I don’t want to get into God/gods/fate, but there is something to be said for evolution — there is no ’survival of the fittest’ any more, not really.

But that’s only really a problem if medicine doesn’t improve at a rate fast enough to vanquish whatever genetic weaknesses we propagate

Hey JACK –

I think (but I’m not certain, because it’s early days for such thoughts) that people basically fall into two camps — those that are interested, and those that are not. Both involve feedback loops, so interested people become MORE interested. Ignorant (non-interested) people become more ignorant.

There’s never been a better time to be interested in the world, and ourselves. The amount of KNOWLEDGE is insane! It’d be nice to get people onto the right foot at a young age, though

Perhaps I am biased, because I have an interest, but I find it fascinating to know how and why medicine works.

One of the problems (I’ve mentioned before), is that we made all of our major advances in medicines between 1970 and 2000. There isn’t a huge amount to really ‘discover’ as it were. Because of this, the focus seems to switch to the underlying causes of illness and managing them. It’s accepted, for the time being, that we won’t be able to cure a lot of illness, but they are wholly managed with ease.

Perhaps this is a reason people are afraid? Or rather, perhaps they are not afraid at all? Is it the fact is that there is a good chance that many illnesses can be managed to the point life expectancy is not dented?

Maybe.

I’d personally still like to know what’s going wrong with me either way.

If that’s what you got out of it, Hez, I think you need to re-read it…! I think death used to be part of living. Now it’s something that must be avoided at all costs. Somewhere that change was made — and I don’t think it was a great change. But now that we’re there, we have to make the most of it…!

Thanks for the link, Rachel. It was most informative I’ll email you (again!), re: Faroes.

Chiefy, I think the problem is we don’t know all that much about our body. Or we do, in a physiological sense — thigh bone, knee bone, muscles, etc. But we’re into hormones and synapses and neurons now — and our understanding of those is fairly medieval still. We know _something_ happens, just not WHY it happens. Dangerous ground — we must prod some more!

HELLO KRISTI!

I think that’s what they call ‘passionate’. I was reading something on representation in the US Senate just the other day. There’s only ever been 37 female senators, 17 of which are currently serving.

Imagine a senate that was elected from demographics — white women would have the largest number of senators (and white men next, admittedly). Or you could split the senate based on income — 1 person representing the top earners, but most would be representing the baby boomers (30 or so).

Problem is, that kind of reform is controlled by the same people, making it almost impossible. Politics

Back in history, it was so much more prevalent, and it attacked everyone, regardless of age, race, status, sex. Health care, like most fundamental rights of life in the U.S., is a way to keep the classes in check. That is what the upper branches are worried about, because they want to keep the hierarchy in place. They want to decide who has the right to be a citizen, and who doesn’t. Discrimination is a foundation of a lot of policy here, because we place faith in our government, when government is made up of people, and people are inherently fallible. When people decide to try to make things more equal; those people are labeled as communists, as we continually throwback to the baby boomer years as some ideological state of life.

The baby boomer years, when women were at home being housewives, unemployment was a record low, segregation was still in place, everyone smoked too much and drank too much, and the nuclear family was an institution to be reckoned with. The baby boomer years, when white man was king, and nobody was contesting for his crown. When white male WWII veterans came home and were granted with homes from the government, white people started moving away from the city because they could afford it and started suburbia as we know it, and towns became more segregated based on race and class.

The big deal with health care is really about power and keeping the people at the bottom that they want there. That’s why health insurance practices are so discriminatory right now. Women get paid less, and their health insurance is more expensive. Bigger people, as undesirables in the United States, have more expensive health insurance. You can argue that women and bigger people both cost more to cover because they have more health issues, like ovaries and heart disease, but it comes down to the fact that the United States government is predominantly a white man environment, and they can cover themselves because they are well paid, and don’t have to worry the trials of the poor. They are putting “sin” taxes on stuff like soda and cigarettes as a way to keep the poor poorer. The people who mostly smoke and drink soda regularly in this country are blue collar workers (and college students.) It’s a free country as long as you pay for it, and all of this “racism is over” crap is just bullshit. Racial discrimination is just more subtle.

This is a sore issue for me because I currently can’t afford health insurance, but I can’t afford not to have it either. I’m trying to find a job, but things aren’t looking good, and I know a lot of people my age who just graduated from college in all of this mess, and are having to choose between rent, food, and health care. And people my age are the people who just got to vote for the first time in the presidential election in 2008, and people my age are the ones who were taxed for more interest on their college loans, putting us more in debt, and in the worst economic turn since the Depression. My university hosted a career fair as “practice” because nobody was hiring. It was and is ridiculous, and just having an undergrad college degree doesn’t mean much here anymore.

By the way, I saw this and I thought of you: http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2108

Oh, and any “must see” tips for the Faroes?? I’m in planning mode.