Mandatory Insurance is Wrong

The reason we have government in the first place is to deal with the risks of living in a free society. Outsourcing that job to private companies by mandating that citizens purchase insurance is a corruption of the social contract. If people are engaging in behavior that poses an unacceptable risk to others, then make that behavior illegal. Otherwise, leave them alone. If and when they harm someone else, hold them accountable. Prepaid punishment for crimes we may never commit is insane.

 

If you believe in the social contract claptrap you cannot assert that anything the government does violates it. Even Locke's version of social contract implies that the government exist naturally. Government is imposed on us by others, it is not natural.

 

I'm not leaning on any social contract theory. Just commenting that my grant of sovereignty is to government, not insurance companies.

 

You said it violated the social contract. I object to the concept of a social contract because it implies that government is natural and necessary to any human interaction.

 

ok.

That's fine. I'm not really making any claims about 'social contracts' per se. My point is that I'm willing to grant government the authority to tax me to finance the services it provides re: managing risk and keeping the peace. I'm not willing to grant that authority to private companies, which is essentially what we're doing when we turn to mandatory insurance to solve problems that should be dealt with by constitutionally limited, representative government.

 

Fair point.

How many "businesses" actually have the government FORCE us to buy their product?

Law! You Must Buy Cheerios! Makes it easy to be in the Cheerios business, I guess.

 

We already have hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people on the road without car insurance which is required by law because they can't afford it. What exactly is gonna be the punishment for those who can't afford to purchase health insurance?

 

I don't think we should be criminalizing things because they may be dangerous.

football, boxing, nascar, hockey, mountain climbing are ALL dangerous!

but shouldn't be illegal

however I DO OPPOSE MANDATORY insurance
(for health, for cars, for houses)

with the exception of house insurance which your bank/loan company has a right and responsibility to demand

SOME of the problems I see with mandatory car insurance is;
the RESPONSIBLE PARTY is quite often no longer responsible
and
since people know they can get insurance to cover any damage they are more likely to drive in a dangerous manner! "That's ok! my insurance covers it!"

Which also drives up OTHER INSURANCE PAYERS COSTS!

I've been driving for 40 years and NEVER had an accident and NEVER filed a claim!

and HOW MUCH have I paid in insurance in all those years?!?!?!?!

 

I have the same question.

 

Same thing as for the car insurance I suppose; increasingly onerous fines, jail time, etc...