So… this is certainly the first time I have ventured into politics on this blog, and I hope it’s one of the last. But I am doing that here precisely because my like-minded fellow business authors, speakers, bloggers seem a bit cowed by the extremists in the business community who would rather we remain silent.
Here’s the straight dope: If you want an entrepreneurial renaissance in America, the most direct route there is via the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). There are untold millions of would-be entrepreneurs in the U.S. hanging on, in quiet desperation, to deadening corporate jobs–because they can’t afford to leave. Millions who understand the catastrophic consequences of boldly heading out to uncharted entrepreneurial territory… only to have someone in the family develop a chronic illness or life-threatening condition. Or who already have a family member with a chronic illness, and thus can’t afford to quit a corporate job and start paying $1,800 a month for a single prescription. (That is a real figure for one of the most effective MS treatments.)
Imagine the creative and economic boon when all of this talent and energy is released from the corporate tethers that bind it. It will be remarkable. Don’t listen to the propaganda from the chambers of commerce with their vested interest in selling insurance, nor to the scare tactics of the people who think a safety net equals communism (whatever they picture “communism” is). The US is the only developed Western nation without a functioning safety net. And people –middle class people — are falling hard without one.
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Amen! I have been saying the same thing for the last two years! Entrepreneurism will explode without having the concern of not being able to find quality, affordable healthcare. Great post!
Many thanks, Lois!
So you’re suggesting that the rest of the population subsidize the risks inherent in entrepreneurship? Interesting concept because until now there had been no such socialized system and it doesn’t seem to have stifled entrepreneurship in the US, quite the contrary.
We have different views of history, definitions of socialism (educated people are not going to get scared, in 2012, by the “socialism” bogey monster–visit Denmark, Canada–wow what some call socialism is really spooky isn’t it), and certainly a different view of what is and isn’t subsidized in today’s United States.
Everything from farmers to the airlines are heavily, heavily subsidized in the U.S. for policy reasons.
But the point here isn’t subsidies, it is appropriate scale. It’s not possible to do health insurance that actually protects sick people on a patchwork basis, any more than you can do airline safety on a “provider by provider basis.” The government had to step in to create what is the safest form of transportation in the world via the FAA and its partnership with industry. And the same is true in the arena of health insurance.
Thanks for taking a stand on this, Micah. Universal, affordable health care stands alongside good food, safe housing, and good education as basic needs everyone should have access to. Without having to worry about those things, we can afford to let our ideas, creativity and entrepreneurship blossom.
Thanks, Lynn!
It’s so refreshing to see informed and intelligent discussion on this subject. I love the fact that you actually replied to criticism from Jerome. Too foten it seems that everyone is screaming at the other side and no one is listening, much less actually debating the subject.
Many thanks for reading, and for this great comment, Ms. Oliver!