenditure makes that event less likely, not more. Much of the spending in question is government-financed, and there bankruptcy is not an issue.”
His lack of understanding is either staggering, or truly malevolent. Deferring to Hanlon's Razor, I'll choose not to attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity; but let me clarify. From the perspective of the spender, increasing the percentage of the expense no-end will always, inevitably end up in bankruptcy. Of course, the receiver of the spending is rolling in the dough, but only until the ride is over.
It is always more desirable to acheive a balance that will result in the spender continuing to spend and the receiver continuing to receive; but I digress. Toffler’s statement here is obviously from the perspective of the spender, not the hospital, doctor or any other of the many receivers of the spending. As long as health care spending continues to grow proportionally in relation to the nation's GDP, the ultimate result will be the same; a bankrupt US economy. There can be no other answers. We can paint on happy faces and lie to the world for a little while, but the camel's back will eventually break.
Moreover, Solow's statement regarding the inability of governments to go bankrupt - I believe he says its, “not an issue” - is patently absurd. Governments can and do go bankrupt. Many learned people are arguing that ours already has. Certainly adding the increasingly large burden of free health care for the masses to the scales will only serve to tip them much more expeditiously.
The constant parade of human debris we see on our televisions, continually screaming for free health care is only fueled by false claims of a “constitutional right” and faux moral indignation, by uneducated fools. It will ultimately result in “free” healthcare for all American citizens, and will be the death knell of this once great nation.
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years.
Great nations rise and fall. The people go from bondage to spiritual truth, to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance toselfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back again to bondage."
--Author unknown.
Oft attributed to Benjamin Disraeli or Alexander Tytler, but that is unverified.
Although we don't know for sure who said that, truer words have never been spoken. I fear for the future of this country, and whenever I turn on the television, I just shake my head in disgust. The lack of education in our schools has bred a truly dangerous populace. This country will get what it deserves. May God have mercy on the rest of us.