Beauty is something most everyone wants more of. And while there is plenty of handwringing about healthcare not being affordable in the United States, cosmetic surgeons are doing fine, despite the recession. These doctors, by the way, are paid directly by the patient. FULL ARTICLE by Doug French
Source link: http://archive.mises.org/15833/plastic-surgery-a-free-society-is-a-beautiful-society/
Plastic Surgery: A Free Society Is a Beautiful Society
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I certainly understand the desire behind cosmetic surgery. I have of those faces that puts me at under 20. I’m going on 30 this year and actually had a police officer hassle me over truancy. He thought I was a high school student. The main problem is my face doens’t show off the bone structure. I have a natural fat build-up there. While I could stand to lose about 15 pounds, I’ve always had that round head even when I was a rail-thin teen. Tightening up the facial region would be a good move, especially below the jaw line. Of course, I mainly recognize that surgery is surgery and there’s no such thing as safe or routine in the business, which is why I haven’t bothered.
Still, I do have a great deal of respect for the industry. It proves that medical procedures, which in many cases can be just as complicated as other surgeries (see skin grafts for burn victims for example) can be performed affordably and with a greater degree of quality than the govenrment licensed kin. Even laser eye correction fits the bill, cheaper and safer over the years.
The medical field in general can learn a lot from cosmetic surgeons and laser eye surgeons.
I believe that cosmetic procedures are a great thin and also believe that a lot of people at one point in time in there life think about having it do so it is nice to here people talk about it and have the oppertunity to use this website to do so.
I’ve read a similar article to this that also pointed out that the rate of inflation for cosmetic work is about the same as the overall inflation rate whereas inflation for insurance paid medical care is higher than the CPI.
There is nothing new in the fact that comestic surgery is an elective surgery. Economist of all strands have been aware of this for a long time. The danger is not in stating this obvious fact, but to providing a link where one may not exist, in this case, freedom. It becomes a bridge to nowhere. The country of Iran has one of the highest incidence of plastic surgery in the world, but that does not make that country of little or no freedom a fountain of freedom.
But an Iran in which cosmetic surgery is allowed is more free than an Iran in which cosmetic surgery is not allowed.
Back in the late 1980s or early 1990s, I was glad to be on the mailing list of a doctor who, I think, lived and practiced in Iowa. As I recall he was the chairman or secretary of a group with a name something like the American Association of Private Practice (or Pay) Physicians. The newsletter may have been his own personally or it may have been the group’s. If the latter, he was its editor and sole writer. I doubted that the group was much larger than him and perhaps one or two others. He had what sounded like a fairly good general practice that differed from almost all others in the U.S. in that his patients were required to pay for his services out of their own pocket. He would not accept payment from the government or insurance companies. If you had medical insurance that covered something he did for you, you had to pay the doctor yourself and get reimbursed by your insurer. The doctor claimed that this direct financial relationship between him and his patients was a necessary part of the best possible doctor-patient relationship. Of course not doing business directly with the government or insurers kept his administrative costs to a minimum, allowing him to charge that much less for his services. Of course the government was not happy with this doctor, and as I recall he reported in his newsletter that the IRS and other government agencies were festering thorns in his side. His newsletter stopped coming when I believe he passed away. I wonder if you, Mr. Woods, or anyone here rat Mises recalls the name of that wonderful doctor or the group he represented? I tried the Internet and my dusty old files but couldn’t find anything.
Ned – I don’t know the physician or group to which you refer but I do know that the idea of the importance of a direct financial relationship between doctor and patient still exists among practitioners.
I attended an event last fall of the Saint Louis Institute of Integrative Medicine http://sliim.org/ that was attended by physicians with that philosophy.
The group focuses on educating both patient and physician about restorative treatments that cure the root cause of disease as an alternative to treatment of symptoms with drugs.
Government agencies do not encourage the disemination of this kind of knowledge.
The author is not making the case that plastic surgery is a bridge to freedom. He is making the case for the free market principles that its practitioners and consumers operate under. I have absolutely noticed this very thing, being a consumer of these procedures myself. What is really eye opening is the fact that such obvious profiling based on ethnicity is taking place, at the demands of the consumer and the profession is stepping up to meet the demands. It is not at all offensive but it is a reality of the market. I think more of the direct economic relationship between physician and patient would be a very good thing.
Plastic surgery is definitely a subjective sort of thing. I don’t like it and hope never to have me or the wife undergo the knife. But as I tell the wifey, if you are gonna do it, I won’t pay for a breast implants unless it’s for triple D’s. Moderation is for schlepps!
“When a patient comes in from a certain ethnic background and of a certain age, we know what they’re going to be looking for…”
“Iranians want nose jobs; Egyptians are looking for face lifts; … and the most sought-after procedure by Asian women is double-eyelid surgery…”
I’m sorry, but this is a clear case of facial profiling!
Ha!!
If the patients and doctors don’t care, then why should you? If the patients are upset about this, they can go somewhere else. If you don’t like what Doug French wrote, don’t read his stuff. All simple, all within individual’s choice. Simple and free.
