Rules are in place to benefit society

Richard Rychtarik, Las Vegas

Thursday, May 3, 2012 | 2:01 a.m.

Apparently some folks, like Richard McCord in his April 24 letter to the editor, take exception to the analogy of requiring vehicle liability insurance and federally mandated health insurance. They say it isn’t the same. Why is that? Perhaps because minimum vehicle liability insurance is mandated by all states but not the federal government. Point of fact is that you do have a choice not to own a vehicle, and if you do it must be insured.

Of course, what you don’t have is a choice of whether or not to own your body. So why should all other taxpayers subsidize your health care needs if you have the means to pay for health insurance but choose not to? What is and might be legally compulsory keeps coming up in conversations about the Affordable Care Act and the “penalty” that is imposed for not having health insurance. Filing and paying federal income tax is mandatory, and there is a real penalty if you don’t. Primary education is mandatory; everyone must attend. Yes, it is imposed and administered by the states, not the federal government. Even so, everyone must pay to support public education at the state and federal level, even if you have no children or choose to send your children to a private school. These tax payments to support public education are usually required for life. There are probably minor exceptions to every one of these mandates, but the general rules now in place are there in order to benefit all of society. Without them we would be just another third-world country.