Scott Brown: Any Port in a Storm

To any readers from Massachusetts who haven't yet voted, I urge you to head to the polls and cast a vote for Scott Brown. Why? One reason: all indications are that he will vote against Obamacare, and thus will be the crucial 41st vote that can stop the mudslide into socialism--for now. But that is enough.

Readers may recall that I abstained from voting for president. That was because there was nothing to be gained by voting for either terrible candidate, and although Obama has been a disaster for individual rights and capitalism, McCain easily could have been this bad. Scott Brown, however, has at least one clear positive.

The phrase "any port in a storm" always brings to my mind the idea of a pragmatic, unprincipled, "whatever works" mentality. It seems wishy-washy and weak. However, this morning I thought a bit more about it, and decided to call Brown the "Any Port in a Storm Candidate." If you're out on the sea and a Nor'easter comes, with high winds and 20 ft. seas, you get to land, no matter where it is. It's life or death, and even if it were war time and the only port was held by the enemy, docking there would give you better odds of living to fight another day.

This is the situation we're in right now. A solid win by Brown would not only stall Obamacare, but it would send a shot across the bow of the leftist block of the Legislative and Executive branches, and hopefully derail much of the rights-violating policies in the works.

Blogger Jared Rhoads at The Lucidicus Project, writes--noting the slight positive signs from Brown balanced with his contradictory statements--that

For defenders of individual rights and free markets, the apparent individualism is a promising sign. Maybe Brown could become a voice for capitalism—or at least for common sense. But there are still some very real concerns with Scott Brown. He says that he believes that "all Americans deserve healthcare coverage." What exactly does he mean by that? He says that he supports the health reforms that Massachusetts enacted under former governor Mitt Romney. Why?!?

For now, we need someone—practically anyone—to be the 41st vote. Supporting Scott Brown does not mean that the push toward socialized medicine has been completely thwarted. But it does mean that we live to fight another day. [bold added]

Jared also includes a play on Coakley's oft repeated--and false--claim that Brown voted in favor of denying emergency contraception to rape victims, satirizing the Boston Globe's editorial cartoon that follows her lies in lockstep:

Objectivist Roundup #131

Welcome to the January 14, 2010 edition of the Objectivist Roundup, your weekly dose of intellectual fuel and ammunition.

This roundup features posts by blog authors who are students and advocates of Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand. She called it a "philosophy for living on earth" and further described it:

My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.

"About the Author," Atlas Shrugged, Appendix.

Considering the events of the day you may notice that most of the posts below deal with politics. But note that they all share a common philosophical grounding in Objectivism, and consistently promote individual rights and the socio-economic system of laissez-faire capitalism to protect those rights. Such is the value of this roundup—weekly commentary on crucial issues from a rational, individual rights perspective.

And with that, I am pleased to present Objectivist Roundup #131!

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1. Burgess Laughlin presents What if other philosophers had been novelists too? posted at Making Progress, saying, "A novel demonstrates its author's philosophy, whether he holds it explicitly or implicitly. Ayn Rand demonstrated her philosophy, Objectivism, in her novels. What would have been the nature of novels by the three earlier primary philosophers (Plato, Aristotle, and Kant)?"


2. Rachel Miner presents Tool Box: The Movie Freeze Game & Body Language Dictionary posted at The Playful Spirit, saying, "Two tools to bring out the richness of social situations which have provided me lots of joyful moments."


3. Mike Zemack presents Aborting "CO2 Machines" posted at Principled Perspectives, saying, "Here is a brief perspective on the recent EPA ruling regulating CO2, including how it relates to issues such as the "pro-life" drive to legally ban abortion."


4. Gus Van Horn presents River Boat Epistemology posted at Gus Van Horn, saying, "Gus Van Horn plays Texas Hold'em for fun and profit."


5. John Drake presents The Concepts of Data and Information posted at Try Reason!, saying, "In this post, I explain an integration of the concepts of data and information terms of Objectivist's Epistemology."


6. Ottens presents Capitalism Under Persecution posted at Atlantic Sentinel, saying, "Defenders of capitalism have become scarce and capitalism itself, a forgotten ideal."


7. Paul Hsieh presents Where U.S. Health Care Ranks Number One posted at We Stand FIRM, saying, "In the political fight over health care, it's too easy to get lost in the negative. Here's a reminder of the positive values that we should be fighting for."


8. Ari Armstrong presents Avatar: Cinematic History, 'Matrix for Hippies' posted at AriArmstrong.com, saying, "Avatar is, ironically, a technological marvel that rails against technology."


