Health care

What is annoying is that design and engineering is my occupation, yet I am forced to write about subjects beyond my remit, aghast at the sillyness around us. Perhaps it is the logical somewhat rational eye of us engineer types that makes us look at the world and go, “Huh? Why don’t they just do that! It’s so obvious!” But sadly, out in the real world (for now), the middleman is in control. Since Ogg first chose to re-sell his wheat sheaf/spear/carcass to someone in the next huddle/cave/village, there has always been a motive to keep the market for product X credible/growing/alive, even if no longer necessary.

When it comes to oil, you don’t really need that pharmaceuticals and trash TV, the middleman really does afflict significant control over humanity.

Over in the US, Mr. President is working to bring universal health care to the masses. As has been proven here, the fact anyone can walk into a hospital and be repaired does conceptually appear fair and socially responsible. On an economic note, a well worker is a productive worker – laying in bed doesn’t do much good. However, social medicine reduces the incentive to live a healthy lifestyle. After all, if you are forced to pay for an op caused by a bad habit, surely that is an incentive to live a more healthy lifestyle? This was particular noticeable during my time in California, where they are paranoid about health and devoid of the petty ills that afflict the pasty faced Brit. All said, in the US, class does make it harder to live a healthy lifestyle due to the nature of the roads and lack of public pathways between cities and community resources. It is dangerous and unpleasant to bike to work/shop/school, so the wealthy keep fit by visiting the gym and partaking in all manner of fun sports, while the poor remain trapped and can only get about safely by bus or car. 1960s built UK cities are just as bad.

Anyway, whether you are for private healthcare or social, big pharma will still pull the strings. For if you go private, all manner of you don’t really need that* drugs will be pushed your way and Dr. Poppillski who appears on his personal website in a white coat wearing his trademark “Yes, I’m a real doctor!” stethoscope will be happy to accept a nice commission from his supplier. (Sadly, a certain Mr. Jackson may well have contributed to such a cause – to the benefit of all but he.) On the other hand, with social medicine, the billions of tax payer dollars will be available to thrust yet more you don’t really need that drugs onto the unwashed masses. And who knows what all that stuff does once it goes down the toilet and then makes it way back into our water supply over the years. But who cares, the duplicitous lobbyists can use their donations to move up to the hills and live off bottled water. Nothing changes does it? 😉

*Acid reflux medicine? Really! Just drink a few glasses of warm water and cut down on all those simple carb laden pizzas and fizzy drinks!

Fight back club: Live as healthy as possible (see Lifetips section) and spend as little as possible on those you don’t really need that drugs, because unless you break a leg, your bod will self repair in it’s own time. That’s biotech for you!