This world is something that we need…Imagine!
Axwell, Bob Sinclar, and Featuring singer Ron Carroll
Category Archives: health insurance
Now Is The Winter Of Our Discontent — A Liberal’s Calm Before The Storm
Made glorious summer by this sun of Windy City;
And all the clouds that lour’d upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried…
…for how long?
For some of us the inauguration of Barack Obama ushered in the potential for an era of liberal progress, of recovery from the dark clouds of George W. Bush… illegal wars, reactionary social policy, and economic destruction.
The republican party nomination process stimulated my presaging fear of tumult as I witnessed enthusiastic applause for the proposed destruction / elimination of women’s’ rights, civil and marriage rights, health care access, criminalized physical expressions of hate, and responsible stewardship of earth’s resources.
While I know that I am not alone in my liberal desires for a more progressive and better nation, it sure feels a lot lonelier.
As I contemplated my sense of alienation and just how far I am away from the American political norm, a battery of political spectrum tests proved that, indeed, I am a Liberal Elite in a right wing, conservative nation…and it is not a good feeling.
For the Liberal Elite contemplating the national mood, it may soon be another kind of Winter…the end (winter) of our contentment…
Note To Republicans: Patriarchy Is Medieval
We have allowed ourselves, as a society, to slip back into medieval thinking… Fight against it!
SOCIAL JUSTICE & The U.S. As Land Of Opportunity
Social Justice — the conditions allowing each individual to participate in the market society, regardless of their social status — provides true freedom and growth to a nation’s citizenry.
For the US, it is the foundation to making the “American Dream” a reality. How are we doing?
The United States ranks near the bottom of 31 developed countries, according the recent yearly report from Bertelsmann Foundation.
Living in a market economy where everyone has the same opportunity for success is quite different from that society where opportunity for fortune favors the fortunate. When it comes to “equal opportunities for self-realization,” the U.S. ranks 27th out of 31 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member states — well behind not just advanced Northern European countries like Norway and Denmark, but even countries like Hungary, Poland, Italy and France.
The only countries whose citizens fare even worse than US citizens are Greece, Chile, Mexico and Turkey.
Coincidentally, the new report arrived just a day after the Congressional Budget Office validated another key precept of “Occupy” protesters: The income gap between the rich and poor in the U.S. grew from 1979 to 2007, the report found, with the top 1 percent of earners seeing their incomes spike by 275 percent.
The new survey of developed countries also echoes the findings of OECD’s 2010 report on Social Mobility, which found that — contrary to America’s reputation as the “land of opportunity” — it is now much harder to climb the socio-economic ladder between generations in the U.S. than in most other developed countries.
The Social Justice Index just released measures six indicators of “socially responsible” capitalism. In all of them, the U.S. was ranked in the lowest half of the countries examined, faring extremely poorly in four.
- The U.S. was third to last in poverty prevention, trailed only by Chile and Mexico, due to its “alarming” poverty levels.
- In Denmark, only 1 in 27 children lives in poverty; in the United States that rate is above 1 in 5.
- As the report puts it: “Under conditions of poverty, social participation and a self-determined life are possible only with great difficulty.”
- On the health index, the U.S. was ranked 23 out of 31 countries
- Most other countries did much better than the US providing access to quality health care not simply based on socioeconomic status.
- And the U.S. infant mortality rate is unusually higher than other developed nations, the report found.
- When it comes to “intergenerational justice” — a measure of how well or poorly the current generation is doing at passing along problems to the next generation — the U.S. ranked 20 out of 31.
- Nineteen of the 31 countries were also ranked higher than the U.S. when it comes to equal access to good-quality education — “another essential factor in providing equitable capabilities and opportunities for advancement,” the report said.
- The U.S ranked slightly higher on indicators of “social cohesion” and “labor participation.”
All in all, the U.S. ranked near Mexico in several indicators. By contrast, Canada was the top performer among the non-European OECD states. “Its high ranking can be attributed to strong results in the areas of education, labor market justice and social cohesion,” the report concluded.
Northern European countries led the study in overall rankings, with the report concluding that the “universalist” welfare states there are “most capable of providing equal opportunities for self-realization within their respective societies.”
