Samuel Johnson (via theimpossiblecool)
“Managers may truly believe that, without their unremitting
efforts, all work would quickly grind to a halt. That is not my
impression. While I encountered some cynics and plenty of people
who had learned to budget their energy, I never met an actual
slacker or, for that matter, a drug addict or thief. On the
contrary, I was amazed and sometimes saddened by the pride people
took in jobs that rewarded them so meagerly, either in wages or
in recognition. Often, in fact, these people experienced
management as an obstacle to getting the job done as it should be
done. Waitresses chafed at managers’ stinginess toward the
customers; housecleaners resented the time constraints that
sometimes made them cut corners; retail workers wanted the floor
to be beautiful, not cluttered with excess stock as management
required. Left to themselves, they devised systems of
cooperation and work sharing; when there was a crisis, they rose
to it. In fact, it was often hard to see what the function of
management was, other than to exact obeisance.” - Barbara Ehrenreich, in Nickel and Dimed.
Cheney makes better sense if you add, “— , Clarice” to the end of his sentences. “Torture worked, Clarice” (via @pourmecoffee)
“EULA: sharing is evil; BSD: sharing is not evil; GPL: not sharing is evil”.
“Reading books is an antidote to urgency and chaos because it
cannot be rushed. Every book has its own rhythm and a physical
intimacy that E-mail and similar instant information can never
achieve. Media glut often confuses information with
understanding. Just when you seem to be most pressed, books
miraculously expand time for reflection, cogitation, and mental
rest.” - Richard E. Cytowic, The Man Who Tasted Shapes.
“At this point, all that stands in the way of universal health
care in America are the greed of the medical-industrial complex,
the lies of the right-wing propaganda machine, and the
gullibility of voters who believe those lies.” - Paul Krugman
Every health care debate swings between emotional and number-based arguments. On the emotional front, those in favor of universal, government-backed health care empathize with the uninsured, while the free-market proponents warn about the nanny state and ask why they should be expected to pay for others’ bills.
That game can be played forever, and neither side is likely to convert the other. Let’s look at some numbers for a change. The Washington Post has a concise and clear story on health care around the world compared to what we live with in the US. Choice cuts:
U.S. health insurance companies have the highest administrative costs in the world; they spend roughly 20 cents of every dollar for nonmedical costs, such as paperwork, reviewing claims and marketing. France’s health insurance industry, in contrast, covers everybody and spends about 4 percent on administration. Canada’s universal insurance system, run by government bureaucrats, spends 6 percent on administration. In Taiwan, a leaner version of the Canadian model has administrative costs of 1.5 percent; one year, this figure ballooned to 2 percent, and the opposition parties savaged the government for wasting money.
The world champion at controlling medical costs is Japan, even though its aging population is a profligate consumer of medical care. On average, the Japanese go to the doctor 15 times a year, three times the U.S. rate. They have twice as many MRI scans and X-rays. Quality is high; life expectancy and recovery rates for major diseases are better than in the United States. And yet Japan spends about $3,400 per person annually on health care; the United States spends more than $7,000.Surely there must be some price to pay for such low administrative costs?
In the United States, an MRI scan of the neck region costs about $1,500. In Japan, the identical scan costs $98. Under the pressure of cost controls, Japanese researchers found ways to perform the same diagnostic technique for one-fifteenth the American price. (And Japanese labs still make a profit.)What happens when disaster strikes and you require very costly treatment?
In terms of finance, we force 700,000 Americans into bankruptcy each year because of medical bills. In France, the number of medical bankruptcies is zero. Britain: zero. Japan: zero. Germany: zero.Here’s how big a problem American medical bankrupcy is, according to The American Journal of Medicine:
They concluded that 62.1 percent of the bankruptcies were medically related because the individuals either had more than $5,000 (or 10 percent of their pretax income) in medical bills, mortgaged their home to pay for medical bills, or lost significant income due to an illness. On average, medically bankrupt families had $17,943 in out-of-pocket expenses, including $26,971 for those who lacked insurance and $17,749 who had insurance at some point.
Overall, three-quarters of the people with a medically-related bankruptcy had health insurance, they say.Just sayin’.
…for those of you inclined to believe the worst about President Obama, think it through. Suppose he is indeed a secret, foreign-born Muslim agent who is scheming to undermine American family values while killing off as many grandmothers as possible.
If all that were true, why on earth would he be trying so hard to reform our health care system? We already know how to prod families into divorce and take a life unnecessarily every 30 minutes — all we need to do is reject reform and stick with exactly what we have.
The advice is straightforward. Remember to be grateful. Spend your money on experiences, not objects. Volunteer. Nurture your relationships. Spend time in nature. Make sure you encounter new people and places. And never assume that you know what will make you happy.
Is it okay, in other words, to wade into social media like a toddler with Tourette’s?
We’ve had a lot of things not work, and that’s OK too. If it’s a good idea and it gets you excited, try it, and if it bursts into flames, that’s going to be exciting too. People always ask, “What is your greatest failure?” I always have the same answer – We’re working on it right now, it’s gonna be awesome!
