Scott Johnson posted an article at Power Line yesterday that provides some food for thought on the unintended consequences of Obamacare.
The article quotes Robert Goldberg, the vice president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest:
“Private-sector innovators from around the world contributed their expertise to the rescue effort in Chile, and the result was nothing short of miraculous. Yet when it comes to rescuing our health care system, President Obama and his allies are hellbent on limiting — if not eliminating — the role of private-sector innovation. America’s leaders should take note of Chile’s example — and reverse their cynical, government-heavy course.”
The rescue of the miners was amazing, but I hadn’t really stopped to think about all the different pieces that went into it.
The article points out:
“Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Daniel Henninger observed: “If those miners had been trapped a half-mile down like this 25 years ago anywhere on earth, they would be dead. What happened over the past 25 years that meant the difference between life and death for those men?””
He then examines what happened to make the rescue possible.
The article quotes Matt Ridley’s book The Rational Optimist:
“Ultimately, societies thrive when innovation occurs without much interference and where governments are not seeking to centralize and manage the exchange of ideas and resources according to some master plan. The $20 million spent to rescue the miners will generate greater wealth and longer life for thousands and millions of people in the years ahead. The rescue is a model of how people around the planet can solve problems and improve life if left to their own devices.”
The bottom line here is very simple. Making a profit is a powerful incentive. If a person can find a way to do something more efficiently and make money at it, he will pursue it. If there is not a financial incentive, he may find other things to take up his time.
The article concludes:
“Isaiah Berlin wrote: “Disregard for the preferences and interests of individuals today in order to pursue some distant social goal that their rules have claimed is their duty to promote has been a common cause of misery for people throughout the ages.”
“The rescue of the Chilean miners was the product of leadership encouraging collective intelligence and innovation on a global scale. In America, an elite is using government to consolidate its ability to impose its grand vision about health care on the nation. Who will rescue us from this fate?”
We have a chance in November to change direction. Hopefully we will. President Obama keeps saying that “D” puts the car in drive. It is not wise to put the car in drive when you are heading over a cliff–at that point “R” for reverse makes more sense.