Why do people fight what will help them?

On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act which made having healthcare mandatory.  The ACA, more commonly, and at times derisively called ObamaCare, also made health insurance affordable for the first time for many people.  Before the ACA had been passed and signed into law, there was opposition to it for numerous reasons.  One reason was that people did not want the President or Federal government of the United States telling them what they had to do.  On the surface that might sound like a reasonable argument.  After all, few of us really want to be forced to do things.

But it is important to pause and really think about what is being opposed and whether that opposition is really in the best interests of those fighting against it.  In fighting against the Affordable Care Act, people are fighting to stop being told they must have health insurance.  They oppose being told they can now afford to go to a doctor on a regular basis.  They oppose being told they can now afford prescription drugs that can cure, prevent and/or treat medical issues which could increase their life span.  They oppose being told they can now afford to have blood work, diagnostic imaging and other tests which can detect health issues sooner rather than later.  They oppose being told they now no longer have to rely on the Emergency Room for their only and primary care.  All of which are good and beneficial to them, all of which they implicitly oppose when they vehemently oppose ObamaCare because they are denied the freedom to die due to lack of medical care.

Health care is not the only life-saving issue people have opposed because Federal and/or State governments imposed something on its citizens.  Wearing seat belts was another instance where people rose up to stop what they believed was the overreach of government.  People opposed being told they had to wear a seat belt.  They opposed being told that they no longer had the freedom to impale themselves on the steering wheel or smash their heads and faces into the windshield in an accident.

Think about that for a moment.