31
Jul
2017
Jesus on ObamaCare
This is where we now stand in US politics:
Looks like it's Captain Obvious time: Jesus healed people through His own mercy and power, not by taking from others against their will. https://t.co/dYp6ChTUj4
— Robert P. Murphy (@BobMurphyEcon) July 30, 2017
If you possess infinite cosmic power, you, too, can provide unlimited healthcare and immortality for all!
You’d also (per Mises) never “act” because you’d never face a means-ends tradeoff.
God introduces Himself to Moses not as “I Act” but “I Am”
I’m sure He weighed the pros and cons of which verb to use 😉
The healing power of Jesus was so amazing, that the Roman soldiers needed to arrest all the sick people and force them to see Jesus under threat of prison or property confiscation.
Hey Bob, slightly out of left field I heard your interview with Scott Horton here:
https://scotthorton.org/062617-robert-murphy-on-trumpcare/
I’m not going to doubt your economic analysis but there’s a few points I think you missed. Scott asked about government giving additional subsidies direct to insurance companies… yes this happened under Obama but it was completely illegal in as much as those appropriations were never passed by Congress, so Obama just waved his pen and phone around and paid the money.
In 2016 Judge Rosemary Collyer ruled against those payments, “Congress is the only source for such an appropriation, and no public money can be spent without one,”
The other question, later Scott starts talking about the courts and insurance companies working against individuals who can’t afford to defend themselves. Now courts are a government monopoly and the system is certainly easier for large companies where they have lawyers on staff than it is for an individual who has just come down sick and depends on the insurance for money. I’m not sure if a private justice system would be better, but at very least it’s fair to point out that the courts we have have right now is a monopoly system.
Later in the interview, Scott asked about the kind of “worst case” situation where someone too poor for insurance has a baby with some unusual disease. Actually almost this exact scenario happened with Charlie Gard in the UK under their single payer NHS system (also a monopoly). What happened in that case was they collected over a million dollars in voluntary donations where private people really wanted to help that baby… and it was the state medical system that actively prevented the parents from attempting the experimental treatment.
And yeah, I know this treatment was not guaranteed by any means, but I think that the NHS doctors were very afraid that the experimental treatment would work, thus demonstrating that a private voluntary system actually works better. Anyway, it’s an excellent example which should regularly be remembered.
These people should meet up with the guys that say God is responsible for giving people horrible diseases or defects, or just straight up kills people through not intervening in disasters
I saw a tweet a couple of months back where the woman acknowledged that the Christians she knew were not mean and hateful yet she could not comprehend why they did not support government-provided universal healthcare; they wanted what she wanted yet she could not picture it happening outside of government benevolence..
‘Looks like it’s Captain Obvious time: Jesus healed people through His own mercy and power, not by taking from others against their will.’
If a section of the population had got rich by state-sponsored appropriation and this left others unable to provide for their basic needs – would Jesus still have been against taking from the group of appropriators against their will to address the situation ?
Yes. Jesus had plenty of opportunities to tell his disciples to rise up against their oppressors with violence, but he never did so. There is a lot of evidence in the gospel accounts, both from Jesus’ behaviour and explicit instructions, that all oppression and violence were to be met with love, not repaid in kind.
He dined with Zaccheus, a tax collector, who most likely had become rich through the standard practice of collecting more than the Romans demanded and keeping the difference. Zaccheus was not told he must give back to the poor, but rather decided to do so own his own after Jesus treated him with compassion and grace. (Luke 19:1-10)
Jesus regularly denounced the Pharisees for a spiritual, rather than financial corruption and false teachings which harmed those not of the high priest order. But when Nicodemus came to Jesus to learn, Jesus did not demand he give up his political power or share some of his almost certainly greater wealth with poorer Jews; he spent some time teaching instead, planting seeds which bore fruit when Nicodemus later tried to defend Jesus against the plan of the Sanhedrin to arrest him. (John 3:1-15; 7:50-51)
When he was arrested at Gethsemane, Jesus instructed Peter, who was ready to fight for him, to put away his sword, even though Jesus knew it meant his own death. (John 18:10-11)
Then there is Matthew chapter 5: “44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” ”
And the well-known instruction from Mark chapter 12: “28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” ”
And of course, Jesus hardly lived in an egalitarian paradise; I think it’s fair to say that the difference in standard of living between the richest and poorest quintiles was probably far greater then than it is today, and Jesus could easily have evened things out if that was the goal. He instructed specific individuals in specific circumstances to give up their own wealth, when it was an obstacle in their way, but never advocated for any sort of forcible wealth redistribution. Jesus taught that the kingdom of God breaks through when individual hearts are transformed, and that transformation can never take place by force.
Thanks Amber, that is a way more detailed answer than I expected , but very interesting even to this non-Christian!
I have a fair amount of internet-drama time these days what with nursing a newborn every two hours, and this is a topic I care deeply about, so I figured why not? I’m glad you appreciated it!
He did not heal everyone.