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I would like to hear a libertarian argument against public healthcare. An example is salt iodination. In some parts of the US and in most parts of my country there was a very high incidence of goiter, which came hand in hand with a birth defect called cretenism. Salt iodination has completely eliminated these conditions, but today it may be linked to a drastic increase in Hashimoto incidence. But still, I would argue that Hashimoto is more benign than cretenism and other goitre related complications. What are your thoughts?

#asknostr #grownostr #health

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elsat 1y ago

Start here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/seven-reasons-abandon-public-health-system

vlada 1y ago

Thanks, I'll give it a read.

elsat 1y ago

I’ll add that you present a strawman.

Disease X is cured by Y, and only “public healthcare” provides the cure.

vlada 1y ago

I am providing real life examples, not a straw man argument. How would the market solve the issue of iodine defficiency? Perhaps those people living in areas of endemic goitre with undamaged IQ would be enticed to buy high iodine containing foods?

You could say the same about smallpox eradication, which would not have been possible without vaccination programs. These are just examples. I am not talking about individual healthcare, which can and should be privatized, but public health services.

MAHDOOD 1y ago

Do you believe it’s okay to use violence to make people do what they don’t want to do?

vlada 1y ago

Salt manufacturers were forced to add iodine to salt, which cured people of a serious disease.

MAHDOOD 1y ago

It’s a simple yes or no answer

vlada 1y ago

No, you don't get to impose simple answers about a complex topic. Violence is justified when it comes to self defence, which is why we form governments. Public health also extends to stuff like food safety, which can protect people from poisoning in case the producer decides to cut corners.

You do realize goitre and cretinism were a very serious medical condition. It is now almost completely eradicated due to salt iodination laws. I just fail to see how market mechanisms can accomplish this in a state of anarchy.

MAHDOOD 1y ago

If you answer my questions you may be able to see how this can be accomplished without government haha

jgbtc 1y ago

Government never admits they're wrong and will double down on bad policies. The free market is a superior feedback mechanism for correcting bad decisions.