Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Richard Epstein, on volunteerism in health care
Interesting, and definitely worth a moment of your precious time...
5 Comments:
By 
, at
Thu Feb 23, 12:21:00 AM:
Excellent. It's funny that the government does not understand that force charity is no charity at all. It's a lot more like stealing.
By , at
Thu Feb 23, 07:50:00 AM:
Sitting in his Property class as a first year law student was a revelation. We didn't learn a lot of black letter property law - though that's what was on the exam - but every day you walked away having heard something incredibly thought provoking.
By 
Assistant Village Idiot, at
Fri Feb 24, 08:26:00 PM:
The received wisdom is that charity did not work, therefore government had to step in. There is a strong impression of this, but data is poor.
It is absolutely true that people have suffered for lack of charity over the course of American history. But it is also true, as Epstein notes, that there are gaps now, and have been in every system. Which is greater?
By , at
Fri Feb 24, 09:57:00 PM:
True, Assistant V. I. When my mother-in-law was a girl she worked in the St. Vincent de Paul shelter during the depression giving away boxes of food to the poor. Almost every family would look through the contents and give back something they didn't need for "those less fortunate".
I have said it many times, as have we all.
"Not All Change is Good"
By , at
Sun Feb 26, 07:17:00 PM:
Sounds great! Let's apply this to emergency services as well. If a real need exists, your charitable neighbors, or a for-profit service may come to your aid. Why do we need professional, overpaid firemen, when we can rely on charitable volunteers?
I am actually proud that my tax dollars go to help families down on their luck. Reliance on a phantom "group private charity" outpouring is based on flawed views of group responsibility. Let's instead consider the bystander effect. Someone else will take care of the problem. Who of the witnesses to the stabbing death of Kitty Genovese was responsible for helping her? The arguments expressed in this video are simply a cover to help us feel better about ourselves when we are being heartless and stepping over the homeless person freezing on the sidewalk.
