The Cold, Hard Truth About Health Care
- Thread starter Ponca Dan
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No doubt human beings are social animals. None of us would do well stranded on a desert island. Somewhere along the way humans discovered that individuals have different talents, and by each person focusing on his talent and trading his goods with others, then survival would be easier.
What I find fascinating about human nature is why so many of us so desperately need a leader, are willing to do anything demanded by the leader. I don't think it is solely based on fear of the leader, although that must play a huge role.
Somewhere around 1550 a French student named Etienne de la Boetie wrote a wonderful essay titled "The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude" in which he pondered why a people would so willingly accede to the demands of a state. In his time the state was ruled by a king. He wondered aloud how one man could so easily pacify an entire country, and get an entire populace to do his bidding. He concluded it is because that is all we have ever known. We simply don't know any better.
Maybe some day we will break the cycle and make ourselves free.
The only societies with which I am familiar who led anything close to a libertarian existence were the Plains Indians. Small roving bands not ruled by anything but communal agreement of behavior. They had "wise men" who might say when to pack up and move, or when to set the grasslands on fire,etc. But their words were not law. No one was obliged to obey. And heaven help the wise man if his predictions/recommendations proved wrong! He would become a pariah in his own tribe. That's the closest I know of. How about you? Do you know of any?
You could argue the Varnas were all about division of labor including the idea that fulfillment was achieved by aligning to the inherent talents and capabilities of the individual. But then the focus in the Dharma-Sastra is on equitable distribution of material goods across the social strata as an inherent good.
Well, I suppose you could call it a tact. But I don't know how you could see it any other way: the role of government is to be the final arbiter of how individuals in a society should behave toward his fellows. And as the final arbiter it is given permission by society to take whatever actions it deems necessary to obtain obedience. Every action, every edict issued by a government is finished with the words "or else."
In his book "Our Enemy the State" Albert J. Nock introduces the concept of "social power vs state power." Social power is the accepted norm of behavior, something we virtually all adhere to, either because of custom, religious or ethical canon, behavior we all agree is acceptable. State power is an agency of society telling us what to do whether we agree with it or not, backed by the threat of violence against those who don't obey. Nock argues that as state power expands social power dimishes. State power by its nature tends to expand, especially when the people willingly abandon social power.
We see that happening in our own society. State power has expanded to include telling us we have to have health insurance, which light bulbs we can use, how much water our toilets can flush, etc., with general humble acceptance by the masses. There's definitely something in human nature that allows this.
I'm not familiar with the Varnas nor the Dharma-Sastra, but as long as the individual was free to choose among many options it would sound pretty libertarian to me.
and that's symptomatic of the problem
and disconnect america has with its healthcare system
plenty of
snap chat knowledge
no clue about childhood obesity or
those who utilize our supplemental nutrion assistance program to fill their pantry with garbage
spend a day observing wound care at a rural hospital instead of your computer or high minded political philosophy and you will dial in real quick on how effed healthcare is
Well, the choice thing is a bit sketchy as you are born into it, with your prior life choices being the deciding point. To the Hindu believer, you have all the choice in the world.
In the end, most societies have some version of the same. Born into wealth, then by inheritance you likely have a leg up on the rest and so on.
Butt hurt much? Try some Prep-H rather than this random BS.
I see quite a bit of how Healthcare is effed in my day job. The challenge is enormous. What is your solution?
It's so easy to drive without insurance. First of all, you have to remember that there is a segment of society that is just refuse to comply. They choose to be non compliant. They're dedicated. And they're good at it and they don't care what you think about them.
Next are the people who have made choices in their lives that have financial consequences. You might call them the "down on their luck" people. Sure, maybe they could afford to buy insurance for the month, but they're not about to give up more important things like beer and cigarettes. Insurance just isn't a priority.
Other people are basically good people who really try, but have fallen behind for one reason or another. Sometimes those reasons are out of control and you feel sorry for them.
The other 75% of people in Oklahoma have their vehicles insured. But let's talk about the 25% who don't.
