So, I sent Miss Manners a letter, and she printed and answered it. A): I think this is really cool. 2): I think she has a valid argument. III): It doesn’t address the whole of the problem. d): What do you think?
Category: Steve
Texas Wisdom #65
“Care for your truck as if it’ll last a hundred years. Drive it as if it’ll break down tomorrow.”
— Billy-Bob Gautama
On Health Care
The Nobel Prize discussion quite reasonably morphed into a health care discussion. So, if anyone wants to continue that, here’s a place to do so. My position is as follows:
For purposes of this discussion, “profit” refers to money that comes from appropriating the labor of others (“exploitation” in the strict economic sense). If a company bills a nurse practioner at $75/hour, and pays the nurse $20/hour, the $20/hour is wages; the portion that goes to the company out of the remaining $55 is profit. Money earned by a doctor is not profit, money earned by an insurance company is.
That said, I do not believe it is possible to solve the health care problem, or even significantly improve it, while profit is still a consideration.
The Nobel Peace Prize, forsooth
As I mentioned on Twitter, giving Obama the Nobel Peace Prize would be like if the 1907 committee had given the Nobel Prize for Medicine to Mary Mallon. It would be interesting to have some documentary filmmaker speak to the Afghan and Pakistani civilians who have lost family members and get their reactions to Obama’s prize. But I guess it’s better now than after he has “convinced” Congress that Iran has to be invaded in the name of peace and democracy.
Obama gets the peace prize. There really needs to be a stronger word than “cynical” for situations like this.
Texas Wisdom #64
“The journey is the destination. As long as you ain’t goin’ nowheres in particular.”
— Billy-Bob Gautama