Mar 14 2008
Sustainable Democracy
This is a site I found cruising around the web today… I found it through Entrecard… see, another benefit to Entrecard, I am finding very interesting sites.
It’s called Sustainable Democracy. And it caught my eye… mainly because I’m a democrat, though democracy does not mean democrat (something I had to grasp when I was older than a kid…)
I am continually frustrated (as I have blogged about in the past) by the tediousness of going to work every darn day and… as Joe said in Joe vs. The Volcano “I was too afraid to live my life so I sold it to you for $300 lousy dollars a week.” Okay that’s not a direct quote, that’s from memory, but it’s close. So the author of Sustainable Democracy says, on his http://www.sustainabledemocracy.org/founder page:
Society, school, government, everyone had promised me that the purpose of all this education and working was to make things better. But the more I went through life the more it became apparent that it was about filling up life with objects and busy work, and not with making things better.
Emphasis Mine. His words strike a chord in me. I mean… I’m frustrated with selling my life for (a bit more than) $300 a week. But still, I’d rather be out there learning, growing, bettering humanity… and sure sure, I could pull myself up by my bootstraps and try to do that. But my anxiety, and the system, and my job… my wanting to eat and have a roof over my head and my dogs’ and husband’s head, rather prevents me from stepping out of my comfort zone and running headlong into the wind.
On his Mission page, he writes:
We have spent centuries working to achieve better technology, philosophy, and social structures to make our lives better. We should begin bringing that effort to bear and create the society that renews and rejuvenates us, not perpetuate the one that sucks us dry until we are of no great use to it.
“Suck us dry” is right. Ugh.
So why can’t we have a society where we are all alive… and doing things we love? Instead of slaving away at a desk 40 hours a week. 40 Hours A Week! It’d rediculous! Maybe there can be something else… something better. Some type of society where we follow our passions, improve humanity and the earth, live sustainably and lovingly… where we don’t have to do mindless (even if not mindless, still tedious) tasks day in and day out to survive?
Sure sure, all through the ages humans have had to work hard to get that food and shelter and dog food… but still… Health Care, good quality solid Health Care, should be available to everyone in our society. No questions. And so, shouldn’t the ability to live life to it’s fullest? In ways we do not yet imagine?
He has three posts, this is the first, to “help introduce and explain the basic ideas and tenets of Sustainable Democracy“. I have started reading these posts, and I am going to go read some more.
Another great quote that speaks for itself:
It should not be the effort of any society to produce more. It should be the focused effort of every individual to innovate in their area of expertise to produce the least quantity needed at the minimal effort required to produce the best results.
Okay, blow my mind, why doncha. I wish I would have thought of this stuff.
Hey, big thanks for the kind words!
Make sure to comment on the articles you like and point out any problems with ideas you see (or email me). I have tons on innovative ideas, but the plans to put them into practice are just being pieced together through discussion. So, every new brain put to this problem might bring us one step closer to beginning real change!
Chris Schaffer’s last blog post..How to Create Change
Hey, big thanks for the kind words!
Make sure to comment on the articles you like and point out any problems with ideas you see (or email me). I have tons on innovative ideas, but the plans to put them into practice are just being pieced together through discussion. So, every new brain put to this problem might bring us one step closer to beginning real change! <em>Chris Schaffer's last blog post..<a href='http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SustainableDemocra...rel="nofollow">How to Create Change</a></em>
I worked for a state agency that provided health care for half a decade.
I quit after I realized that it was the state (and employers) that were jacking up the cost of health care. It was the gimmicks that we thought we drop the cost of health care that was pushing it out of our reach.
I was working on actuarial analysis of insurance claims and premiums. I quit my cozy government job because I realized that the massive government bureaucracies controlling health care were making the situation worse.
Notice how the landscape of medicine has changed as the government becomes progressively more intrusive. There has not been a single year in the last half century where government did not become more intrusive in health care. There has not been a single year during which government expenditure on health care did not grow faster than the economy as a whole. Despite massive increases in government spending, health care is less accessible.
the government is the primary problem in health care.
