Cindy Vinson is among the “big believers in the Affordable Care Act” (aka ObamaCare), and she is “proud to say [she] helped elect and re-elect President Barack Obama,” reports the San Jose Mercury News (in an article publicized by Michelle Malkin and Instapundit).

Unfortunately for Vinson, her health insurance policy now costs $1,800 more per year, a hike necessary to make the policy “conform to all the requirements of the new health care law.”

Vinson was shocked(!) to learn this. She said, “Of course, I want people to have health care; I just didn't realize I would be the one who was going to pay for it personally.”

Who did she think was going to pay for it? Health care is not manna from Heaven; the provision of health care and health insurance must be provided by someone’s effort. Someone has to pay for it.

At its root, ObamaCare is a scheme to forcibly redistribute wealth from some people to others through mandated coverage of certain services, subsidized premiums, and the like. Forcing some people to pay for the health care of others is its central feature.

This is altruism—the alleged duty to live for others—applied to politics. According to altruism, the government must force people to sacrifice their own values and wealth for the sake of others. We should not be surprised when altruistic policies involve such sacrifices.

Ending altruistic policies will require far more than expressions of shock and anxiety. It will require the recognition that individuals properly live by their own judgment and for their own sake, and thus that individuals should be free to do so. This is the only principle by reference to which government can be limited to its proper role of protecting people’s rights.

Americans who don’t want to “pay personally” for the health care of others must reject the moral code that mandates that they do.

Like this post? Join our mailing list to receive our weekly digest. And for in-depth commentary from an Objectivist perspective, subscribe to our quarterly journal, The Objective Standard.

Related: