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August 25, 2009 - Goanet's 15th Anniversary
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Mario wrote:
What is the incentive for any group of "health care experts" to come up with "a
plan" to benefit anyone but themselves? People like Gilbert still don't
understand that the best plan is when every individual in an industry is doing
what's in their own best interests. This includes the common sense notion that
others have to be served as well as possible for one's own long term financial
benefit.
Virtually all the medical and pharmaceutical breakthroughs in the world take
place in the US precisely because the government hasn't yet stifled their
incentives by imposing "national health care" controlled by politicians and a
small army of babus.
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 19:46:32 -0700 (PDT)
From: Gilbert Lawrence <gilbert2...@yahoo.com>
Based on the first paragraph below:
1. The only reason what Mario does, including writing on Goanet, is not to
"benefit anyone but themselves."
Mario responds:
This comment is clearly another example of the illogical thinking which we
frequently see from Gilbert.
I write on Goanet to express my personal and never-humble opinions, and as the
sole voice of reason, truth and peace. Since I am frequently personally
attacked for this, no one in their right mind would consider my writings to be
designed for my personal popularity or "benefit".
I am sometimes forced in my posts to point out misguided information and snide
personal attacks being posted by Gilbert and others, and the comment above is
an excellent example.
My comment that Gilbert has referred to was about business and professional
decisions. Most rational people make these primarily for the benefit
themselves and their families. Based on common sense, this includes making
sure they serve their customers to the best of their ability and deal fairly
and honestly with their suppliers and employees because this benefits them and
their business in the long run. Business owners who do not do this
consistently, tend to fail.
Gilbert wrote:
Then the second and third line in the first paragraph below, contradict each
other. A close analysis of both statements, is what precisely is wrong with
the US healthcare.
Mario responds:
Only someone with no understanding of free market economics would find a
contradiction here.
There is absolutely no contradiction because I was referring to rational
individuals in a free society. How this works in theory was explained in a
simple manner in the following essay:
http://www.creators.com/opinion/walter-williams/economic-miracle.html
The opening para sums it up, "The idea that even the brightest person or group
of bright people, much less the U.S. Congress, can wisely manage an economy has
to be the height of arrogance and conceit. Why? It is impossible for anyone to
possess the knowledge that would be necessary for such an undertaking. At the
risk of boring you, let's go through a small example that proves such knowledge
is impossible."
The rest of the article goes on to explain how individuals doing what's best
for themselves benefit society at large.
Gilbert thinks that a group of bright people can wisely manage the health care
system. This is the principle behind extreme socialism which has failed
miserably wherever it has been tried.
Gilbert wrote:
The current system is driven by "financial benefit" instead of taking care of
the patient and illness, guided by medical science. Clearly he does not read
my post; or his urgent itch to respond clouds his understanding of what he
reads.
Mario responds:
Gilbert apparently lives in a fantasy world of his own relative to the practice
of medicine in the US. Everyone in a free society is driven by financial
benefit, and the need to derive financial benefit year in and year out drives
them to provide the best services for their clients over the long haul.
For most physicians the maximum financial benefit in the longer run will come
from taking care of the patient and illness guided by medical science. In the
US the legal system requires that, when the outcome is not what the patient
expected, taking care of the patient means having to prove in a court of law
that the physician did everything that is known to medical science on behalf of
the patient. Thus the physician is forced to practice medicine by a legal
standard of medical practice, rather than a purely medical standard, as well as
to purchase expensive insurance as a safety net.
Gilbert amazingly wrote four essays on the subject without any serious
consideration of this real life issue, one of the major reasons for the high
cost of healthcare in the US, making one wonder what he knows about the
realities of medical practice in the US.
Gilbert wrote:
The second paragraph is a repetition of the sloganeering parroted from the
right-wing play-book. It is best not dignified by a response, because it is
both factually wrong and irrelevant to the issues being discussed.
Mario responds:
Dignifying my comment with a response would require a certain level of
knowledge which may be lacking. Thus we see Gilbert simply parroting a left
wing anti-American slogan without providing any evidence that I am factually
wrong.
The Journal of the American Medical Association reported in September 2005 that
the US spent $95 billion a year on medical research, far more that any other
country, to develop new drugs and devices and other treatments.
Gilbert wrote:
"Research" and "Breakthroughs" should be funded through a research budget,
rather than using patients' healthcare premiums.
Mario responds:
Yet another insight into Gilbert's abysmal ignorance of the subject when it
comes to the economics of medicine. This time he seems to think that costs
"funded" by a research budget doesn't have to ultimately be paid for somehow.
Pretty amazing for a self-proclaimed health care expert.
The cost of medical research and breakthroughs in which the US far exceeds any
other country is reflected in the cost of medicines and equipment used in
medical practice, which is then reflected in health care insurance premiums.
Gilbert wrote:
Enough comedy for the weekend.
Mario responds:
As we can see from my rational responses to Gilbert's pretense of being a
healthcare expert, the joke is really on him:-))
