On Saturday, October 17th, an estimated 200 people gathered at the Boston common bandstand to express their discontent with the various health reform bills under discussion in Congress. Turnout was lower than expected, but media coverage was at least as good as that of previous events. Reporters were present from the Boston Herald, several student newspapers, the New England Cable News (NECN) television channel, and at least one radio station. Most attendees stayed for the entire event despite the cool and windy fall weather.

In keeping with the sentiment of the larger Tea Party movement, the attendees at yesterday's event favored limited government and free markets, and expressed distrust of the major parties. Several signs were new and healthcare-specific, such as "Hands off my healthcare" and the classic quote from writer P.J. O'Rourke, "If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait until it's free." Many of the other signs we had seen before at the July 4th event.

We managed to get some table space under the tent to display our wares. Becky handed out flyers for The Lucidicus Project as well as for Craig Biddle's publication The Objective Standard. I had a slot as one of the featured speakers. I spoke for about nine minutes, near the middle of the program, after a prominent local conservative activist. My primary message was that the Tea Party movement needs to advocate for capitalism, not just against socialism, and that the only way to do so is with a moral defense of individual rights. Here are some excerpts:

Yes, we need change. But it has to be rational change. We're not out to "block health reform" as such, or "stand in the way of progress" as President Obama put it yesterday. We're out to block Washington's version of health reform, because every last facet and feature of these health reform bills serves to introduce more government into the system, not less.

Later on in my remarks, I pointed out that Republicans are no help, and that they are merely riding off of the moral courage that only the Tea Party people are willing to display:

There's no real difference between Democrats and Republicans on this issue. Some Republicans are slightly better because they support freeing up interstate competition in the insurance market, or they say they want lower taxes—but that doesn't get us much if they aren't willing to cut spending. Republicans don't really stand for small government. They won't push back against individual mandates. They won't phase out Medicare. If it weren't for the Tea Party movement making all this noise, they would have caved in months ago.

Then, some contrast between free market solutions versus big-government solutions on a few concretes issues. Costs, for example:

Yes, we need to lower costs. But that means deregulating payers and providers so that they can compete on price, coverage options, and service. It means letting insurance companies sell actual, risk-adjusted insurance. It does not mean instituting price controls on pharmaceuticals, guaranteed issue, or dictating what physicians can charge for their services.

At this point, I briefly told the story of the Canadian doctors who launched an unsusccessful strike against socialized medicine back in the 1960s, and who were the subject of Ayn Rand's talk "How NOT to Fight Against Socialized Medicine."¹ The concrete example worked well, I thought. Then I started to wrap it up:

This does not have to happen in America. There is a moral defense. It's a defense that recognizes man as an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others. It's the defense that man has a right to his own life, and that we have no duty to sacrifice ourselves to the alleged benefit of others. It's the only foundation from which one can consistently defend free markets.

The message of non-sacrifice got applause, which is a good indicator that the crowd was not heavily Republican. Finally I concluded with a few remarks about the need to be consistent in putting the whole message together. With important health reform bills about to come to vote in Washington, I hope people were listening.

Photos from the October 17th event held on Boston common:

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¹ Excerpts from Ayn Rand's talk were published in the March 1963 issue of The Objectivist Newsletter. It is also available in pamphlet form in the MISDK that we give to medical students.

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