How much longer must we tolerate mass culture?

Reason # 486 why we need universal health care

nobody@vox.com(Maxvan) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 07:38:02 -0700

I’m in reasonably decent shape, and earning a middle class salary. I take three prescription drugs. If I didn’t have wow-type insurance coverage, it would cost me over half of my salary, just for three medications. (They run at 335, 425, and 600 for a month’s worth, and, yes, they’re generics)

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Malpractice

nobody@vox.com(Maxvan) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 14:36:42 -0800

After today, it's what I think I'll refer to the health care system as, especially in Frederick, Maryland.

So, first I go to my usual Urgent care: I've got a back and abdominal pain, that feels like gallbladder, except I had that removed. The wait there was over three hours. I went back then next day. The wait was three hours. Today, I took off work, figuring that thelines wouldn't be so long on a workday. Wrong. Three hours. So, unable to handle the wait, i went to "Immediate care' which is the public health version of Urgent care. I wait for an hour. I finally see a nurse who doesn't know what's wrong with me, and has no equipment to find out. So, I'm sent to the Emergency Room. I have a bad feeling about this. After waiting for over an hour, during which time I watch a man have a heart attack, and a young lady's appendix burst, while they are waiting to be seen, I give up. I tell 'em that I'm either going to go to Virginia, or I'll show up to the ER at 3 AM, with my own burst appendix. But, unsatisfied, i drive over to my primary care physician, the guy who I know ain't the best, but might be able to see me. I now have an appointment to see him tomorrow. I'm pretty sure he's just going to order a catscan, and I'll find out in a week or more whether I'm going to live or die. in the meantime, I'm still in pain, still untreated.

I am middle class, with insurance. Go on, tell me that health care works in America. When I was in a third world nation, I could see a specialist within minutes of a problem developing. In Europe, the same deal. Our system is malpractice. Flat out malpractice. Our health care system will kill people. Whether by not getting the care they need, or by exposing them to hazardous chemicals, or by treating them improperly. All of this happens frequently.

But, do whatever you have to do: just get to a research hospital, like Hopkins. That's the only way you'll get any care at all.

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A whole bunch o' Politics

nobody@vox.com(Maxvan) — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 18:31:16 -0700

In Pakistan, military coups are as often as not, the preferred method of securing a government. However loathsome that may be, it's the driving force for the current turmoil. With Bhutto finally seeing that amnesty or no amnesty, Musharraf has tricked her, and plans to keep power, as he assigns cronies to government and military posts, we might not be concerned. All that is the usual SNAFU (spell out the acronym) in Pakistan. What's new is the inability to control Waziristan, and the re-opening of the Red Mosque. Bhutto opened the door to the Taliban before, and the talks with her might very well have been ploys to do it, again. My bottom line; on the current course, the taliban are coming to pakistan. I don't believe that Musharraf wants it, but I think he sees a deal as being his only way to cement power for himself. I do not believe the US should either cut deals nor do I think we should use military force against Pakistan. I think we should get off our Star Trek-inspired prime directive, and get involved diplomatically in re-establishing democracy in pakistan. Step one would be to talk directly with Pakistan's Supreme court about the legitimacy of Musharraf. Step two would be to apply pressure to have Nawaz Sharif be brought out of exile. If any one politician can get Pakistan out of its death-dance with Islamicists, He's it. Why? He's a moderate-to-conservative Muslim, with many connections both to Saudi Arabia, and to moderate Arabs in much of the Middle East, but has no ties to extremists, and, in fact, was able to control the Red Mosque factions. Step three would be to make sure that progess is made on the natural gas pipeline, which will do more to stabilize the middle east than any war ever could.

By the way, lest anyone think that I'm "soft' on islamic extremists, I'd like to point out that I fully support Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and wish that both of "my" governments did as well. She has not had adequate support from either the US government, nor from The Dutch. She deserves both round the clock bodygaurds, and a bully pulpit so that she may express her well-founded, and insightful views, and the spread of that information should be prized! We should ALL read her book "Infidel".

Oh, and on the topic of the Middle East: I also support the so-called "soft partition" plan of Joe Biden. While I don't necessarily want him as President, I think between the Kurds making their own Oil deals, the Shi'ia making deals with Iran, and the Sunnis bouncing between the US and Al Qaeda, it's clear that our options are hard partition, soft partition, or occupying Iraq indefinitely. Of the three, the best, and most workable, right now, would be a semi-federal state, as Biden has planned out.

Oh, and speaking of Presidents, and the Election: while I disagree with James Dobson on many, many fronts, he wrote in the NY times a few sentences that I think are spiffy;

"Polls don't measure right and wrong; voting according to the possibility of winning or losing can lead directly to the compromise of one's principles....Winning the presidential election is vitally important, but not at the expense of what we hold most dear."

