Should Healthcare Be a Commodity? Depends on Whether You Actually Want Healthcare

Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp

“For any good or service, there are two alternatives to commodification: First, do without that thing. In a world where doctors and other health practitioners do their work just because they love it, subsisting on whatever alms grateful patients happen to throw their way, the number of healthcare workers available will dwindle, not grow. More people will receive less care. More people will die younger. Second, enslave those who can provide that thing and force them to provide it. … Slavery is wrong. It’s wrong if you expect the slaves to pick cotton, and it’s wrong if you expect the slaves to perform surgery. A nearly as obvious problem is that slaves tend to care less about, and put in less effort to achieve, positive results from their forced labor. Would YOU hand a slave a scalpel and demand a heart bypass?” (10/07/25)

https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20072