I'm still waiting to hear about virtue.....

As a child growing up, I heard many rumors way back then about a carburetor that would give cars 100's miles per gallon. The big energy bought the invention and buried it...
Cynicism is nothing new  

raydawg wrote on 01/25/17 at 10:29:07:


I don't understand what your waiting to hear I was just mimicking what you said, virtue is just behavior showing high moral standards.  You said you can't legislate morality, and I was agreeing with you

raydawg asks a question that has baffled philosophers and everyone else since the dawn of time.

There is no real answer.  Why are people compassionate?  What's the value in helping someone else at your expense?  Why do we care about anyone but ourselves?  Why be polite?  Why show respect?  Etc., etc.

To ask why is kind of futile.

In the end, maybe all we can do is have faith.

Well, I worked in the healthcare system all my life.  There has to be some sort of rational study, and I do not think that will ever happen.

Costs...do you count the cost of the clerks at the drs practice that code the billing, and the billing office that submits to as many ins co's you have, and the billing folks there who review the bills and ok them, then the rebilling after the first series has taken place.  If you wonder why you get asked the same stupid often irrelevant questions (to the issue which you are seeing the md) it is because those ?s allow the md to bill for more money.

Old age..because of many reasons, we spend a fortune on people the last year or 2 of their life...heart attacks and strokes that go to ICU etc, incredible numbers of meds to help with the conditions.  In review, might it be better to help those who are infirm and in nursing homes , icu,s  for the aged, Altzheimer's who don't recognize their own children (my mother was one so don't flame me, this is just a discussion) to go on to their just rewards.  I know, a tough issue.

Training md's is expensive, and they therefore have a short window of work to make up all the money they spent plus all the money they didn't earn while in training.  Perhaps if the government picked up the costs for all md's, the md's wouldn't have to charge so much?

Most md's are very conservative, using techniques they learned while in their 20-30's.  New treatments take time to filter in.  This is where competition helps, the hospital with the latest treatment system gets the advertising war victory.

Equipment costs are unbelievable, x-ray up through modern MRI can be super costly, so they are used ling after newer and better machines are available.  And while I read someone's blurb about lasik surgery is now cheaper because of capitalism, I believe you will find it was developed in mother Russia when it was the USSR.  All those fibre optic scopes (a big manufacturer is here in Onondaga County NY cost, and even things like curettes and scalples cost big dollars because I suspect to cover upcoming legal costs.  (The grooves in the scalpel were 1cm to shallow so it slipped in my hand, sue the scalpel Co., not the surgeon.