We live in an interconnected, interdependent world where our personal choices affect all of us. This is particularly true of our social healthcare system. By contributing through our taxes to provide a healthcare system that serves all of us, we create a better society for everyone. This works because of the fundamental axiom that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
All of us face health challenges in our lives, some hereditary, others accidents due to the changes and chances of life, others due to the abuses of people and some self-inflicted illnesses.
When we make individual choices resulting in self-inflicted illnesses, we all rely on the healthcare system cracks and eventually collapse. When people choose not to get a COVID 19 vaccination, take drugs, or drink or smoke excessively because it is their right and then become ill, all of us share the costs to treat them. Importantly, the invaluable healthcare resources they consume are not available to others in desperate need of care.
Yes, we have the right to choose, but we also have the responsibility to the society we live in and the planet we share. When we set the common good above self-interest, we make a better world for all.
Don Brown
Sooke
editor@sookenewsmirror.com
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