Quote:

the G-man said:
However, we are discussing personal rights, or individual rights, such as the right to free speech, etc.

The "right" to National Defense is not an individual right, exercised by a single person. I can't, for example, call up the US Air Force and cause them to bomb Iran.




Quote:

Jim Jackson said:
I don't dispute any of this.

But none of what you have said prohibits the consideration of health care as a basic right in the United States, regardless of its cost.

As I've said, the Constitution doesn't specifically deny health care as a right, so therefore, we can in 2005 and beyond, consider it and argue for (or against) it.



However, I would respecfully submit that you need to read the above in the context of my earlier post defining rights vs wishes.

Yes, you could amend the constitution to make health care a "right." But doing so would be, IMHO, contrary to our (or at least our founders') core beliefs of what rights, as opposed to wishes, were.