il miglior fabbro

Walter Russell Mead, saying what needs to be said about the Charlie Gard case:

But it was a wicked abuse of the state’s coercive power to prevent the parents from trying their best for their child, and it should strengthen the determination of everyone who cares about human liberty to fight the inexorable, gratuitous growth of states that fail at the most basic jobs (like educating children in public schools) but who endlessly seek to expand their ‘competencies’ into new and more challenging fields.

Remember, if the single payer will not pay for your health care, and only the single payer can make the decision, you are also Charlie Gard.

Update: the inimitable Brad Carlson makes an excellent, related point:

And when people point to systems such as this as being the gold standard in saving money on care, they're at best being woefully misleading and at worst bald face lying. Of course less money is spent on those who are considered to have a terminal illness. Let them "die with dignity" or something.

It's a great system, especially if you get to define what dignity means.