When Kennedy envisioned going to the moon, no lobby existed to fight
ferociously for the sole right to take the profits from going to the
moon, and the sole right to decide who gets to go.
If you read the not-very-deep subtext in this fight, you will see that
it's not about giving better healthcare to Americans (which we
desperately need) but about protecting the enormous profits of the
healthcare insurance industry. It's dressed up in "right to choose,"
and "privacy between doctor and patient," and "keep the government out
of medical care," but it's really about profit protection. From
several different and reliable sources (one of them a congressional
candidate) I have heard that since early last summer, the insurance
and pharmaceuticals industries have been spending over $1 million per
day on lobbying. It continues. You can do the arithmetic.
The media regularly reports on how much better, cheaper, and more
effective medical plans are all around the developed world. It doesn't
penetrate $1 million-plus per day.
On Feb 13, 2010, at 3:55 PM, Jochen Fromm wrote:
Where does all this whining about health care
come from? Everyone in Germany has a health
insurance, it is obligatory. There is general
agreement here that the European (and esp.
the German) health care system is better
and more social than the one in the US.
The USA obviously needs a better health care
system. Where is the American optimism and
the "i believe we can do it" spirit? I've heard
that optimism and positive thinking is a typical
American attitude.
America is lacking a vision, something like
Kennedy's vision to bring a man to the moon
and back. Military and NASA won't do it
this time. A vision or a common dream which
would foster technological innovation. Schmidt
mentioned "renewable energy" and green
technology. What about a clean L.A. with
fresh air? A large scale scientific initiative
to create the first AI would be another one.
America would have the resources to do it, it
has the companies with the largest data centers.
It should be proud of Google, Microsoft,
Amazon, and Apple. It is difficult to understand
why it disputes about health care so long.
-J.
----- Original Message ----- From: Roger Critchlow
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
Sent: Saturday, February 13, 2010 6:54 PM
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Sources of Innovation
[...] We're too busy defending ourselves from hedge fund vampires
and health care ghouls to worry about growth. Say what you will
about the undead, they steal their profits fair and square and
invest them in the rule of law.
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
