[Nielsio]

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After some coaxing I agreed to serve as the President of the state Ophthalmology society. This mostly means that I am supposed to raise money and advocate for the profession on the state legislature level. I'm pretty cool with that. But two bills I am supporting have given me pause about how I've pidgeonholed myself as a Libertarian.

The first one has a clause in it that states that if a person does laser surgery on the eyeball that they have to be an ophthalmologist. Sounds pretty straightforward, right? I think so, but the optometrists probably arent too happy about it since their national agenda is to expand their scope of practice by legislative fiat. The pure Libertarian position would be that the government has no business telling people what they can and can't do in matters like this and that they have no power to "protect the public" as this type of legislation purportedly does. In a Libertarian society there would be no medical boards, and I could have someone with a high school education open up a shop next to me advertising that he fixes retinas. In theory, I would succeed in this marketplace because I would have private companies (Like the American Board of Ophthlamology) or the like certify me as knowing what I am doing. I suppose one could then take their chances with Joe Bob's retina palace (which would no doubt charge them less than I would), but this stipulates that the public is educated enough to make the distinction.

The second bill makes it illegal for hospitals to enter into exclusive contracts with insurance companies. One of the hospitals in town (the Big Nasty Hospital or BNH) has some phat exclusive contracts which drive patients into its facilities. The smaller players in town are lobbying to eliminate this practice. I personally don't like the way the BNH does business so I find myself supporting the little guys here. But its very anti-libertarian. The market shouldn't be interfered with by the state, and this bill is just incompatible with pure Libertarian principles.

ok, pvn, tomCollins, borodog- tear me up.

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This is truly wonderful. You, sir, have woken up to your moral sense. This is the future of freedom, this is the future of a civilized society.