Notice that, as the government got more and more intrusive, most of the private practices, independent pharmacies and independent agencies that work in health care went under because they could not deal with the government.
The government systematically drives away all but the biggest health care providers out of existence. You know, the ones that give big bucks to politicians.
Notice how every year, the government spends more on health care and adds more and more regulations. Every year, the cost of healthcare relative to our incomes rises.
I quit being a government employed progressive because all of the data I could find was showing that government employed progressives were the ones causing the problem we claimed to be fixing.
What has happened is that politicians have convinced the world that health care is that health care is bureuacrats pushing papers around.
In reality, health care is done by the person sitting by the side of a patient applying time and our collective knowledge of the human body to aid patients in time of need …. Better yet, health care comes from people spending time to figure out how to keep people happy and healthy.
You are a dog person. Have you noticed that dogs get health care at a fraction of the cost of humans? In many cases vet procedures are 1/10th to 1/20th of what gets charged through the medical system for the exact same procedure done on a human.
This outrageous price differential happens despite the fact that the massive government subsidies for human health care dwarfs doggie health care.
The difference is not because dogs have different anatomies than people. Humans and dogs pretty much have all the same parts. However, you will generally find taht something that costs $1000 for a dog costs $10,000 to an uninsured patient.
The reason for this is that most of the money spent on human care is funneled away into the pockets of bureaucrats, lawyers and government.
All of the energy that should be focussed to the bedside of the patient is funneled into political games in a distant office.
Lets look at this from a different perspective.
I take it from your site that you are an avid dog owner. Have you noticed how much of the real care your dogs receives actually comes from your hands?
The same is true for humans. In most cases, the most valuable health care comes from the caring people sitting by the bed side. The professionals provide knowledge and some very valuable skilled care. The largest investment in time happens on a individual level.
People today can’t give the care they used to give to loved ones because they spend the bulk of their year paying insurance premiums and taxes.
Almost all of the areas where we could make really big improvements in health are best accomplished through human to human interaction. Yet we can do it because of the legion of progressive democratic bureaucrats who are are systematically stealing our lives and forcing Americans into a state of servitude.
I assume you hate Bush. Notice how Hillary and Barack’s claim that if we just gave more money, more manpower and more authority to the health care bureaucracy that health care would magically work is similar to Bush’s claim that if we just gave more money, manpower and authority to the war, that the war would work?
The trillions of dollars that exchange hands in health care legislation in Washington DC does not put people by patient’s side.
I was a government employed progressive Democrat until after I finally realized that it was government employed progressive democrats that are the primary root of our current problem. I was a health care employee pushing papers, but not once did I do anything that improved a person’s health. As a government employee, I increased health care costs, I did not provide health care.
Health care is a human to human service. It is not something that comes from CEOs or presidents. If we wanted really wanted quality care, we would reduce the role that employers or government played in the process.
IF we cut the employer and government bureaucrats out of the system, we would see a resurgence in private practices. We would see an 80% drop in the cost of health care.
It took me five years to figure out the math. However, pretty much all of our discontentments with health care would vanish if we pulled the bureaucrats out of the system.
I worked for a state agency that provided health care for half a decade.
I quit after I realized that it was the state (and employers) that were jacking up the cost of health care. It was the gimmicks that we thought we drop the cost of health care that was pushing it out of our reach.
I was working on actuarial analysis of insurance claims and premiums. I quit my cozy government job because I realized that the massive government bureaucracies controlling health care were making the situation worse.
Notice how the landscape of medicine has changed as the government becomes progressively more intrusive. There has not been a single year in the last half century where government did not become more intrusive in health care. There has not been a single year during which government expenditure on health care did not grow faster than the economy as a whole. Despite massive increases in government spending, health care is less accessible.
the government is the primary problem in health care.
Notice that, as the government got more and more intrusive, most of the private practices, independent pharmacies and independent agencies that work in health care went under because they could not deal with the government.