That's exactly how I feel, Dr. Dobson. Only, what I hold most dear isn't about abortion or gays, or other things conservative christians hold dear. I hold dear such things as individual liberty, collective well being, and intellectual debate. Show me a candidate who can truly preserve that, and I'll vote for them, whether they stand a chance, or not.

Speaking of standing a chance or not:

Have you ordered an XO, yet? (www.xogiving.org) For $400, you get a laptop that's spill-proof, dust proof, fanless, six hours per battery charge, and looks cool , to boot, but even better, an identical laptop will be sent to a third world nation for use by a child (or children) that otherwise wouldn't get a chance. Think about that. What's a better leg up than connectivity to both the Web, and a word processor, and computer literacy? Think about what having computers has done for india.

Granted, it's not like a new Dell, or what-have-you, but I think saving a life is better than a big hard drive. If this catches on, imagine the sea-change when a place like Ethiopia is at 80% literacy, and 45% computer literacy, with vast numbers net-savvy. Can you see a junta taking root? Can you imagine the kind of lockdown China has?

Speaking of Sea Changes, Congress is now looking to monkey with Sub-prime loans. Ummmm, no. I don't think that's a good idea. They failed for a reason. Rather than easing off on borrowers, and independant private mortgage companies, i think, if the government gets involved at all, it should be to regulate the industry to conform with the european model: loans come from institutions with money, not securities, and loans are made to people who can prove their ability to pay them back. It's not a right to own some McMansion on two acres, when you earn barely above the minimum wage. You have a right to an opportunity, not to a give-away.

But, that isn't to say that Bush is right to veto the S-chip. Quite frankly, he wants to kill us all, so it doesn't surprise me. Still, if we are to socialize anything, I hope it's health care. We've got so many agricultural and corporate subsidies that shouldn't be, that there's a myth out there that we've got a free market economy. Our Military practices socialized medicine. So does our congress. I'd be willing to give up every tobacco subsidy, every subsidy given to every contractor in Iraq, and every other socialized cushion given to corrupt millionaires, if it meant that my tax dollars went towards proper medical care for children. As I've always said: I'd be willing to pay much more in taxes, if I could see the benefit to my society, not just to my government.

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Ready to die for that Coca Cola?

nobody@vox.com(Maxvan) — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 07:06:36 -0700

http://health.yahoo.com/news/178301

The link is for the article I'm sure you've heard about: the one that says that America has slipped to #41, in terms of life expectancy.

They say it's due to disparities between black and white, insured and not. I think it boils down to one reason, and one reason, alone: capitalism. Marx may be discredited for some of his wilder notions, but I still haven't seen a better analysis of the fundamentals of western society. We buy and sell our labor, and get alienated from our own lives. The richer get power, the poorer get killed. The middle class gets a choice. Do we side with the powerless and poor, or do we side with the rich and powerful? By voodoo thinking, the middle class historically sides with the rich, in the hopes that it'll rub off, but the rich aren't sharing power. There's only one way that power gets distributed, and that when the middle class sides with the powerless in an attempt to re-distribute the power. I don't believe that the equation needs force, but the possibility of force needs to be there. I believe that the tables can turn slowly, law by law, and piece by piece.

So, why is it that Black Men die young? I think it has to do with Crime, and Poverty. I think they turn to Crime because that's he avenue they are most often given. Were the roles to be reversed, I think White Men would do the same.

Why is it that millions are uninsured? Because money and power are involved. It's not enough to keep people poor. Simply poor people can riot, can enact laws, and can find justice. Disenfranchised, alienated, powerless and poor people just get exploited. So, if they make it impossible for poor folks to get adequate preventative health care, it's pretty hard for the poor to feel like they're not in a constant struggle just to survive. If I take away a dollar from you, you'll take it back. If I steal a dollar, you'll look for the thief. But, if I tell you that your life costs a dollar, and refuse to pay you any more than that, you'll try to make do with that dollar. If we start to think that our lives are worth more than dollars, power shifts.

But, hey, these are just my thoughts! I could be open to the criticism that I just got laid off, and that has colored my thinking. This would ignore that I just got another job, that pays the same, and that I've got leads for jobs that pay more, but I'm still open to charges of bitterness, and rancor, I guess. I'm not really all that good at defending my thoughts, because I don't feel I have to. If I'm right, you'll agree. If I'm wrong, you'll disagree. That won't necessarily change what I think, but it doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me. So, have a coke and a smile. Just tell me why you can't see the dentist, afterwards....

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