Determined to do something to address uninsured drivers, you pass a law 30! Years ago that mandates liability coverage. That'll fix the problem for sure, right? So now people get tickets for not having insurance. Is that going to make a person who doesn't have the money or doesn't care go out and buy insurance? Hell no.
So the next thing you decide to do is suspend the driver license of somebody who is convicted of driving without insurance. Great. So now people who still choose not to buy insurance or who can't afford it for whatever reason get more traffic tickets and get buried with more traffic charges and arrest warrants and get into an even deeper hole.
Well, by golly, we need a law that says you can't get your license plates renewed unless you have a valid insurance card. Apparently, we as a society are unaware that an enterprising person can go buy insurance and make their first month's payment and renew their license plate and then start ignoring the insurance bills that they receive monthly.
Meanwhile, the person gets stopped periodically and given more tickets (because that's the enforcement mechanism at work), but they can't pay all those fines and court costs. Do they stop driving because their license is suspended or because they don't have insurance? Hell no. Mostly because they are irresponsible.
I watched a video recently from Channel 5 news in OKC. It was a traffic stop in Tecumseh on a slow uneventful Sunday night in Tecumseh. The driver had a suspended driver license from either not paying a fine or from a DUI charge. Yet another failure because it all boils down to an individual decision by an individual person. The passenger ended up killing the young officer, but that's a different story.
Anyway, the scenario is played out over and over. A person gets stopped and they have no insurance. They get a ticket. They get their license suspended. They get a warrant. They get arrested. They get put on a payment plan that they can't or won't stick to. In the meantime, they get more tickets or arrested again.
The result? 25% of Oklahoma drivers are not insured. Failure. And I wouldn't call that an enforcement failure.
i think obamacare is great as a matter of fact
it cost dems the presidency a seat on the supreme court and when they have to own obama care and the increased premiums this october it will keep paying dividends in the 2018 elections
So this compliance/enforcement failure means what? I don't see the point here unless your saying it is futile to require auto liability insurance because some segment is unwilling to comply and enforcement is ineffective... Which I would disagree with.
Neither home or auto are mandated by the federal government.
Home is mandated only by your mortgage holder.
Auto is mandated by the loan holder for comprehensive and by most states for collision.
Terrible attempt @davidallen
Anybody who drives around in a state in which 25% of all drivers are known to be uninsured would be well advised to pay for uninsured motorist coverage. And I was addressing your point that the law was poorly enforced. I don't believe that to be the case at all.
There are additional points of enforcement, including some that are on the drawing board (NDA prohibits describing) that could significantly change the situation. I appreciate the conversation.
Thanks. You always cause me to pause and think. Thanks for that.
Or, you could try to use an example that is actually comparable.
If you require 100% alignment between health insurance and something else then you will be disappointed. My presumption that you could reasonably infer where the differences are meaningful and where they are not was obviously incorrect. I can't dumb it down for you, nor will I invest time in trying to map it out for you. Sorry....
self serving perspective and a b line to the intellectual high ground seems to be the pattern if you haven't caught on 2001
99.99% of snap recipients don't eat
a $1.50 breakfast of steel cut oatmeal blueberries pecans two eggs and a glass of juice for breakfast
when they can run to 7/11 grab a monster and a pack of Marlboro's and send the taxpayer the bill twenty years later.
obamacare treats the symptoms
on the back of the middle class working persons dreams and sweat
no holistic effort to fix health care
just a screw your working neighbor
Look up atlasmd.... Seems like a really good model.... Small upfront fee to take care of everyday needs. Prescriptions and other testing at drastically reduced prices....
Couple that with a plan that covers "disasters" and you would seem to be set
Couple that with a plan that covers "disasters" and you would seem to be set
Government involvement in the first place coupled with a great deal of what's termed as "health insurance" not being insurance at all are good places to start.
Your list is also good, but both are linked directly to government involvement in everyday life and healthcare.
Dude...admit you have a bullshit example and we will move on.
You were wrong and got called in it.
Dude... Admit you need very simple examples and we can all just move on.
You are a maroon [sic]...
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