The Medical Intellectual's Self-Defense Kit
(a) Medicine: Death of a Profession
This is a speech that was delivered by philosopher Leonard Peikoff at the Ford Hall Forum in Boston in 1985. Its theme is how government intervention in medicine is driving out quality medical care in the United States, and what is needed in order to restore the medical profession to its historically rational, respected state. It is an engaging, essentialized presentation that is still insightful over 20 years after it was given. (2 audio CDs; 86 minutes total)
(b) The Real Right to Medical Care vs Socialized Medicine
This is an essay by economist George Reisman, published in 1994. In it, Reisman upholds the real right of the consumer to purchase medical care in a free market as against its opposite: the pseudo-right of consumers to demand that medical care be provided by the state. The essay discusses how the conflation of these ideas explains certain economic and cultural aspects of the current healthcare crisis. It also includes an analysis of the proposed Clinton healthcare reforms of the early 1990s. (Pamphlet; 43 pages)
(c) How Not to Fight Against Socialized Medicine
This is an article by novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand, which is based on an address she gave to the Medical Society of New Jersey in 1963. In this article, Rand links the call for socialized medicine to its fundamental cause: the morality of altruism (i.e. the ethical doctrine of self-sacrifice), and issues a stern warning against political "package deals" that attempt to turn the medical profession into one of selfless service to "the public." Writes Rand, "Ladies and gentleman, you will not win your case until and unless you are ready to declare that you find [socialized medicine] degrading—as any man of self-esteem would find slavery degrading." (Pamphlet; 7 pages)
(d) Doctors and the Police State
This is an article by philosopher Leonard Peikoff, first published in 1962. In it, Dr. Peikoff foresees the philosophic error and political injustice of Medicare—three years before the Social Security amendment was signed into law. Drawing from several examples around the globe, this brief article casts the political controversy of socialized medicine into concise, philosophic terms. (Pamphlet; 5 pages)
(e) Noble Vision
This is author Gen LaGreca's first novel. It is a love story between a surgeon and his patient, told in the context of a semi-free society in which medicine has come under state control via a program called "CareFree." Dr. Lang, the protagonist, is developing a revolutionary new procedure that could save the life of the woman he loves. But in addition to having to contend with challenges in medical science (metaphysical obstacles), he must contend with the rules and regulations of CareFree (man-made obstacles). LaGreca very effectively dramatizes how it becomes literally impossible for doctors to think when faced with the arbitrary and conflicting edicts of dozens of federal and state committees, boards, and programs. (2005; Softcover novel; 352 pages)
(f) Atlas Shrugged
Atlas Shrugged is author Ayn Rand's literary masterpiece and philosophical thriller. It is the story of a productive genius caught in a society of men who said that they did not need his kind, and the consequences they encounter when he grants them a world of their making. Encompassing a scope vastly more broad than just the field of medicine, Atlas Shrugged dramatizes the crucial importance of reason and rationality in all spheres of human life, ranging from industry to romance to politics to art. It is at once a summation and a capstone to the Medical Intellectual's Self-Defense Kit, delivered in a highly engaging format. (1957; Softcover novel; 1,168 pages)
