Health Care Post

To start things off simply, the Declaration of Independence clearly says that we have an unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The right to life, in my opinion, does not mean that other people should have to make you food, or provide you with clothing and shelter. "The right to the pursuit of happiness is precisely that: the right, to the pursuit" (Peikoff, pg. 86). Anyone can pursue the life they want, but it should not be handed to them. Everyone in the nation starts with the opportunity to make their life the way they want it to be. If they want to make the most of it, great. If they don't, why should someone have to be there to make it better for them? Now, I understand that many people need healthcare because they may get cancer and they need help because they can't pay for it. But this is not always the case.
I understand that things like cancer happen, and many of these people are innocent. However, people who may have been addicted to drugs or alcohol, in my opinion, are not innocent. They have put themselves in this position. Because of this, healthcare cannot be a right. There is too much of a gray area. Innocent people need help, sure, but people who are not innocent want help. Why should they receive it? They (more often than not) put themselves in the position they are in. However, why should the innocent people not get the help they need? It is because of this confusion that I have to say that healthcare should not be a right, because I do not think that it should be made free to those who do not deserve it. As Peikoff said in Chapter 2 of the reading, "Observe that all legitimate rights have one thing in common: they are rights to action, not to rewards from other people." (Peikoff, pg. 85).
One way that has been proven to work rather well, in order to help pay for things that people want or need, is to try and make an income to help pay your own way to get the help you need, not to sit around and wait. People have been coming to America for ages, pursuing the American Dream. I think that people who do not try and take things into their own hands and work to make things better for themselves are taking this amazing freedom we have in America for granted. Why is it that there are people here in America that wish that the government would take the well earned money from people who have rightfully earned it and give it to people who may actually deserve it or may not? It makes no sense to me.
There are people in America today who deserve healthcare because of unexpected controversies like cancer for example. However, do drugs or drink alcohol until they realize they need help. Sorry, but to those people I simply say, no. You do not deserve healthcare as a right. I have to say healthcare should not be a right because it sickens me to think people like that should be able to receive help without paying their own way. The money instead comes from the middle class who have earned the money themselves through the jobs they have rightfully received. "Certainly people can afford it. Where do you think the money is coming from right now to pay for it all..." (Peikoff, pg. 89).
Overall, I find it hard to say that healthcare in America should be a right. I can't stomach the thought that people who simply do not deserve it are getting it. However it is also hard to think that those who do deserve it are not getting it. But that is exactly why it can't be a right. There is too much confusion. If people need medical care then they need to earn it, it can't be given to them. People who are not working or people who have doing drugs and drinking alcohol their entire lives simply cannot be given this privilege.