As I Recover… “Occupy” Is Others’ Hope To Recovery
As I recover from my own very serious spinal surgery and appreciate to my very core that the $100,000+ cost is covered by insurance…
I also contemplate the human situation after learning that my Aunt’s current chemotherapy treatments are covered 80% by insurance, with her and my Uncle left to pick up the balance…
And, I think how fortunate I am that my Life-Partner’s employer affords me the benefit of complete health insurance at my time of need…
And I appreciate how fortunate my Aunt and Uncle are to have the financial success in life such that their massive “out-of-pocket” chemo expenses are afforded by themselves.
Then my heart wrenches to think what would each of our lives be like had we not had the health care access life and circumstance afforded us.
I don’t have to look far, for those harmed by our inequitable and deficient system stand front and center as stark reminder…
… and plead for recovery, that a better system be established:
We can do better… Listen… OCCUPY LIFE!
SCOTUS To Review ObamaCare: Where Is U.S. Health Care Compared To The World?
The U.S. Supreme Court is going to review the constitutionality of ObamaCare… sounds like a good time to review what this plan is designed to address — namely, controlling costs while increasing health outcomes and providing health care access to all citizens.
Though I can’t fathom that anyone — liberal or conservative — would possibly be against these benchmarks (we can disagree how to get there), ideology and lack of empathy seem to predominate our national discussion. Still, it’s worth reviewing why extending health care access to all citizens, improving our national health outcomes, and controlling costs should be attempted.
And, the main points are that we have the most expensive system in the world with the poorest outcomes of all industrialized nations.
Oh? So what’s that mean? Let’s take a look at how far off base we are from a reasonably efficient and effective system compared to the world.
It’s the best health care system in the world!? But, compared to what?
It’s well known (among folks that care about such things) that the United States spends a lot more per person on health care than comparable countries and that our actual health outcomes are anywhere from average to bad. See, for example, the chart below from a 2008 paper by Gerard Anderson and Bianca Frogner.
This chart above shows the extent to which each nation’s health care spending and life expectancy differ from what is expected, based upon the income of the nation (per capita GDP) and standard deviations. As readily seen, the U.S. spends a HUGE amount more with lives a lot SHORTER.
Sure that doesn’t look good… But aren’t we improving?
OK, so that’s where the U.S. is today, but where we are going? Hasn’t the nation been in the midst of a decade’s long pursuit of cost containment and cost sharing? Surely we’re seeing some results and improvements for all the efforts and increased financial burdens upon individuals and families?
Change in a massive system such as the U.S. health system takes time to occur. So even if we have a inefficient, expensive health care system, maybe it is getting relatively better and relatively less expensive. Nope. We’re getting worse… so all this effort is not working.
The chart below, from the OECD data, highlights the change seen in each nation’s per capita spending and life expectancy relative to all other countries. The data are standardized so that we’re seeing the number of standard deviations of each country away from the statistical mean of the whole in 1992 and in 2007.
Obviously, not only is the United States the outlier in terms of spending, we are moving in the wrong direction altogether!
The U.S. is becoming more of a spending anomaly, as our average life expectancy degrades into the lower group (currently surpassing only Turkey, Hungary, Mexico, Poland, and Czech Republic)!
Are you sure you’re looking at that right?
Another way to look at the situation is to look at actual values rather than standard deviations, as in the chart below, indicating actual increases in life expectancy and percentage increases in nominal per capita health care spending. The axes are located at the averages of these countries: the average spending increase was 132 percent and the average life expectancy gain was 3.7 years.
So, in percentage terms, health care costs have been growing in the United States a bit faster than in other comparable countries (poorer countries increased spending more rapidly).
Our life expectancy gain was the absolute lowest of the whole group, however — starting from a low level already.
Isn’t the Marketplace supposed to correct for these disparities?
According to market theory, one would expect to see convergence across countries over time — meaning that since other countries spend less and live longer, the U.S. would learn from their examples and adjust accordingly… fulfilling the mantra of global competition. Instead we’re moving the wrong way on both dimensions.
WE NEED OBAMACARE… AND WE NEED IT TO WORK.
Occupy Wall Street Message? First Declaration Makes Clear
Since the occupation of Wall Street first began on September 17th, the mainstream media criticized the general assembly for lack of a cohesive list of complaints or demands.
On the night of September 29, 2011, Occupy Wall Street participants voted on and approved the first official “Declaration of the Occupation of New York City.”
The first declaration from Occupy Wall Street, is reprinted in its entirety (Seems to be a very clear message):
As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.