The government systematically drives away all but the biggest health care providers out of existence. You know, the ones that give big bucks to politicians.
Notice how every year, the government spends more on health care and adds more and more regulations. Every year, the cost of healthcare relative to our incomes rises.
I quit being a government employed progressive because all of the data I could find was showing that government employed progressives were the ones causing the problem we claimed to be fixing.
What has happened is that politicians have convinced the world that health care is that health care is bureuacrats pushing papers around.
In reality, health care is done by the person sitting by the side of a patient applying time and our collective knowledge of the human body to aid patients in time of need …. Better yet, health care comes from people spending time to figure out how to keep people happy and healthy.
You are a dog person. Have you noticed that dogs get health care at a fraction of the cost of humans? In many cases vet procedures are 1/10th to 1/20th of what gets charged through the medical system for the exact same procedure done on a human.
This outrageous price differential happens despite the fact that the massive government subsidies for human health care dwarfs doggie health care.
The difference is not because dogs have different anatomies than people. Humans and dogs pretty much have all the same parts. However, you will generally find taht something that costs $1000 for a dog costs $10,000 to an uninsured patient.
The reason for this is that most of the money spent on human care is funneled away into the pockets of bureaucrats, lawyers and government.
All of the energy that should be focussed to the bedside of the patient is funneled into political games in a distant office.
Lets look at this from a different perspective.
I take it from your site that you are an avid dog owner. Have you noticed how much of the real care your dogs receives actually comes from your hands?
The same is true for humans. In most cases, the most valuable health care comes from the caring people sitting by the bed side. The professionals provide knowledge and some very valuable skilled care. The largest investment in time happens on a individual level.
People today can't give the care they used to give to loved ones because they spend the bulk of their year paying insurance premiums and taxes.
Almost all of the areas where we could make really big improvements in health are best accomplished through human to human interaction. Yet we can do it because of the legion of progressive democratic bureaucrats who are are systematically stealing our lives and forcing Americans into a state of servitude.
I assume you hate Bush. Notice how Hillary and Barack's claim that if we just gave more money, more manpower and more authority to the health care bureaucracy that health care would magically work is similar to Bush's claim that if we just gave more money, manpower and authority to the war, that the war would work?
The trillions of dollars that exchange hands in health care legislation in Washington DC does not put people by patient's side.
I was a government employed progressive Democrat until after I finally realized that it was government employed progressive democrats that are the primary root of our current problem. I was a health care employee pushing papers, but not once did I do anything that improved a person's health. As a government employee, I increased health care costs, I did not provide health care.
Health care is a human to human service. It is not something that comes from CEOs or presidents. If we wanted really wanted quality care, we would reduce the role that employers or government played in the process.
IF we cut the employer and government bureaucrats out of the system, we would see a resurgence in private practices. We would see an 80% drop in the cost of health care.
It took me five years to figure out the math. However, pretty much all of our discontentments with health care would vanish if we pulled the bureaucrats out of the system.
Interesting post. Democracy – good old democracy. It’s been the hot new ideological toy everybody wants for the last few decades. Just make sure you check the back of the pack for the small print. Will your operating system handle it? And what version do you have or want? Democracy – but not as you know it. Democracy plays out differently everywhere. The problem is what do we make of it? Am I allowed to make link to my blog on this? Sorry if I am not allowed – won’t do so in future then. http://angryafrican.wordpress.com/2008/02/24/its-democracy-but-not-as-you-know-it/
Interesting post. Democracy – good old democracy. It's been the hot new ideological toy everybody wants for the last few decades. Just make sure you check the back of the pack for the small print. Will your operating system handle it? And what version do you have or want? Democracy – but not as you know it. Democracy plays out differently everywhere. The problem is what do we make of it? Am I allowed to make link to my blog on this? Sorry if I am not allowed – won't do so in future then. http://angryafrican.wordpress.com/2008/02/24/its-...