Science & Technology
Politics & Rights, Science & Technology
What the “Affordable Health Care for America Act,” HR 3962, Actually Says
John David Lewis November 20, 2009
Asks ten crucial questions regarding the proposed law; examines what the proposed legislation actually says with respect to these questions; and evaluates the bill accordingly, showing that, if passed, it would massively expand government power over the health-care industry, virtually eliminate the remnants of freedom left in this market, and thus increase the U.S. government’s violations of individual rights by orders of magnitude.
Science & Technology
Pharmacide: The Pharmaceutical Industry’s Self-Destructive Effort to Loot America
Cassandra Clark November 20, 2009
Provides an illuminating view of the pharmaceutical industry, showing that industry executives have advocated and continue to advocate rights-violating legislation through which the companies gain revenue taken coercively by the government from American taxpayers—and further showing that the pharmaceutical industry’s advocacy of such legislation is killing . . . the industry itself.
Politics & Rights, Science & Technology
Lin Gilbert's Rationing Story
Paul Hsieh November 12, 2009
Canadian Lin Gilbert tells of the wait she endured for over two years for her MRI and spine surgery, and the toll it took on her life: http://www.youtube.com/embed/9Kyoxy1ufhg In Canada, health care is never truly a "right". She was repeatedly told that she hadn't suffered for long enough to receive…
Politics & Rights, Science & Technology
The Best Option For The Public
Paul Hsieh November 6, 2009
In the November 4, 2009 Boston Globe, Jeff Jacoby outlines the best option for the public. (Hint -- it's not the "public option".) From his article, "An option for public: less government, more choice": A government-run health insurer would radically tilt the health-insurance playing field. It would amount to a…
Philosophy, Politics & Rights, Science & Technology
Praying Won't Make It So
Stella Daily Zawistowski November 5, 2009
I'm a second-year student in the Objectivist Academic Center, and the class is currently working through the difference between the metaphysically given (such as the law of gravity) and the man-made (such as traffic laws). The man-made is the result of choice, and as such is subject to praise or…
Economics, Science & Technology
The Dire Message of Mr. David Walker
John David Lewis August 28, 2009
A person who is in the pay of the government is not always free to speak publicly about the most pressing issues he confronts. Administrators who are appointed to perform specific tasks are generally not free to contradict or even to challenge policies. They often cannot advocate for specific proposals,…
Science & Technology
Suppose Car Insurance Was Considered to Be a 'Right'
John David Lewis August 20, 2009
The major impetus behind the Democratic health care plans is not economic—it is moral. The claim that health care is a moral right has motivated enormous government coercions against the medical industry for nearly fifty years. But this moral claim has blinded people to the fact that huge price increases…
Reviews, Science & Technology
Review: The Garden of Invention, by Jane S. Smith
Daniel Wahl August 20, 2009
Daniel Wahl reviews The Garden of Invention: Luther Burbank and the Business of Breeding Plants, by Jane S. Smith.
Science & Technology
How the Freedom to Contract Protects Insurability
Paul Hsieh August 20, 2009
Shows that, contrary to proposals being put forth by Republicans, a genuinely free market in health insurance is not only moral, in that it respects the rights of producers and consumers, but also practical, in that it enables businessmen to solve problems for profit—which leads to more and better products and services at lower prices for consumers.
Economics, Science & Technology
The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare
Craig Biddle August 17, 2009
John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, has an excellent article in the Wall Street Journal, in which he outlines several market-oriented changes that would substantially improve the quality of health care in America, multiply consumers’ options, and decrease health-care costs. Among other things, Mackey advocates the following: Remove the legal…