Trans fat ban a result of our own demands

Where did the State of California get the idea they have the authority to ban food ingredients like trans fats, as happened in Sacramento last week?

The answer is simple: They got the idea from us.

More specifically, the state’s abandonment of individual and business freedom in this case is a direct consequence of Americans’ demand that the government “do something” about health care costs and health insurance coverage.

Health insurance works on the basis of the fact that at any given time, healthy participants are helping subsidizing the care of those who need medical help. When the time comes and a healthy participant is injured or sick, then he is able to use the money to pay for care.

So obviously, everybody involved in the system has a vested interest in keeping costs down. Health insurance companies encourage participants to live healthier lifestyles and may even penalize those who make poor choices by increasing their rates or even discontinuing their services. If they don’t do so, healthy participants may become unhappy with their growing premiums and may look for coverage elsewhere, if possible.

But what happens when your health insurance provider is the government? A private insurer can’t literally force you to do anything. The same can’t be said for the government. The recognition of rights causes certain risks; if you acknowledge the freedom of people to do what they want with their bodies, then some people will do bad things to their bodies. So clearly a great way to reduce health risks — and therefore health costs — is to take rights away.

This is government thinking today. It’s the same kind of thinking that brings about government health insurance plans that would require all Americans participate whether they want to or not. Young people are in general healthier and in less need of medical attention than their elders, so they tend to need less in health insurance and sometimes make a decision to do without. That’s a problem, because now there are fewer healthy people in the health care pool, therefore driving up the costs for all participants.

So why not just force them to buy health insurance? Why not just essentially steal the money from the healthy to pay for the sick? That’s what happens when the government forces people to purchase something they don’t want or need.

When we turn to the government to solve our problems, we have to remember that we now live in a country where the government believes it has the authority to determine our rights. If the “easiest” way to solve a problem is to take certain rights away, the government may well make that decision for us.