WOW! A burning question indeed.
My personal slant is that I am very fortunate to have the job I do and the salary that goes with it. Not too long ago I was in a very different situation indeed. I still remember those times and would hate to think of what life would have been like without the welfare state. My wife was on over £300 worth of drugs a week in the six months before she died. If through my good fortune I can help save somebody through my taxes then I'm happy with that.
There are much more worrying things that your taxes pay for !!
In Ireland everything healthwise is private. It costs £20 (sterling) just to see the doctor! The health system here has always been good, but even now there are complaints about it slipping to "British levels" by adopting British methods. UK health care is famously shitty. I used to resent paying for something that didn't serve and innevitably let me and my family down when we needed it most.
The taxes that pay for rockets and bombs are the bits you should be worrying about. You may be in a good job now, but who can guarentee that that will be the case in two years time? What if you need health care then .... who will be paying for that?
Think of it as an insurance policy for yourself. Think of it as giving to people who are (possibly through no fault of their own) in a worse financial position than youself.
Rant at the pharmacutical companies for hiking drug prices. Rant at the stupid ability to patent a life saving drug and with hold it from someone who is dying and has no money.
I agree about people doing harm to themselves, but I smoke and so fall into that catagory. Perhaps personal stereos should come with a health warning.
I can not condone a system that starts to list ailments that are excluded from the state healthcare system. Who drws up the list? What are the criteria?
Can you blame an illiterate man because he can read the health warning on a packet of cigarettes?
Be at peace with yourself and hope you never need to cash in on the insurance policy you are made to pay into (either the health care or the guns).
Ride On!!
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