Nozick's Baseline

To begin, Nozick has three rules for justice:

1.) Thing not previously owned by anyone may be aquired.
2.) Possession of items may be transferred from one person to another.
3.) Anything that violates rules 1 or 2 must be rectified.

Nozick is like Locke, who Nozick believed to have said that a person has a right to own what he makes and to appropriate anything that is not already owned as long as he leaves enough for the good others. That is, the amount of property that should be left is the amount that would leave others enough that they would not be harmed or their condition worsened.

Something just seems wrong, in Nozick, to me. He seems to believe that everyone has a right to be free from the coercion of others and to acquire and dispose of property as one sees fit, as long as it does not lessen the condition of others by acquiring it. An example of this, I suppose, would be if I bought the utilities in Monopoly and shut off all of the electricity and water to a small town- now the people there have no water or electric because I own it and turn it off. This would be wrong, for Nozick (but so good for Monopoly). Nozick seems to believe that people are entitled to things based on talents and abilities, according to what they can make, get or buy with their skills and talents. After they posses these things, they can keep them, sell them, or give them away. Basically, anyone should be able to keep what they earn or are given, as in the D2 example today.

I am in my secondary application phase for several medical schools right now and the words on everyone's tongue are care ethics and healthcare reform. After today’s class and thinking about the D2 example, how much doctors make, and the poor care many Americans are receiving today, I am left wondering if doctors and insurance companies are leaving enough for individuals so that their conditions are not lessened. I believe many doctors are guilty of taking their talents and exploiting them to the point that individuals are put into conditions far below any reasonable baseline (which I think Nozick fails to produce for us) for quality conditions. I have had the fortunate opportunity to work with many doctors of osteopathic medicine who work with patients when paying for expenses out-of-pocket. Some ask how much patients can afford to give or if they can a lower expense in a series of payments. What happened to the days when people would take livestock or produce to local healers for payment and the greatest payment healers received was being part of a healthy community (with a few sheep and carrots, mind you) that cared for them in return? We need to stop asking how much we can take from people until they reach the baseline of standard living and do our jobs with a different spirit that speaks to our conscience instead of our pocket books? Why do sports stars need to make millions a year? Why would any doctor need to make a net profit of $350,000+ per year? We must quit asking how much can we take from an individual before their condition is severely lessened. It seems fairly simple.