The American healthcare system.

I guess I should have timed this closer to the murder of Brian Thompson; but, it's clear that the murder, and the aftermath, have put the discussion about the American healthcare system back into focus.

So, I'm a libertarian. I believe in free markets. Of course, the best way to fix our healthcare system is to bring it back to where it was before the Johnson administration fucked us. The ACA clearly did the exact opposite of what it was supposed to do, and I was saying that it was fascistic economics from the moment that it was proposed.

It's hard to imagine how a person who is well informed about our healthcare system thinks that it's operating correctly. I'm saying that as somebody who hasn't personally had much of a problem with our healthcare system, and I have been in the hospital this year. I have needed to work through health insurance. My health insurance has paid out a lot of money for me this year, and I haven't had anything significant denied. I don't have a personal gripe. I'm just aware of the multitude of absurdities that come along with this oligopoly.

Do I like the idea of going for a European model, or the Canadian model, etc? No. Do I think that it would be a dramatic improvement? No. Satisfaction rates regarding the NHS in the UK is only slightly better than satisfaction expressed by Americans. No, I don't think that turning it over to the government will make healthcare cheaper, better, or more efficient.

All that said, even Ayn Rand, one of the most vitriolic anti-socialists in history, said that capitalism with government help is the worst of economic phenomena. Our healthcare is the shining example of capitalism with government help.

I have the curse of being fairly pessimistic and reasonable. I know that a free market option is the right way to go. I also know that we lost that fight. I know that we're all going to be dead before we see healthcare policy move in the right direction. I know that Milton Friedman was right when he said that it's generally only in times if crises that real change actually occurs.

So, fuck it. If you wanna go full socialism regarding healthcare, I'm not gonna fight you anymore. Our system is already a disaster. We're just gonna make it a different kind of disaster. I would like to assume that people would stop bitching if we gave in; but, we all know how socialists are. Whenever socialism fails again, they tell us that it's not real socialism. That's gonna happen again. But, we're in garbage time right now. We're down by five scores with less than a minute left and no timeouts. We're gonna lose. We have different fights that we can actually win. It's time to take a knee, lick our wounds, and focus on next week.

A part of being a libertarian is getting used to being on the losing side. Freedom is an unpopular idea. I'm used to fighting on the losing side. I don't think that this is a battle that's worth fighting anymore. It'll be a lateral move.