I want to tell you a brief story about an organization you already know all about – your local Fire Department or often technically the local “Fire Service”.
From wikipedia:
Aside from the main task of extinguishing fires, the goals of firefighting are (in order) saving lives, saving property, and protecting the environment.
Firefighters don’t just rush into burning buildings, they also rescue trapped people and animals. Firefighters also maintain and enforce certain codes, such as how many people can gather in a nightclub or restaurant, and make sure that proper preventative measures are in place, such as sprinkler systems and (handheld) fire extinguishers.
Furthermore, the local Fire Department is often the first responders to HAZMAT incidents, when chemicals or other dangerous environmental toxins are spilled or released into the environment.
So far I’ve told you absolutely nothing you do not know already – LOL. So what’s the point?
My point is every single aspect of the Fire Department is “socialist” in the extreme.
Do firefighters respond to calls for medical service involving illegal aliens? YES
Do poor people (including citizens who pay little or no taxes) get the same treatment as the rich? YES
Is the Fire Department paid for by taxes and run by the government? YES
Does the Fire Department engage in preventative measures to reduce financial costs and save people’s lives? YES
Is the Fire Department and its services mandated or even mentioned in the U.S. Constitution as an inherent “right” of the people? NO
Interestingly enough, once upon a time yes in the great and awesome United States of America, there WERE no government run, “socialist” fire departments. The firefighting crews of the day were private organizations operating in the free market.
Before this, people used to have to pay for fire coverage from a private company and mount a kind of “medallion” on their house or else any responding firefighter would let it burn down. Those medallions are now collector’s items from a past era.
One of the Founding Fathers (TM), Benjamin Franklin aka “Socialist Ben” wrote in his autobiography about his role in organizing one of the FIRST not-for-profit American firefighting departments:
This was much spoken of as a useful piece,
and gave rise to a project, which soon followed it, of forming a
company for the more ready extinguishing of fires, and mutual
assistance in removing and securing the goods when in danger.The utility of this institution soon appeared, and many more desiring
to be admitted than we thought convenient for one company, they were
advised to form another, which was accordingly done; and this went on,
one new company being formed after another, till they became so
numerous as to include most of the inhabitants who were men of
property; and now, at the time of my writing this, tho’ upward of fifty
years since its establishment, that which I first formed, called the
Union Fire Company, still subsists and flourishes, tho’ the first
members are all deceas’d but myself and one, who is older by a year
than I am.The small fines that have been paid by members for absence
at the monthly meetings have been apply’d to the purchase of
fire-engines, ladders, fire-hooks, and other useful implements for each
company, so that I question whether there is a city in the world better
provided with the means of putting a stop to beginning conflagrations;
and, in fact, since these institutions, the city has never lost by fire
more than one or two houses at a time, and the flames have often been
extinguished before the house in which they began has been half
consumed.
A good friend of mine for many years was a specialist in investigating fires. She told me that the number one (truly) accidental cause for housing fires (i.e. not arson) was people who were frying food and wandered off somewhere or got distracted and then a grease fire broke out.
Now isn’t this an interesting parallel to the healthcare “debate”? People who eat greasy food are costing those of us who eat healthier more money! LOL
As “Socialist Ben” correctly noticed, a communal organization extinguishes flames before they can spread. I note likewise that communal health organizations “extinguish” (treat and quarantine) infectious and communicable diseases before they can spread.
Even in the most xenophobic scenario, wouldn’t it be better to treat little brown person Jose or “scary” Chang Wang to be treated for his drug-resistant tuberculosis (or SARS or swine flu or you name it) instead of allowing it to be spread?
The fire department 1) treats everyone regardless of income/status 2) works extensively on preventative measures and 3) is entirely government run, regulated and operated.
The fire department is ALSO 1) more cost-effective than previous “free market” firefighting companies and 2) more effective.
Is it really THAT difficult to comprehend? Sooner or later, everyone benefits from the fire department and sooner or later, everyone benefits from universal healthcare.
Pax
