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This has been my argument against government-controlled health care in the US for years - especially when debating those who consider health care a “right.”

I start with their premise of a service provided to them by someone else as a “right.”

Me: “So you think health care should be a ‘right,’ correct?”

Them: “Yes! People have a right to health care!”

Me: “Presumably, this health care is provided by people, correct, not merely machines which you can activate yourself, correct?”

Them: “Of course! There need to be doctors, nurses, etc...”

Me: “So you believe you have a right to command these doctors and nurses to provide you with a service?”

Them: “They would be paid, of course...”

Me: “Suppose they don’t like your pay schedule. Suppose they don’t view the pay as sufficient compensation for their overall efforts...?”

Them: “Well, we’d prohibit them from refusing to treat people. They’d have to treat people and they could not pick and choose...”

Me: “How ironic you use the word ‘pick.’ Because there is no difference between what you’re proposing and the actions of plantation owners following the Civil War. Just for your edification, there’s an amendment to the US Constitution that prohibits you from compelling people to provide you with a service when they don’t like the pay schedule. Maybe you want to read up on that. Oh, and by the way - the question of people being commanded to provide labor at a rate the employer finds favorable was pretty much settled in April, 1865. Might want to read up on that too.”

Them: At this point, my interlocutor goes ape-poop. Usually ballistic, like an ICBM. Oh, it is entertaining to observe...

The fundamental truth here is that:

1. No man has a “right” to the exertions of another. Period, full stop.

2. Health care requires the exertions of other people.

3. Therefore, there is no “right” to health care. Period, full stop.

4. People who want to argue this with liberals should also NB that the Democrats were on the side of slavery in the 1860’s as well, and it was the new Republican party who argued for the end of slavery then, too, so both Republicans and Democrats are being intellectually consistent over the centuries on the subject: the GOP against and the DNC for.