As a community, we all must pay our share

To the editor:

In his Dec. 18 letter, reader Theodore W. Sell states that, "I don’t want health insurance," and that, "Health insurance is a fool’s errand." He may have a point. I feel similarly about other things.

Personally, I don’t plan on starting any wars with foreign countries, so why should I pay taxes to support the military-industrial complex? I don’t have any children, so why should I pay for public schools? I plan on getting a 4-wheel drive vehicle so I really don’t need all roads to be paved.

I’m careful about using matches in my home so I don’t need a public fire department. I can haul my own trash to the dump and collect rain water (when it rains) so I don’t need sanitation services or the water district either.

I never plan on having any trouble with the law so I don’t need police, the district attorney’s office, the judicial system or prisons. I thoroughly trust all businesses that serve food, so why should I pay for food inspectors or safety inspections?

And I know that all casinos are impeccably honest, so who needs the Gaming Control Board?

Either by tax or fee I wind up paying for all these services whether I want them or not. Most of the time I don’t really think about it. But, I for one, like the idea that, as a community, we have all these services available and that we all pay our fair share.

Mr. Sell would rather have a, "tax-free savings account to pay for emergency medical care." That might handle minor medical problems. But that wouldn’t help the tens-of-thousands of families that have had to file for bankruptcy because of medical expenses that have far surpassed their income.

I hope Mr. Sell is incredibly lucky and he, or anyone in his family, never needs health care services. But, when they do (and they will), and he hasn’t paid for health insurance, I’m not the one who wants to pay for them.

Bob Litt

Las Vegas