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Show HAVE Capitalism z.f:i££-v:?\$ i»^« mi W&. 3W,,V : ,&t^fe RH Sfc ^^ ;'^.^:?Wi MfV-<"rC-*'** • « M&&& * : ••r<m raso? MERINDA DAVIS r>o. iriK&£ &?ft?f estat DAVE IBA/UVU Review *<^£ Is health care reform communist? And would that be a bad thing? Taking temperature and surplus-labor sssiont 3UE DAVID SELF NEWLIN .; Opinions editor If you do a cursory internet search for "health care bill" and "communism," as I am sure many thousands of people are doing daily, what you find is interesting. Apparently there are some communists, both foreign and domestic, who think our new health care system is just super-duper. On the other hand there are thousands of anti-communist pundits and bloggers yelping about how horrible the communist/socialist/fascist new plan is. All I can ask is why both of these groups have gotten it so wrong. The central feature of this new health care plan is that it mandates everyone, with some exceptions, purchase an insurance plan from some private insurance company. If they are unable to do so, then they either receive subsidies from the government in order to do so, or they fall under Medi- care or Medicaid coverage. Many more will be covered by some kind of health care. Something about this could be mistaken for "socializing" medicine. But we can't speak too soon. A few key words are "purchase" and "private insurance." Though the ?i. government will expand Medicare and Medicaid, the primary means of increasing insurance coverage is by forcing people to purchase it; that is, to spend their earned income on it, rather than their tax money. The people who offer this insurance are companies that operate at a profit. They make money when you are forced to buy coverage from them. These profits don't go to the government, and neither are they distributed to the public in any way. Privately owned and operated companies keep all of that profit. To put it bluntly, this health care bill institutionalizes capitalism by forcing ydu'to pay money to a few profit seeking companies. As a matter of fact, there are many capitalist countries that don't even allow insurance companies to make a profit, much FOP Jg^l, require from Far from movin moving f ° tOWOrd cnninI SOCiaiJSm, thiS hill nr- toward socialism,this bill actually insures a sort of hyperca italism P ' k-mi where profits VJV-* tUOlly j ij are not only allowed, inSTl- but required tuteS O bygovem- SOfT OT CODJ, .. TOllSITV nluS Insurance itself turns sickness into a commodity to be bought , ^ r ment force. " * and sold and profited from like any other commodity, and this bill only makes that easier. It is true that there are some regulations, like forbidding denial of coverage to those with "pre-existing conditions," and putting price caps on plans. But these don't change the essential capitalist structure of the bill. It is ironic that this very same bill that institutes this state-sponsored capitalism actually eviscerates another industry that had previously been guaranteed profits, namely the student loan industry. Now the federal government originates student loans, rather than private companies. This is the only part of the bill that could be interpreted as somehow approaching "socialism," and even this interpretation is a big stretch. Both those who are absurdly afraid of a communist takeover of the government and those who welcome it are simply wrong. m Stec mat rW: Wfc m Your name here4ANDYSHERWIN Asst. Opinions editor Last week, "UVU Review" published an opinions oiece I wrote called, "I Have a Permit For This." The piece concerned an incident in which the president of the College Republicans was detained by campus police officers because he was openly carrying a handgun on campus. The article examined the potential limitations and universality of the second amendment, its application on the campus of a state school, as well as the importance of both free speech and proper firearm training. Within just a handful of days, the uvureview.com comment board for the article lit up with, at the time of this writing, 19 comments, the vast majority of which took issue with the opinions articulated in the article. This is great. Despite my article being nearly-universally disdained by the commenters, I could not be more pleased with the reaction. Because there was a reaction. The News, Culture, Sports, and V sections of the paper are there to inform and entertain about events concerning UVU students and our community. The Opinions section, though, is for just that: expressing opinions. Commenters, if you disagree vehemently with an opinion that is posited in an article, please, keep commenting. That's what it's there for. But if you really want your voice heard, if you really want to combat an opposing viewpoint, write for the paper. Write a response and submit it to us. There's a pervasive misconception that media, including (if not especially) "UVU Review," is run by aObama-worshipping, socialism-propagating homosexuals. While about 80 percent of our staff is com- prised of that exact type of person (kidding), the paper is substantially more varied than that. I'm Assistant Opinions Editor and, if forced, would classify myself as a fiscally conservative, socially liberal, independent. I support the free market, gay marriage, and, despite what some may believe, the second amendment, and I'm opposed to the existing health care bill, censorship of any kind, and the Twilight books. Hell, I even voted for Bush in 2004 and only kind of regret it. If you're concerned with potential censorship based on your views being different from your editors, fear not! On Dec. 8,2009,1 wrote an article criticizing Sarah Palin's politics, as well as her overwhelmingly annoying media presence that, I argued, She doesn't deserve. On Jan. 25,2010, we published a response to my article, where an adjunct for the Behavioral Sciences department took me to task, suggesting that I needed to "straighten out [my] political thinking." And we were happy to publish it! This week, you can begin applying for positions on the editorial staff of "UVU Review" for the 2010-2011 academic year. The best way to get your voice out there is to apply. Get involved! Contribute weekly! The point of something like the Opinions section is to open up a dialogue about the issues and events concerning UVU students like you. Don't like where you think the paper's head is at? Help change it. "UVU Review" is only reflective of the students involved with it. So if it doesn't reflect you, jump on in. The water's fine. . L e ft e r wit h e ed it or requirements • uvu.review.opinions@gmail.com • Letters must be turned in on Wednesday by noon in order to be printed in the next edition. • Please provide an electronic copy regardless of whether or not you wish to submit a hard copy. • We make no guarantee that letters will be printed. • All letters become the property of UVU Review as soon as they are submitted. • Letters 300 words or less have a greater chance of being published- anything longer will be edited for content. • Anonymous letters are only publishable when the safety or professional status of the letter writer is in jeopardy. ^ |