As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.
- They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
- They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.
- They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.
- They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
- They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless nonhuman animals, and actively hide these practices.
- They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
- They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.
- They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.
- They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
- They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
- They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
- They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.
- They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
- They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
- They have donated large sums of money to politicians supposed to be regulating them.
- They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.
- They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantive profit.
- They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
- They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
- They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
- They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.
- They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
- They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.*
To the people of the world,
We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.
Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.
To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.
Join us and make your voices heard!
*These grievances are not all-inclusive.
Occupy Together Movement Expands Across the States — Economic Royalists Not Amused
Occupy Atlanta, the Atlanta branch of the Occupy Together movement, occupied downtown’s Woodruff Park Friday, October 07, 2011 following a protestors’ General Assembly — about seven hundred people attended.
A group of several hundred activists decided to stay in the park past the 11pm closing time and risked arrest.
Day two began Saturday morning as chilly and groggy members of the protest group Occupy Atlanta emerged from their tents in Woodruff Park and then set about planning the day’s activities.
Occupy Together is a new, young, and vital movement that is emerging in major US cities around the nation. They call themselves the ninety-nine percent that has been left behind and left out, while the one percent control vast amounts of wealth and took even more during the great transfer of wealth in 2008.
Prior to the current economic crisis, Wall Street ran amuck, without regulations, and the banks gambled away their resources in a frenzy of blind greed never before seen. Everyone lost except the CEO’s and upper echelon of the corporate world… and the politicians beholden to these interests.
The “We Are The 99%” movement members are aware that most of our elected representatives primarily represent the interests of the rich and powerful and… not the people. During the General Assembly, a crowd of about seven hundred people encircled the facilitators.
WE ARE THE PEOPLE – AND WE HAVE FOUND OUR VOICE
The General Assembly passed out their draft of demands and read their preamble.
The drafted demands and preamble:
We hold this truth to be self-evident that the 99% deserve equal rights, equal protections, equal access and equal opportunity as the 1% who benefit disproportionately from the current system. We therefore freely assemble to assert our rights and demands:
1. We demand greater democratic control in all spheres of life, from the home to the government, from the economy to the workplace. It is a moral, logical and political imperative that people should be in control of their own lives to the greatest extent possible.
2. We deserve an economic system that meets human needs, reduces economic inequality, shrinks the income gap, and doesn’t reward decisions that have a negative impact on society.
3. We recognize that the market will not regulate itself. What is good for profit is not always good for people or the environment.
4. We assert the right of every human being to adequate shelter, food, clothing, hygiene and other basic necessities.
5. We assert the right of every individual to adequate protection from the economic uncertainties of old age, accident, unemployment and other hardship.
6. We denounce all predatory lending and fraudulent banking practices and demand accountability.
7. We recognize that no society should allocate more resources to warfare than to the public good.
8. We demand a more democratic, publicly representative and accountable media.
9. We insist that the internet is a basic human right and as such should remain absolutely free and neutral.
10. We assert our right to public spaces and our right to freely inhabit them because they are essential to democracy and our right to assemble.
11. We denounce a criminal justice and for-profit prison system that relies on mass incarceration, especially when it reinforces the marginalization and disenfranchisement of people.
Who could… who would… why would anyone deny these demands and assertions?
… I guess the republican likes of Herman Cain who stated that if these protestors were not successful, if these protestors were losing their homes, if these protestors lost and couldn’t find new jobs… that it is their own fault, and they are just jealous of those superior persons who have succeeded.
The Occupy groups’ liberal causes have drawn criticism from a variety of sources, particularly conservative politicians. U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., for example, called the gatherings “mobs.”
But liberal and well respected Democrat U.S. Rep. John Lewis, R-Ga., attended Friday night’s rally in a show of support and asked to speak to the group. The assembly voted against it, however, and Lewis left without addressing the group.
The movement protestors stated that they did not want politicians co-opting their grass-roots efforts. They announced: “We are not Republicans, Democrats or any other party. We are the people, and we have found our voice.”
Reactionary America 1951-2011 — Same As It Ever Was
Modern America History Lesson: When threatened, we revert to ingrained fears.
1950′s 2010′s
______________________________________________________________________
2010′s 1950′s
We can do better than this. We are better educated than this. We are better than this.
Faustian urGe Fist
Mostly Harmless
