There was recently a letter to the editor (not the editor of this publication) wherein the writer said, “my family had many health care procedures and the cost was nothing.”

This is an illusion, or perhaps the costs are invisible, though we know what was meant. Someone pays for health care, and all services, but this letter is meant to be broader than health care. It is mostly about language.

Many costs are invisible or illusory. We never see them, so we come to believe they do not exist.

Some costs are simply deducted from paychecks. But we apparently want it that way. Do we really want costs to be invisible?

Governments at all levels are now primarily transfer agents, I believe, instead of enforcers of competition. Governments transfer from those who have to those who do not, often under the guise of “public goods” and often under other guises. The majority of voters may want it that way. In campaigns for government office, “transparency” is often promised. Illusion, guise and invisible are almost opposites of transparency.

Words must not be abused. Language is to help us communicate. Not obfuscate. The words cost, liberate, competition, and demand often are misused – intentionally, I suspect.

My personal tentative conclusions on health care are relatively unimportant.

But I believe language is important. Words should be carefully chosen and even explained at times.

Lawrence Finley

Bowling Green