Wow! Did he say it like it is

[Mango]

Maybe so, but I like knowing that I can abuse my body and still make it past age 80. Bring on the stents, pills, surgery, cutting, genetic reengineering, chemicals, biotech yadda yadda I'm all for it. I'd much prefer that to a boring old holistic lifestyle nibbling on greens and being one with the earth whatever the hell that means.

Why would I want to live my way? Because I CAN, that's why. Furthermore, I've never had a doctor who didn't encourage healthy practices. It's a myth and urban legend that doctors don't want you to get well so they can make more money.

I guess all the pharmaceutical companies have people scouring the jungles of the world looking to replicate the compounds of plants solely on the basis of medical progress, and not money? Medical advancement is all well and good, but if you become dependent on it, you could find yourself buried with a pretty new knee because you contracted that next super bug during surgery.

 

[LuciferSam]

I guess all the pharmaceutical companies have people scouring the jungles of the world looking to replicate the compounds of plants solely on the basis of medical progress, and not money? Medical advancement is all well and good, but if you become dependent on it, you could find yourself buried with a pretty new knee because you contracted that next super bug during surgery.

Plants, yeah a lot of really good stuff come from them, i forgot all about that. I guess I will be nibbling on greens in my old age after all come to think of it. [Edit] I'm not going to be buried, so there goes that scenario.

 

[Santiago]

I write this with complete awareness of the stars in my eyes, but I've always liked the way they used to do it in China. Each village had a doctor, and all villagers paid the doctor as long as they stayed well. When they got sick, they stopped paying, till they got well again. Since TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) includes diet and exercise as well as herbs and acupuncture, each villager shared responsibility for staying healthy with the doc.

Because docs got paid for keeping folks well, rather than getting paid for treating them for illness, they learned to detect and remediate imbalances in the system long before any serious disease manifested.

I guess the main idea here is, we have a health care system that is all about sickness, crisis management if you will, rather than about wellness and crisis prevention. Seems pretty wack to me.

How many lawyers do they have over there in Utopia?

 

[30ashopper]

I guess all the pharmaceutical companies have people scouring the jungles of the world looking to replicate the compounds of plants solely on the basis of medical progress, and not money? Medical advancement is all well and good, but if you become dependent on it, you could find yourself buried with a pretty new knee because you contracted that next super bug during surgery.

One of very very few areas where the federal ogvernment actually plays a positive role in our lives. Basic research generally yields a 90%+ failure rate, commercial organizations would never fund such projects. If we weren't funding basic research through the NIH, Dept. of Energy, or various non-profits that grant, we'd be in big trouble though. Which begs the question, why do we spend billions on worthless programs and pork, and so little on basic research?

 

[LuciferSam]

I write this with complete awareness of the stars in my eyes, but I've always liked the way they used to do it in China. Each village had a doctor, and all villagers paid the doctor as long as they stayed well. When they got sick, they stopped paying, till they got well again. Since TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) includes diet and exercise as well as herbs and acupuncture, each villager shared responsibility for staying healthy with the doc.

Because docs got paid for keeping folks well, rather than getting paid for treating them for illness, they learned to detect and remediate imbalances in the system long before any serious disease manifested.

I guess the main idea here is, we have a health care system that is all about sickness, crisis management if you will, rather than about wellness and crisis prevention. Seems pretty wack to me.

If I were forced to endure such an existence I guess I would have to always pretend to be sick, I mean why not? I get medical care if I need it, but don't have to pay a dime. I'm sure I could develop a good fake hacking cough, a partial limp, and perhaps a little hair loss (hey technically it's an illness). When someone spoke to me I would always say "huh? speak louder I can't hear you". I think I have the bases covered. But in case all of this fails, I guess I could just cut off my balls, but from the sound of it that would make me just like everyone else in your little imaginary world.

 

[LuciferSam]

How many lawyers do they have over there in Utopia?

Yes and as long as you keep getting into trouble, you don't have to pay them a dime. I envision a society of homicidal lepers. This is a really evil and perverse example of collectivism. It totally takes away a person's individuality and penalizes him for his own ability to stay healthy and out of trouble (if you go with the lawyer thing). It rewards sickness and maladaptive behavior. It penalizes virtue.

 

[Miss Critter]

I'm trying to remember the original topic of this thread. . . .

 

[30ashopper]

I'm trying to remember the original topic of this thread. . . .

Not sure but I'm enjoying the tangents.

 

[Alicia Leonard]

I'm so

 

[poppy]

How many lawyers do they have over there in Utopia?

More than they have in heaven.