And another thing...

so i got mad again about something again when something awesome came to my email box from a Lean production list to which i subscribe. I will share it with you here and then i'll add some thoughts below.

The notion that waste is good for the economy is strange indeed, even if
it is supported by such measures of economic activity as the GDP. If you
pollute the environment, what is spent to clean up your mess contributes
to the GDP, which, as a consequence is bigger than if you didn't pollute.
If you eat at a restaurant, what you pay for food preparation goes into the
GDP, but if the same meal is cooked at home, it doesn't.

The truth is that eliminating waste is good for society as a whole. It
directly improves the quality of life and frees up resources to address
genuine unmet needs.

So this is just one part of it, it's followed by a quote from the economist who developed GDP and also some inspiring words from RFK. But the point i wanted to make was this: Supply side (trickle down) economics are complete and utter bullshit and here is why....

i should probably ask if anyone disagrees with me here? and assuming someone gives me a counter argument i will refute it directly. ...but really though.. it just doesn't make any sense that intentionally wasting resources because of the potential source of revenue it provides is a reasonable way to either do business or govern. how is it that a group of grotesquely greedy people have convinced a large portion (anyone at all for that matter) of the population that this makes good sense? did anyone see that delightful and entertaining supply side jesus cartoon from that al franken book? i loved that cartoon. it summed up the thing nicely you can find it if you search. how many years did we go on thinking this would encourage the economy? is this a big part of our digging of our environmental grave? because if it is i might be relieved that it's this easy to fix.

ironically, my job is created by this attitude perhaps.. i clean up waste after all, but i don't just mop up a puddle that will be back tomorrow, i fix the leak that causes the puddle day after day. but i always seem to have more waste to fix... and i wonder if that doesn't arise from the very industry itself. we spend a lot of time talking about the health care transaction, a patient and a provider who for some reason can't exchange currency directly. as one of those providers i know i didn't care for asking people to pay... i still don't. i would pay for someone else to do it.. but it's waste. it delays the exchange, and takes some of the money i need away. if insurance wasn't in the picture how much cheaper would a visit to a doctor be? i don't know.... i would be interested to know if a doctor could work exclusively on medicare patients and still pay for the overhead (especially malpractice)... someone should look that up for me.... maybe i can ask an actuary.

rantin' time again

wooo! it's been awhile since i was coherent enough AND interested in ranting about something i heard. i suppose that's a good sign that i'm feeling pretty good... back from my cold.

ok so today i heard a little half-cliche on the radio and it got me really angry. sometimes i think people should think before they say (except me. ... i'd never say anything awesome if i had time to think twice).

so this was some sort of campaign message from someone-or-other and they said the words: "Everyone has the right to [good] health."

take a second and think about that....

WTF?????? who precisely dispenses a right like that? your government? your god? your parents? your elementary school bus driver? what does it even mean? what can that mean?

no government guarantees good health, nor religion (maybe scientology does), and no parents have ultimate control over the health of their child - if they did, logically, no child would ever die of illness. neither would a believer, nor a patriot, but those ideas are absurd.

i think they meant health care... that we have a right to health care ... big difference. health care doesn't equal health. health care can but may not lead to good health, lack of health care does not deny health.. the relationship between the two is not concrete or predictable. actually people who have good health frequently avoid health care because it's unnecessary to them.

health education is a right we all should have, and since health is part of our public education system we have access to it, but what we choose to do with it is where i tie this back to health care and rights. we don't actually have a right to have health care solve our problems. We have a right to seek out health care, but health care may not be able to help us so what are we entitled to then? - i am speaking now as a health care professional (and an opinionated bastard) - we have the choice to live as we like. we can choose to seek out health knowledge we have the responsibility to be informed about our health, but all of us have to work for good health, no one just opens a box or bottle and eats good health. we have to be responsible for our health and the choices that impact our health... and when our choices' consequence is something that health care can do nothing about you are entitled to feel about it however you choose, but i can't be held responsible for making your "right" a reality. and neither can anyone else.

so remember... your local health professional is there as a guide.. .they teach you how to live to improve your situation (the word doctor after all comes from the original docere - to teach).... it is ultimately your responsibility to make the most of your health and if that isn't your priority then that's fine. but no one can guarantee your health will be someone else's priority or responsibility.

so that's my rant tonight. now it's time for sleep.