Doug French wrote:
“The division of labor is what society is built on. As we cooperate with others, everyone is allowed to specialize in what they do best.”
I’m efficient at wasting money, wasting my time and fooling around doing nothing worthwhile, that’s what I do best.
Oh yeah, I’m fat and ugly, LOL !
Seriously, Mr. French? You’re the president of the von Mises institute. Do you even know what PR stands for? I wonder how many thoughtful and intelligent women the cause of freedom will have lost by your publishing this rubbish (your post extolling the virtues of the pornography industry also comes to mind at this time). *Sigh*, there was once a time when I read every daily article the LvMI published, now I hardly read a one. I dunno, maybe the institute has changed less than I myself have. Fire away, I know I’ll probably catch hell for this comment.
Certainly many older/more conservative people have a gut reaction against any form of cosmetic surgery, but I am not sure why thoughtful intelligent women would necessarily be offended by this article… what exactly was it that caught your eye?
My reaction against plastic surgery is because I think that Karma is real. In effect, as you have not yet earned the right to the beauty that the doctor gives you, you have taken out a loan, which you will pay next time around- by being less beautiful than when you started!
There is also the false-advertising angle. Real beauty is supposed to be based on good genes. Falsely claiming to have better genes than you do is misleading, isn’t it?
“In effect, as you have not yet earned the right to the beauty that the doctor gives you etc.”
Nonsense. If you have earned enough to pay the doctor, you have earned the right to purchase the beauty his services can bring (assuming the doctor voluntarily agrees to perform his services for you).
Real beauty is not about genes. It’s a matter of personal taste, preferences and ideal. In other words it’s aesthetics.
Sione
What a silly thought that plastic surgery has much to do with beauty!
scineram
What a silly thought- denying the visibly obvious.
Sione
Humans, especially male humans, are extremely reliant on visual cues. Don’t be absurd.
You can look at it many of ways and what if it is a burn victim our some one that needs a nose job it all boils down to self confidence but yes what you wrote most people would probably agree on that.
Cosmetic surgery isn’t exclusively used to make people look pretty. It’s also used to fix surgical scars, skin grafting for burns, and repairing hideous genetic defects that would otherwise keep a person out of productive life. Did you think boob jobs are only for celebrities? They’re also used to rebuild breats that were lost to cancer. Find a sensible woman that disagrees with that one. If it wasn’t for a group of people wanting sexy Latin curves, that kind of procedure would be well beyond the financial reach of most people. This vanity is doing quite a bit of good by keeping costs down and driving innovation for the small population that needs cosmetic surgery just to get back to normalcy, which would otherwise be too expensive to get if they were the only ones demanding the service.
You are mixing up cosmetic surgery with reconstructive surgery.Cosmetic surgery focuses on modification of existing features;reconstructive surgery focuses on improving or restoring function.
But it is true that any innovation in any field transfers to benefit related fields.Pam Anderson should be credited with spurring the craze for cosmetic surgery which has made it cheaper for physically scarred people to be able to afford reconstructive surgery.
Actually, J. Murray is right: cosmetic surgery and reconstructive surgery go hand in hand. My daughter was born with a double-thumb; when we consulted with doctors, it was determined that the extra thumb bone would have to be removed, to prevent pain and defects that would come as the two thumbs grew away from each other.
I was surprised that the doctor to do this was a cosmetic surgeon. When we took my daughter to his office, I was *stunned* at how nice it looked! It was weird going there for a thumb surgery, and seeing pictures on the wall of people who had facial surgeries–including people who had reconstructive surgeries.
Not everyone is a knee-jerk Feminazi. Maybe you should try reading Wendy McElroy. Perhaps women should celebrate their sexuality and beauty instead of pretending it’s something that doesn’t exist. Durrr.
This was a great article, that proves the free market is the solution and that health insurance, in my opinion, always leads to socialism. I couldn’t help but think, also, that many of those who use the services of plastic surgeons may very well pay for it themselves, that’s fine. But, how many of those buying expensive plastic surgery expect we tax payers to pay for their normal everyday health care? In America we expect others to pay for our necessities so that we can afford our luxuries.
I am not sure if cosmetic surgeons really function as doctors since the customer -not patient- tells them what they want. The economics of the article might be right but the social function is very different. Overall a bit frivolous for mises.org
Yes the article is somewhat frivolous, but consider the underlying implication……it could be this way for conventional medical services if any semblance of a market were to return.
I am from Canada which you all know has socialized health care. There are real horrors of the system here. For example, you get to wait in pain a few years to have hip surgery (or you just fly to a country like India or Thailand to get it done). The fact that we go from a developed country to a third world one is sad.
However, I am very happy with the cosmetic procedures I’ve had done in Canada. The first is Invisalign dental braces. Since the dentistry market is rather free here and in the US, there is a lot of innovation going on. Instead of getting metal braces attached to ones teeth, you can now have a laser carve out about 20 custom trays for you which can pop on and off your teeth. You wear them whenever you want. They are clear invisible plastic trays. Nobody ever knew I was straightening my teeth until I alerted them to it and made them take a close look.
