Perspectival View
--Albertus Pictor, Taby Church (Sweden)Game of chess, anyone?
I hope we shall... crush in its birth
the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations
which dare already to challenge our government
in a trial of strength, and bid defiance
to the laws of our country
--Thomas Jefferson
[She] has brought shame upon us all ...
Is there not law for it?
--The Scarlett letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne
When our leaders learn to cry
Oh lord I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in
--When the Saints Go Marching In,
Louis Armstrong
___________________
Yesterday we discussed Faisal Shahzad, Times Square bomber-manque who failed to inflict even the damage of a hangnail upon anyone, and who was sentenced to life imprisonment this week.
Contrast that with recent data that 100,000 Americans die annually due to doctor's incompetence, error or malpractice. The number seems small, since most of us know someone launched into the great beyond on a booster rocket provided by an inadequate (or inadequately concerned) doctor. The NYT just reported that sepsis alone kills 200,000 U.S. citizens annually due to general unawareness of the affliction, which can be treated by speedy hospital admission and administration of an antibiotic IV. Lisa almost became one of that number this summer.
But going with the 100,000 figure, please compare that to the threat level of terrorist groups. The significance of terror capabilities pales in comparison, and this ultimately affects their intent. Capability never matches intent (thankfully so), but not so for members of the American Medical association who cut us down in cooperation with the grim reaper and general collusion of an incompetent medical behemoth -- The System.
So, doctors kill us and rarely enter prison for manslaughter or negligent homicide, but a hapless wannabe gets life for his incompetence. Conclusion: Doctors, 100,000: Terrorists, zed. Doctors and lawyers are Big Kahunas over here; they make lots of dough over our corpses.
And as an old NCO once said to a young LT, "That's all there are to it." We fear men with rags on their heads, but embrace men with gold Rolexes killing us with abandon.
--Jim
Contrast that with recent data that 100,000 Americans die annually due to doctor's incompetence, error or malpractice. The number seems small, since most of us know someone launched into the great beyond on a booster rocket provided by an inadequate (or inadequately concerned) doctor. The NYT just reported that sepsis alone kills 200,000 U.S. citizens annually due to general unawareness of the affliction, which can be treated by speedy hospital admission and administration of an antibiotic IV. Lisa almost became one of that number this summer.
But going with the 100,000 figure, please compare that to the threat level of terrorist groups. The significance of terror capabilities pales in comparison, and this ultimately affects their intent. Capability never matches intent (thankfully so), but not so for members of the American Medical association who cut us down in cooperation with the grim reaper and general collusion of an incompetent medical behemoth -- The System.
So, doctors kill us and rarely enter prison for manslaughter or negligent homicide, but a hapless wannabe gets life for his incompetence. Conclusion: Doctors, 100,000: Terrorists, zed. Doctors and lawyers are Big Kahunas over here; they make lots of dough over our corpses.
And as an old NCO once said to a young LT, "That's all there are to it." We fear men with rags on their heads, but embrace men with gold Rolexes killing us with abandon.
--Jim
Labels: Faisal Shahzad, medical care fiasco, perspective, PWOT, terrorism, times square bomber
posted by Lisa at 8:13 AM
5 Comments:
Hi Jim and Lisa,
Point, Lisa! Incompetence everywhere, from government to terrorists to groceries to medicine. Why do you suppose this has become the "Shoddy Age"? What's happening to this once-great country, and why did it have to happen in my lifetime?
Dave
Thank you, Dave, but I must give credit where credit is due: This was mostly Jim. Lackadaisical Lisa forgot to change the attribution. Jim is such a shrinking violet, we risk losing him without his getting his props, you see :)
But yeah, I'm not sure why the comedown in quality. Surely some of it has to do with our speeded-up society; no time for attentiveness. But there is more: A lack of pride? An idea that no one will tell if corners are cut? Perhaps the idea that everyone else is lopping a little off the top, so why shouldn't I get mine.
Certainly we live in a time of terrible greed. While greed is a constant, somehow I feel that ethos is more diffuse these days. People who once valued their word have sold their pride. The word is no longer a man's bond. That was yesterday.
I see the reduction in integrity all about me, and it is disheartening. For me, the only answer is to live with integrity, even in the face of disappointment. But the fool-me-twice thing is definitely on: I need to get me a new doctor! (He doesn't get a second try at failing.)
Hi Lisa,
Yep, color me confused. I wondered at the third-person mention of yourself. My first guess, when I read the first paragraph, was Jim's ideas/Lisa's words.
It's tough to find a good doc. Most of 'em are quacks looking for a Mercedes payment. HMO's aren't much help--you've gotta see one quack to get referred to another quack.
Dave
"Jim's ideas/Lisa's words"
--that is always a good guess :)
A good doc is hard to find, like a good mechanic, who's value is above that of rubies.
(Gosh, even that venerated skill is going by the wayside as cars become things hooked up to diagnostics with modules that get replaced. Hmmm ... perhaps one day we shall become the same as our cars ...]
Dave,
Me thinks that Lisa is confused , and chosen her words poorly.
I like to view myself not as a shrinking violet , but rather as shrinking violence.
jim
Post a Comment
<< Home