All we need from our fellow man?
Self-preservation.
It sounds shocking. But it’s true. Think about it.
If immigrants were more self-interested, we wouldn’t have to fight over immigration. They wouldn’t take government handouts, health care or even schools. They’d fend for themselves, and would be proud of it — like America’s original immigrants.
If people drove on the road like they possessed self-preservation, there would be no drinking and driving. No texting and driving. No phone calling and driving. The roads would be safer, not because of altruism and self-sacrifice, but because of self-preservation.
If people treated their obligation to pay for health care seriously, there would be no perceived need for Medicare, Medicaid or Obamacare. People would demand the right to purchase health care from the doctors and hospitals of their choice, rather than the doctors or hospitals of their insurance company’s (or the government’s) choice. They would view medical care as such a priority that they’d have some basic form of health insurance from the beginning of adulthood. And it would be a heck of a lot cheaper, if we didn’t leave it all to the government. Self-preservation would make the health care and health insurance market rational — not altruism and self-sacrifice.
If people were more self-interested, they’d be more self-responsible. If they were more self-responsible, the need for a limited government — a government that protects rights, not one that redistributes income — would be self-evident. Kind of like in the beginning of our once free, great republic.
I would love to live in a world where everyone was self-interested. If I did, there would be no claims on my time, my income, my medical care, my private property, my privacy or my sense of serenity.
If you’re rational, you should feel the same way. If you’re not rational — well, then, I can’t help you.
Follow Dr. Hurd on Facebook. Search under “Michael Hurd” (Rehoboth Beach DE). Get up-to-the-minute postings, recommended articles and links, and engage in back-and-forth discussion with Dr. Hurd on topics of interest. Also follow Dr. Hurd on Twitter at @MichaelJHurd1, and see “Michael Hurd” on MeWe.