The American Spectator

AmSpecBlog

Paternal Pride

By Robert Stacy McCain on 6.25.08 @ 8:41PM

One of my 15-year-old sons (I've got twins) just engaged me in a discussion about universal health care. He had spoken to a Canadian emigre about their system, and the Canadian told him, "It's great -- but when we need something big, we go to the U.S." My son understands that the free market is superior, but needed some explanation of why it is superior. So this gave me a chance to wax Hayekian on prices as information, about the fundamental fact of scarcity, about incentives, about why rationing is inevitably required in a government-run health-care system, etc.

So, either my son is taking an interest in public affairs, or he was cleverly trying to butter me up by pretending to take an interest in public affairs. Either way, it shows he's a clever boy, and I'm proud of him.

topics:
Health Care