The Limits of Individualism

Guarina Molina 11B

The limits of individualism, the fifth chapter of Howard Fineman’s The Thirteen American
Arguments, discusses how the American government has placed limitations on the individualism of
its citizens by making reference to their health care system and taxes. He introduces the issue of
health care by discussing health care plans proposed by several post World War II presidents, such
as Lyndon B. Johnson, FDR and Bill Clinton and ending with Hilary Clinton’s proposals during her
2007 presidential campaign. Since the beginning of American history, health care had been an
individual issue. However, these leaders had insisted on making health care more of a community
issue, hence, limiting the individuality of each person. The American health care system had initially
been individuals and families seeking care from individual hospitals and doctors usually ran by
charities, churches or universities. It later came a time when government assumed the responsibility
of providing health care to its citizens, in some ways making it a right of citizenship, not something
they should provide for themselves, so they decided to establish insurance companies, hospitals,
and “systems” or programs, if those are names for it, such as Social Security, Medicaid and
Medicare to ensure health care to all Americans despite their economic possibilities.
The next issue discussed in the chapter is the way taxation has helped the economic life of America
but at the same time hindered the economic individualism that has always been so characteristic of
Americans. Fineman gives a little background on how Americans in the New World saw
themselves independent in all aspects: geographically, psychologically, spiritually, and especially
economic, since at the time they were their own vassal and lord, meaning that they made and kept
as much money as they pleased. The implementation of taxes gave Americans the idea that
government was now the distributor of their wealth and the sponsor of their incomes. He later
discussed Social Security, in some way merging both subjects: he describes Social Security as a
mere tax-transferring system from one generation to another whose only achieved goal has been to
protect the elderly, but not as a self-insurance.

Despite making several valid arguments, I disagree with Fineman when he states that
imposing a government-based health care system is a limit to individualism, or harmful in any way
to Americans. I think whether it makes you or not more of an ‘individual’ is pretty much irrelevant,
because it is providing you benefits and equality, so does it really matter? In my opinion, it doesn’t. I
think every person should have the same right and possibilities to be treated despite their economic
situation, and if it takes government-based programs that hinder your ‘individualism’, then so be it.
His arguments on taxes, however, sounded a lot more logical and convincing. I see the point he is
trying to make, and using the vassal/lord example was a good way to explain it. Taxes inhibit people
from economic freedom because they make the person have a certain obligation to government, as
well as not allowing them to have full benefits of the money they make. Unfortunately, even when it
has its disadvantages, truth is taxation is a very important part of present-day economies, if not the
most important, so even if they don’t allow you to have full economic freedom, it is something we
would have to continue to cope with.