Professor Harold Hill

The Music Man approach to healthcare financing

In his Drift column, The Theology of Ownership (AZC guest column 3/13/2005), Roger Hughes seemed to indicate his disagreement with some of the current administration's plans for financing healthcare and retirement.

Responses to his work have been mixed between those who simply don't understand his point, and those who took exception to a perceived denigration of stout-hearted self-improvement.

Careful examination of the text, plus a couple of email exchanges with the author, reveal that Roger has not totally embraced the Ted Kennedy concept of government. He's just not convinced that the majority of us given "ownership" of our own healthcare and retirement funds will instantly be able to manage either or both at all well. Society, or government, pick your word, will still have to be responsible for those who for social, racial, or cultural reasons don't have the wherewithal to use these programs for their personal betterment.

Ultimately, Mr. Hughes is taking a shot at the idea, first proposed by Harold Hill in the Music Man, that all one need do to make a band of competent musicians is put instruments in the hands of a bunch of naive kids.

So lighten up and enjoy the pretty prose while humming "76 Trombones." You'll feel much better.