The other is laser eye surgery. Another area where there is a market in the way we pay for the product. I had eyesight that made me almost legally blind. Additionally, contact lenses didn’t work for me while boxing because whenever I got hit in the face they would always fall out. I had a surgery done which corrected my vision within 30 seconds for each eye. I paid for a lifetime guarantee, so when my eyes slightly changed over the next two years, I got a free top-up surgery. The whole laser eye surgery market is one yearly advances in precision and technology as well as continual price drops. It’s like the tech industry.
Here in Canada, you have to wait months to get an MRI. But since there is a free market in pet medicine (with the exception of licencing) many animal hospitals have MRI’s. Some of these hospitals have come under prosecution from the government for black market deals where they allowed sick people desperately seeking treatment to pay them to use the MRI. There was also the case of black market MRI traders entering into Ontario with large vans outfitted with MRI machines in the back. However, thankfully they’ve been caught and we can continue to suffer.
How dare entrepreneurs provide needed medical services at a reasonable price and on demand? The UN Council on Human Rights will be hearing about this!
But since there is a free market in pet medicine (with the exception of licencing) many animal hospitals have MRI’s. Some of these hospitals have come under prosecution from the government for black market deals where they allowed sick people desperately seeking treatment to pay them to use the MRI.
Reminds me of a certain Seinfeld episode…
The true horror of socialized medicine – government operatives stopping suffering people from medical treatment.
What astonishes me is how, anybody with an ounce of imagination can’t see that this is what ALL health-care could could be like — more specialized, better quality, and more affordable all the time if we had free market medicine in everything. As opposed to just “elective” stuff like plastic surgery.
Tracy
Yes. It astonishes me every time I vist the USA or Europe or anywhere in the 1st World… Why can’t people be left alone and let free to voluntarily transact.
Sione
A human defect. We want freedom for ourselves, not for others. The people behind the rules of laws operate outside of them as long as they can get away with it.
Doug, interesting. I left a few thoughts here:
http://mises.org/Community/blogs/tokyotom/archive/2011/03/10/i-applaud-a-free-society-that-makes-reconstructive-surgery-more-affordable-but-not-one-that-turns-beauty-into-a-lie.aspx
I copy my chief comments below:
Plato couldn’t have fathomed cosmetic surgery or certainly the ability of working-class people being able to afford having their looks altered surgically. However, his insight assures us that, in a free society, the cost of cosmetic surgery would fall to allow everyone to have the body and face they want, making society free and beautiful.
While beauty IS definitely in the eye of the beholder, it ain’t skin deep. Chiselled bodies and naturally attractive faces tell us something about the physical, mental and genetic fitness of the individuals who sport them. There’s reason why we find beauty and being in good physical condition attractive (this is more or less encoded in our genes, though our fashion sense may differ somewhat by culture and era).
As we live in a word of others, it is not surprising that we may make efforts to “look good” – but those efforts that go beyond personal efforts to stay fit, or to be in top physical shape for a particular sport, can pose personal and social problems.
Should we likwise cheer on doping or surgical enhancements in sports, and cheating in school and business, or developments in cooperation and specialization that make smooth-talking and lying easier and harder to detect?
Even as I leave choices on cosmetics and cosmetic surgery to those providing and vending it, and have to say sorry, but I prefer to cheer on honesty and hard work over deceipt, in all its seductive forms.
While there are some excellent points in this article, it’s worth noting that beauty does not spring directly from cosmetic surgery. A patient must make up their own mind and determine, with realistic expectations, what they would like to change, then decide on the appropriate procedure.
every women want to be more beautiful, but it’s better to use natural treatment..
Yes, everybody wants to look beautiful especially women. So, some people wants to have cosmetic surgery done on their faces to look beautiful. But, they have to follow some procedures to be look beautiful after surgery that dermatologist suggests unless they have to face the problems like burning sensation, pimples on their skin, etc.
insecurities and the desire to have an exceptional perfect face of beauty but then girls should be contented of what they have ,..
I agree, one must be proud of what she has. However, walking out everyday and seeing other women who are “blessed” will just lower yourself esteem. That’s why as long as they have money, plastic surgery is not far from happening.
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For sure some people have feelings against any form of cosmetic surgery, but I am not sure why smart folks would necessarily be offended by this article?
it should be up to the person if they believe that pastic surgery is right or wrong. after all it is their body and their body alone. Personally i prefer non adjusted surgery free people by choice unless it was a needed surgery.
Achieving perfection in the aspect of beauty is possible through Cosmetic surgery but can be expensive as well. This has been popular with women, even men who want to improve their appearance. This desire to achieve beauty made cosmetic surgery a billion dollar industry. Though not everyone can spare the money needed for such procedures, there are economical places to have it done without compromising the results and safety.
with the current society where beauty is being influence and set by what is shown in T.V. It’s no wonder more and more of the present generation are into to cosmetic surgery even in a young age of 8.
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