Utilitarianism

One example in which the greatest good might conflict with my own personal happiness is in the subject of the socialization of health care—i.e., government subsidizing health care. On the face of it, this sounds like a great thing because then people like I do not have to worry about paying for health care: it is entirely free for us.

The costs might not come down (in fact they would probably go up—but the government would be paying for it, so it wouldn’t matter to me). So socialized medicine would be great for me and I would love it. However, it would not be great for the next generation which would be taxed with having to repay the debt the government would have to take out in order to pay for subsidized care. The government is already more than $20 trillion in debt.

If interest rates go up, the government will have trouble simply servicing its debt. I will have my free health care, but others will working just to pay taxes just to service the bill for my health care. Other programs will likely have to be cut—such as social security. Spending on the military would probably have to be cut in order to make sure there is enough money to cover everyone’s health care.

I for one think spending on the military should be cut because we are in too many foreign lands already—however, if it were cut, it would cause a lot of people who depend on the military for their livelihoods, such as soldiers and contractors, to have to find new work, which might not be easy, especially if our economy enters into a recession.

So while I would have my free health care, the majority of society might feel overwhelmed by the burdens my own personal good places on them: instead of having the choice to decide whether or not they want to buy health care or pay for coverage, they are told they must because it is important that people like I have health care. Never mind that it would shave billions from other programs or that future generations would be faced with crushing debt.

What is important is my own personal benefit in the here and now. From a utilitarian perspective, this should be unacceptable. My own personal benefit should not outweigh the benefit of the majority of the community or of future generations (Mill, 2008.; “A History of Utilitarianism,” 2014).

However, since I cannot afford health care on my own and do need it, if a utilitarian would to be put in charge, I might be called upon to make a personal sacrifice in order to help keep other programs afloat and to ease the tax burden that would otherwise be placed on future generations. In order for the U.S.

government to continue to function, it cannot take on anymore debts (others will stop buying T-bills as yields begin to rise), and the government will be able to pay its bills. My own personal health cannot be greater than the health of the country—and yet am I not entitled to maintaining my own personal health and to receiving quality care? The problem here is that in order for utilitarian principles to be properly applied, some people will have to accept a role of sacrificial lamb—and they.