9. Trey Givens presents Lottery Insurance posted at Trey Givens, saying, "This is another one of my Government Health Insurance posts. I just think health insurance is a real buzz kill and since it's regarded as unfair that some people get terribly ill and can't pay to keep themselves well, I also think it's unfair that I am not fabulously wealthy. Therefore, why doesn't the government step in to help me win the lottery?!"


10. Amy Mossoff presents A Little Thing posted at The Little Things, saying, "A brief explanation of why my blog is called The Little Things."


11. Stella presents Nanny city: A salt on our rights posted at ReasonPharm, saying, "Not content with taking away trans fats and mandating calorie counts, NYC's mayor wants to cut salt out of New Yorkers' diets -- for all that he doesn't follow such a diet himself."


12. Tom Utley presents South Carolina Freedom Rally - Jan 9 2010 posted at It's My Blog, saying, "There was a modest freedom rally in Columbia, SC on Jan 9th, 2010 and here are some pictures and commentary on the event."


13. John McVey presents What I have been doing lately posted at John J McVey, saying, "Say something like "He's been having fun with power tools recently.""


14. Beth Haynes presents Do American's pay more for their healthcare? posted at Wealth is not the Problem, saying, "Per capita healthcare expenditures or measurements of %GDP spent on healthcare are inadequate and misleading measures of the full cost of healthcare decisions."


15. Diana Hsieh presents Not Unintended Consequences posted at NoodleFood, saying, "The nasty consequences of government programs to prevent foreclosures should not be described as "unintended.""


16. Stephen Bourque presents One Reality: The Withdrawal of a Sanction? posted at One Reality, saying, "Is it possible that Google is withdrawing its implicit support of the Chinese government for moral reasons?"


17. C.W. presents Inflation Watch: Early 2010 posted at Krazy Economy, saying, "Maybe this period will be known as the grand pause, but it just seems that everyone and many markets are just waiting to see what is going to happen. We know it probably won't be good."


18. Kelly Elmore presents Books for the New Year posted at Reepicheep's Coracle, saying, "This is my end of the year book review - what I will be reading next and stats on what I read in 2009. I'm submitting it to the carnival because I would like to talk with other Objectivists about what they are reading."

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That concludes Objectivist Roundup #131. Next week's host will be Erosophia. Submit your blog article to the Objectivist Roundup using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Kirch on the Looming Doctor Shortage

Dr. Darrell Kirch, CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges, writes in today's Wall St. Journal that

Our nation currently faces a shortage of physicians expected to worsen as the number of people over age 65 (who use more than twice the health care of younger adults) doubles. Even with significant changes to the health-care delivery system and improved prevention, the United States will face a shortage of more than 125,000 physicians in the next 15 years

Considering his place of employment, it isn't surprising that he focuses on federal caps on the number of subsidies given for training doctors.

While U.S. medical schools are working to increase their classes by 30%, these new medical school graduates will not increase the nation's overall supply of physicians, or even have a residency position in which to train, unless the government lifts the cap on residency training slots it pays for that was imposed as part of the Balanced Budget Act in 1997.

While I suppose lifting this "cap" on handouts to medical schools would likely lead an increase in the number of medical residents, it's a very shortsighted, limited, and ultimately counterproductive solution.

The most fundamental economic issue surrounding the shortage of physicians is not a cap on government subsidies, but the entire system of price controls and byzantine regulations of the health care industry, especially the distorting influence of Medicare/Medicaid.

I have written about this issue at length in a detailed post, The Flawed Economics of Socialized Medicine. Comparing this issue to the classic case study of gasoline price controls and shortages in the 1970s, I wrote:

To apply this economic lesson, one distinction must be stressed: at issue is not a shortage of doctors, but a shortage of health care services offered at the government-controlled price, under the government's regulations. With that in mind, if we substitute the supply of gasoline and its price controls with the availability of primary care appointments (supply) and Medicare/Medicaid-controlled prices, the clear picture emerges. . . no matter how much gas, or how many primary care doctors you have, if the price of a good (gas) or service (health care) is controlled, there will be shortages. Supply will not keep pace with artificially inflated demand.

Not only is the government distorting the market through price controls, they artificially limit the supply of producers (doctors) through licensing regulations, and as Kirch mentioned, by meddling with the supply of residencies through handouts. What we have now is a Central Plan gone awry. Kirch suggests modifying the Plan, but as I wrote:

Government planning, in any market, is doomed ultimately to fail. There is no good balance of controls and freedom. The solution is not picking the right government plan, nor is it manipulating the market in the false interests of social justice. The government cannot pick the "right number" of doctors, nor the "right price" for health care services. All such attempts to evade the reality of economics and the individual rights of consumers and producers result in disaster.

The only solution to the "doctor shortage," and the only reform that will respect the rights of all involved, is the total separation of economy and state.