“Liberty is to the collective body what health is to every individual body. Without health no pleasure can be tasted by man; without liberty, no happiness can be enjoyed by society.”

The distinction between freemen and slaves is whether or not they are paid for their labor. The sole function of Lincoln's legal tender acts were/is to take labor without payment and his contemporary, Horace Greeley, said that Lincoln's money system was "no less cruel than the old system of chatel slavery." "Payment" is not mentioned in the legal tender statutes. www/morpix/biz/dc for much writing by my teacher, Merrill Jenkins, Monetary realist, GOOGLE: merrill jenkins money

I am giving this 5 stars with an assumption that is, he means: the healthy individual is he who has all inalienable rights, freedoms, and liberty inherently intact under all circumstances (individually and in concert). Thus illustrating that like sovereigns united whole is a healthy place for liberty.

I'm with you Mike.

With Liberty and Justice for all...(except Congress that is, they're "special")

3000 years ago Moses said,load up your Asses, get on your Camels, we are headed for the Promised Land. Now our government says, light up a Camel, sit on your asses, this is the promised land.

So glad to see that so many of our rightists & libertarians now see and agree that universal health care is equivalant for the individual to liberty!

Universal Health Care is no choice whatsoever. It's forced second rate health care that debilitates liberty and freedom of choice. There is no free lunch.

Health Care for all is the ONLY civilized society - but alas there are those on this blog who have yet to become civilized.And, after seeing what happened in Texas recently their numbers seem to be increasing.

I give only a three because while he meant well I don't totally get the physical health concept analogy with the more ephemeral and conceptual liberty line of thinking. I use to live in a town seemingly named after this guy, that would be Bolingbrook, Il.

RBE, Unfortunately, you aint seen nothin' yet! Some may say fortunately and these are those that see the writing on the wall and are being pushed into a corner such as forced health will do once made into law in one form or another. All the government needs is a big toe in the door and forced health care will become mandated on the many, this meaning on everyone. There are those that will not see and will not hear. I think you fall into both catagories.

Dead people don't need health care. The troublesome are easily made dead by an amoral government: a government that can be persuaded that being a thief is acceptable is only a step away from being convinced murder is as well. Heil Obama, RBE.

I agree with Ken

RBE, even though you have the best of intentions, you are clueless as to the ramifications of government controlled life and death issues. That way is the most uncivilized of all possibilities. Taking personal responsibility for your own existence without statist government coersion is the most civilized thing we could possibly do. But then I might as well be talking to a trained government sheep...which I am apparently.

I agree with the quote. However, today's 'health care system' has proven to be a racket for Big Pharma and Big Insurance -- and what the Obamacrats are proposing is the complete monopolization of medicine into the hands of these corporations. Cancer isn't cured, it is treated until death of the patient. Government agencies (that will only get bigger and more powerful) already use intimidation and force against any one who proposes ways to be healthy without pharmaceuticals. The so-called Health Care Plan merely guarantees these corporations permanent customers and monopolies -- it won't be long that you will be REQUIRED to be medicated, 'treated', and even euthanized for the good of the state. Putting the power to dictate what must go into the bodies of citizens is an incredible abuse and merely is more of the same fascist crap being touted in government. RBE has bought it, but should know better. He is retired from the health industry (sometimes referred to as the 'death industry') and I am sure he has seen folks spend a life savings to gain another year of life, even if that year is spent hairless, toothless, in a hospital bed, wasting away, poisoned by the very treatment. Nothing in the health care bill will prevent that -- in fact the opposite. My health is best kept in my hands -- one third of all hospital deaths are due to the treatment. I'll take my chances with good foods and herbal remedies -- none of which will be covered by the death industry. The baby boomers are starting to die off, and the vultures are circling trying to make sure that they get a piece of the action.