• CON

    The United States is estimated to have the highest...

    Health care is a right and thus a service that should be provided by a government

    Pro has strung together facts and figures without a cohesive case addressing the core philosophical question posed, which is does a right exist? I had already previously conceded in most modern states universal health care provided by the state works from a practical and functional standpoint. Pro in fact conceded that in some areas the hybrid approach of the United States with a mostly market but some state intervention is better than states with universal state ran systems. Especially when it comes to wait times. Pro says "In the United States, fewer than 10% of patients wait more than two months to see a specialist versus 41% in Canada, 34% in Norway, and 28% in France. The US 5-year survival rate for all cancers is 64.6%, over 10% higher than the 5-year cancer survival rate in Europe (51.6%). A 2009 study found that the United States had better cancer screening rates than 10 European countries including France, Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland. The United States is estimated to have the highest prostate and breast cancer survival rates in the world." Statements like this would lead one to believe that less state intervention is better in many if not most cases than more state intervention. Still this is not addressing the question of this debate. The question is what constituents a right? Are positive right really valid rights? It is moral to use force to provide a good or service? If a right to health care exists as a positive right then where does it end? Is there a right to clothing, shelter, food, or a certain income? I argue you have no right to use force to accomplish such things. Government is force, your relationship with government is not voluntary and I refuse to accept the notion that we need violence accomplish civil society. The fact of the matter is to provide health care or anything else though the state it requires resources are forcefully taken from the population and redistributed. This flies directly in the face of everything we learned in Kindergarten, don't hit people and don't take their stuff. Voting to take stuff from people though a state is no different.