Anyone who has been watching the news since last November will know that one of the more prominent issues in politics is what to do with the current health care bill, Obamacare. There have been multiple attempts to affect it, either by improving it, replacing it, or just getting rid of it with no replacement or back up. Those who want to keep it argue that universal healthcare is a right that everyone should have without being forced to cover bills that they can’t pay, while those that want it repealed believe that an individual should pay for their own way in life, rather than have everyone be responsible for them and pay for their health coverage. The argument seems to come down to what people believe is a “right”. We always hear about the “right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. And its clear that everyone has a right to see a doctor and be healthy. But does that mean they also have a right to have other’s pay for their visit. To me, if the question is phrased like that, it almost seems like they’re purposely taking advantage of the system. I see it more as having the right to be able to continue living with the same quality of life, before and after being sick. It doesn’t seem right for someone to be so drastically penalized for something they can’t control. An obvious argument brought up by the New Yorker article that we had to read for this Table Talk is that a hard working family should not provide benefit to someone who’s taking advantage of the system. And there will most likely be some people that just laze around, not bothering to put any effort into life and just leeching off the system. However, I believe that those who benefit and deserve to far outweigh those who take advantage. There’s no reason everyone should pay the consequence for a few bad apples. This is clearly an issue that will remain a topic of discussion in politics for many years(and possibly presidents) to come, and hopefully we’ll come to a conclusion that benefits everyone.

For those with interest in this topic, here is the article: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/02/is-health-care-a-right