It also struck me as peculiarly un-American that private businesses would be saddled with such a profound social duty. It sounded so, well, socialist. Wasn’t the purpose of a business to make profits, not to arrange the medical treatment of its employees? Meanwhile American citizens were dutifully paying their taxes—so wasn’t it the purpose of their government to provide essential social services in return for those taxes? And wasn’t it completely twisted that when people lost their jobs, they lost their health insurance as well, right when they might need it the most?
