Over on Facebook I linked to an article in Ohio that I thought would amuse people only to find it outraged a conservative/libertarian, I don’t know what he was.  Here was the original article.  It was all about a state senator proposing a bill that would force men to bring a signed affidavit from their partner that they were impotent before they could get Viagra, and placing other obstacles in the way of obtaining this medication.  It was meant to be satirical, a way to indicate that what is being done to women’s health is outrageous.

Then came the long argument that basically boiled down to f**k ’em if they can’t pay for their own medicine.  Insurance, employers, whoever shouldn’t have to pay for care.

What struck me was how incredibly short sighted this attitude can be.  We don’t live in isolated enclaves where we never interact with other people.  We are part of a society that is healthier, safer and more productive if people have a basic level of health care.

Take for example the classroom.  Do these people really want their kid sitting next to a kid that hasn’t been vaccinated for measles or mumps or whopping cough because the parents can’t afford to get them vaccinated.  (Or because they are left wing nuts who think vaccinations cause autism).

Do they really want the waiter or busboy or cook to have undiagnosed and untreated hepatitis?  

How about flu shots, especially if a particularly virulent strain races through the country.  The more people who got a flu shot the better.

Bottom line, there should be some sense of the common good.  After all the original motto of the United States was E Pluribus Unum — out of many one.  Personally, I like it a lot better than In God We Trust because I haven’t seen any divine intervention and miracles helping society.  I have seen what people of good, working together can accomplish.