"With all due respect, what's telling is that I haven't heard of you in the last 25 years."
I find it telling that in 25 years of attending every pro-free market group that I can find in Utah, that I've been unable to find any that are brave enough to discuss free market reform. The picture below shows the sum total of Utahans along the Wasatch Front who showed up for the "Stand Up For Religious Freedom Rally in Salt Lake." This well publicized national rally drew massive crowds around the nation.
There is close to two million people along the Wasatch Front. Most of the people in that tiny crowd are cameramen and politicians come to grandstand before the cameras.
The LDS Church drums the theme that they are a persecuted religion. The LDS vote as a block and dominate politics when they get a foothold, and fail miserably to support the religious freedom of others.
The fact that the LDS Church did not send people out to support Religious Freedom and the fact that Sutherland simply brushes aside attempts to talk actual free market reform is telling.
It tells me that the Republican Establishment (at least in Utah) is unwilling to engage in efforts to defend religious freedom nor is it willing to engage in actions to restore free market in health care.
I have to admit. I am upset at the way Utah is. It shouldn't be this way. We do not have to be a mean and oppressive people.
That said. I do need to apologize for the rude tone of my challenge to Sutherland.
I actually chose to use the rude tone as a strategy.
As you see, I've openly supported Sutherland Institute since it was founded in 1995. I've made multiple attempts to contact the group. Sutherland has a tendency to shove people aside.
Personally, I've never expected anything from Sutherland.
My message is that the problem in health care is the use of group funding for individual consumption (insurance) and that solution is to restore the concept of self-funded care.
This message is a direct attack on insurance, which is the primary funder of many free market think tanks. This message is a existential threat to groups that get money from insurance.
I am fully aware that groups funded by insurance need to avoid discussions of alternatives to insurance to keep their funding. That is why I am so careful in trying to contact groups. I do not want to alienate the group's funding.
However, it is also ridiculous that I cannot find any group in Utah willing to discuss the the theme: "The problem in health care is group funding of individual consumption."
Such a debate directly strikes at the foundations of ObamaCare (and of RomneyCare). It could make a difference in efforts to restore the free market.
If there was an politically accepted viable mechanism for self-funding health care, the proponents of freedom could destroy the intellectual foundations of socialized medicine. (A HSA plus high deductible insurance is not alternative to insurance).
The idea of a rudely stated challenge came to me while reading Mero Moment posts on Sutherland. Mr. Mero often says rude things about his enemies. So, I thought a challenge matching Sutherland's rational style might work.
It actually worked to create the first acknowledgement that I am a living human being. It did not result in a debate on the merits of the "Health Compact" v. "The Medical Savings and Loan." (The medical savings and loan is the name I've given to my approach to free market health care reform.)
I am still stuck with the problem. I am in an intellectual hole called Utah. In order to discuss this important issue, my only hope is to find a group that is willing to debate the issue.
What I hope to find is a group that is willing to both host the meeting and who will allow me to run a "recreational fundraiser" in conjunction with the meeting. The fundraiser is akin to Relay for Life, but with a little more excitement. Here is my Contact Form.
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