Hi, weaponeer!
Thanks for your courteous greeting and for sharing your views. As you say, although it's unlikely that we're going to change each other's minds, that's really not the point of the exercise as far as I'm concerned - I'm honestly not trying to convince anyone of anything here - the goal is to keep an open mind and hear as many different perspectives on an issue as possible in order to arrive at the most responsible conclusion possible, which is why I'm here.
Okay, so I probably wouldn't bilk some old lady out of her life savings, you're right, I'm exaggerating. But I do think that corporate malfeasance does exist and one ignores that at one's peril. I think it's asking a lot of a business executive who spends all of their time and energy educating themselves on the issues most pertinent to their company's interests, to simultaneously be an authority on every subject area which may be directly or indirectly affected by that company's actions. If, for instance, an executive knew that their chosen method of disposal of hazardous waste byproducts was detrimental to the health of inhabitants in a nearby community, I certainly hope that they would chose to find some other solution to their problem. But is an executive trained to be an environmental public health specialist? No, of course not, that's not their job, but I still think someone who is thus trained has a role to play in that equation.
With respect to the uninsured, I managed to find a number for you. According to the US Census Bureau (
http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p60-223.pdf for those of you who keep asking for links (-:), the number of uninsured in the US as of 2002 was 43.6 million, accounting for 15.2% of the population. Also worth mentioning, that figure is on the rise, up by 2.4 million people from the year before. C'mon, weaponeer, 1 out of every 6 people is not "statistically insignificant."
By the way, I hope your lung infection's clearing up. Are you alright?
By the way, I hope your lung infection's clearing up. Are you alright? Thanks for your concern. Yes, it's getting better. But the nagging cough is still a pain. It gets a lot worse when I lay down, so I am spending a lot of each night sitting up in a chair trying not to cough and wake my wife. Therefore lot's of keyboard time available.
I guess there are a lot of people without insurance. 15% is significant. Some of them are like my son. Refuses to pay for any part of health insurance, even when offered. He says he'll take his chances. At 24, he still thinks he's invincible. He also has no assets to lose, so if he really gets sick or hurt he'll throw himself on the mercy of the State. He isn't bothered by that at all. part of the new culture.
The others, folks with young families needing insurance and don't have it as a job benefit? Sad, but true. Some could maybe scrape up premiums for private insurance from another job. I just don't feel like it's my responsibility to take care of everyone. I'm not a compassionate conservative. This is a tough world and sometimes things are rough. As sometimes closes threads like this doscussing medical insurance, AIDS, smoking deaths, and other "needless" deaths, where would we be if no one ever died?
('Course it's tougher saying that now with this damn cough!).. :-)
With respect to the uninsured, I managed to find a number for you.Much of that problem is being imported --- the uninsured rate along the border --- is much higher, in this area only 33% of the population bothers with insurance, all the rest count on free health care from the taxpayers.
With respect to the uninsured, I managed to find a number for you. According to the US Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p60-223.pdf for those of you who keep asking for links (-:), the number of uninsured in the US as of 2002 was 43.6 million, accounting for 15.2% of the population. Also worth mentioning, that figure is on the rise, up by 2.4 million people from the year before. C'mon, weaponeer, 1 out of every 6 people is not "statistically insignificant." But I'm also curious about the peopel themselves who aren't insured: The demographics. I know that all the time I was in college and even after I got out, insurance was never something I (or any of my unmarried friends) ever gave a single thought to. I didn't think about it until the first time I got a job where health insurance was available. The simple fact is that there are an awful lot of people out there who could get insurance if they wanted it, but simply don't.
Mark