Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 7:07 pm
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
"These are the times that try Man's Soul..."
Good oration, no doubt, and a tried and true Attention-Getter as an opening statement for a speech, but I've often been somewhat irritated with that statement. When has there NOT been a time that tried our souls? In all our recorded history mankind has never experienced a period without strife, war, greed, avarice, despotism, etc. You would think that out of the many thousands of years being the dominant species on the planet we could find it within ourselves to experience one period, or even one DAY, without those things. Biblical teachings say we were ordained to 'Go forth and subdue the Earth'. Ladies and gentlemen, we can't even balance our checkbooks; let alone feed, clothe, and shelter our people.
We proclaim our technological advances and measure our superiority and intelligence by it. In the meantime we engage in extended debates about the cost of Health Care, Education, etc. People, why are we arguing over the cost of Health Care? Here's an example of what I'm talking about: Some 15 years ago I went in to a emergency clinic to get a checkup on some broken bones. They wanted to do a series of X-rays. Why? So they could stand there and say: "Yup. That's a broken bone alright!" Now people, the treatment for a broken bone is the same thing as for a sprain. You immobilize it. You put a splint on it and, in the case of a broken or sprained arm, you put it in a sling to take the pressure off and ease the pain. That thing they call a 'Cast' in the hospital or doctor's office is just another name for a unnecessarily fancy Splint. People, you can make a Splint at home yourself REAL easy and it's not too difficult to apply in most cases!
So they cleaned my arm with a couple of cotton swabs doused in alcohol to clean it before taking the x-ray. When I got the bill later on I had been charged $80 for one entire box of cotton swabs!
$80.00=1 box of Cotton Swabs.
Anybody see anything wrong with this picture? What? Were these cotton swabs painstakingly collected by hand from the pubic hairs of Tinkerbell? Were they drawn from the eyebrows of Isis or something? Who ever heard of paying 80 bucks for a box of cotton swabs? I could have run down to Walmart and got a box for $1.98! So here we are 15 years later fighting over the best way of charging EVERYBODY for someone's health care because the greedy scumbags in the health industry charge astronomically ridiculous prices. You say doctors should be compensated for their talents? Have they cured the Common Cold yet? Have they figured out yet what prompts the spark in the Sinoatrial Node that starts a heart beating? Have they figured out how the brain transposes our 2-dimensional visual system into the 3-dimensional phenomenon?
Gimme a break.
The average person today can't even afford the monthly premiums for 'Health Insurance' let alone the cost of health care itself. And while it may INsure your health it will not ENsure it! But why should we have to pay to be healthy anyway? Why should we have to pay for food, clothing, and shelter since these are all things necessary to our physical survival? Why should we pay for Education? Isn't Knowledge suppose to be free? Why should we have to pay someone to care for us in times of sickness or injury? The Constitution of The United States says we are guaranteed the rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. The universally-accepted concept of certain Inalienable Human Rights dictates that we have the right to Life; which includes the physical essentials of Life such as food, clothing, shelter, health, and learning. BUT THESE RIGHTS ARE NO LONGER OURS because we cannot afford to pay what others demand for them.
Think about that.
Then think about this:
Many years ago when I was a teenager I once said "Good Evenings, Ladies!" and opened the front doors to the church I attended for three teenage girls whom I was very good friends with. They laughed in my face and it wasn't a pleasant sort of laugh either. They were laughing AT me, and their laughter said: "Look at the Old-Fashioned Geek! What a stupid Nerd!"
But they, by all means, went through the open doors just the same!
I was deeply hurt by their action and to their backs I said: "Who are YOU, that the price of simply caring about you should be so high?"
It was a long, long time before I opened a door for a woman again.
One Walker.
"These are the times that try Man's Soul..."
Good oration, no doubt, and a tried and true Attention-Getter as an opening statement for a speech, but I've often been somewhat irritated with that statement. When has there NOT been a time that tried our souls? In all our recorded history mankind has never experienced a period without strife, war, greed, avarice, despotism, etc. You would think that out of the many thousands of years being the dominant species on the planet we could find it within ourselves to experience one period, or even one DAY, without those things. Biblical teachings say we were ordained to 'Go forth and subdue the Earth'. Ladies and gentlemen, we can't even balance our checkbooks; let alone feed, clothe, and shelter our people.
We proclaim our technological advances and measure our superiority and intelligence by it. In the meantime we engage in extended debates about the cost of Health Care, Education, etc. People, why are we arguing over the cost of Health Care? Here's an example of what I'm talking about: Some 15 years ago I went in to a emergency clinic to get a checkup on some broken bones. They wanted to do a series of X-rays. Why? So they could stand there and say: "Yup. That's a broken bone alright!" Now people, the treatment for a broken bone is the same thing as for a sprain. You immobilize it. You put a splint on it and, in the case of a broken or sprained arm, you put it in a sling to take the pressure off and ease the pain. That thing they call a 'Cast' in the hospital or doctor's office is just another name for a unnecessarily fancy Splint. People, you can make a Splint at home yourself REAL easy and it's not too difficult to apply in most cases!
So they cleaned my arm with a couple of cotton swabs doused in alcohol to clean it before taking the x-ray. When I got the bill later on I had been charged $80 for one entire box of cotton swabs!
$80.00=1 box of Cotton Swabs.
Anybody see anything wrong with this picture? What? Were these cotton swabs painstakingly collected by hand from the pubic hairs of Tinkerbell? Were they drawn from the eyebrows of Isis or something? Who ever heard of paying 80 bucks for a box of cotton swabs? I could have run down to Walmart and got a box for $1.98! So here we are 15 years later fighting over the best way of charging EVERYBODY for someone's health care because the greedy scumbags in the health industry charge astronomically ridiculous prices. You say doctors should be compensated for their talents? Have they cured the Common Cold yet? Have they figured out yet what prompts the spark in the Sinoatrial Node that starts a heart beating? Have they figured out how the brain transposes our 2-dimensional visual system into the 3-dimensional phenomenon?
Gimme a break.
The average person today can't even afford the monthly premiums for 'Health Insurance' let alone the cost of health care itself. And while it may INsure your health it will not ENsure it! But why should we have to pay to be healthy anyway? Why should we have to pay for food, clothing, and shelter since these are all things necessary to our physical survival? Why should we pay for Education? Isn't Knowledge suppose to be free? Why should we have to pay someone to care for us in times of sickness or injury? The Constitution of The United States says we are guaranteed the rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. The universally-accepted concept of certain Inalienable Human Rights dictates that we have the right to Life; which includes the physical essentials of Life such as food, clothing, shelter, health, and learning. BUT THESE RIGHTS ARE NO LONGER OURS because we cannot afford to pay what others demand for them.
Think about that.
Then think about this:
Many years ago when I was a teenager I once said "Good Evenings, Ladies!" and opened the front doors to the church I attended for three teenage girls whom I was very good friends with. They laughed in my face and it wasn't a pleasant sort of laugh either. They were laughing AT me, and their laughter said: "Look at the Old-Fashioned Geek! What a stupid Nerd!"
But they, by all means, went through the open doors just the same!
I was deeply hurt by their action and to their backs I said: "Who are YOU, that the price of simply caring about you should be so high?"
It was a long, long time before I opened a door for a woman again.
One Walker.