DAY 203 - The Non-Comparison of Private Enterprise to Government

Please excuse the generalizations, which of course, are not true in all cases. I write this with no intent to harm.

Most of us understand the impossibility of comparing apples to oranges. How interesting then, that many folks directly compare work accomplished, and the price tag for projects carried out by a private business and by a governmental agency. One must assume that discussions about whether private or public organizations can best do work, is more emotionally charged than discussions about which fruit is “best”. Why, other than the cognitive disorientation that often accompanies a charged emotional state, would one try to directly compare the efficiency and cost of a governmental project, to that of a private enterprise?

I am neither an economist, nor particularly knowledgeable about governance, but I know enough to know that businesses and democratic governments have different primary goals, operate in different arenas, and function under different constraints.

Businesses focus on making a profit. They are free, to a great extent, to carry out their plans without concern for the public, the environment, or the future; and often do so.

Democratic governments, on the other hand, are committed to the common good, and are responsible to protect the common good in every possible realm.

Seems clear that making a profit, while abiding by some laws, would be child’s play compared to the mind-numbing complexity of trying to productively serve and protect the public good.

Most adults have seen the harm that can be done in the name of profit, even when governments are trying to protect the people, the environment and the future. Some of the greatest profits have been made outside the realm of the common good, in the realm of sweatshops.

Governments are not the most efficient producers, the least expensive, nor are they known for turning a profit. Fortunately, that is not what they were designed for.

 Let us recognize an orange as an orange, an apple as an apple, and let us clearly ask ourselves what we want from our government; a profit, or the common good.

DAY 114 – Healthcare: Let’s Work Together

The GOP majority in the US House of Representatives recently voted to repeal last year’s healthcare reforms, and I think it was unfortunate that they did.

We the people have two basic choices as it relates to healthcare; every person for her/himself, or work together.

For-profit insurance companies have an easier time making lots of money when we choose option one. In fact, we make a two-step process into a one-step for them. They don’t have to divide in order to conquer, they can sit back and let us divide ourselves, and then they conquer. Conquering, in the insurance industry, often means using whatever techniques necessary to not pay legitimate claims and see what  busy working people can do to protect themselves.

I want to be fair and acknowledge that there must be some honest and caring insurers, but as a doctor for 28 years, I saw first-hand enough abuse by insurance companies, that after 10 years, I terminated most contracts that I had with them.

We all understand that our government exists because our forebearers did not like the idea of every person for him/herself, and chose instead to work together. And, of course, we know that today we work together and pool our resources to maintain our national defense, police, fire protection, courts, and other services. We also provide healthcare to our elderly through Medicare, and to the poor through Medicaid.

There is no question that some government bureaucracies can be dysfunctional and even rude, but I will take that risk any day to the for-profit divide-and-conquer of the health insurance industry.

Many countries in Europe pay half as much as we do for care that is better than ours. In part, they achieve this by pooling their resources and working together.

If I were elected to the House of Representatives, I would vote for continuing, not repealing, the reform of our healthcare system. I would vote for working together!

DAY 64 – I Will Vote for President Obama in 2012

It is true, I will vote for Obama in 2012, but the reason for this writing is to say that I think “we the people” are missing a really big boat.

I feel tension in my body; mostly in my gut. I feel pressed. I don’t feel powerless, but I see no easy answers; no quick fixes. We elected a brilliant President in 2008; one who cares about all people and about our planet, one who communicates in an artful and real way with individuals and with the world, but he’s not good enough for us; he’s not perfect. Of course, he can’t be perfect, because that’s not possible, but also because one man’s perfect is another man’s damned.

Most of us talk about doing unto others as we would have them do unto us, but nobody I know would want to be done unto like we are doing to Barack Obama.

It’s easy to understand folks talking bad about him when they: don’t believe in global warming, think that gays are sinners, are certain that the more nuclear weapons the better, support more tax breaks for the wealthy, or insist that he is a Muslim.

But understanding the trash talkin’ of those who agree with the President on most important matters, including, and right down to the less important fact that he is a Christian, is a bit more complicated.

One would think that Americans that have been married, or in a committed relationship, would understand the enormous amount of compromise that must occur between two people. Giving those same Americans the benefit of the doubt, one would expect that they would realize that the amount of compromise that would be necessary during a presidency must be staggering; running a country, being a little more complex than marriage.

As I write this, it finally dawns on me ... perhaps all this does make sense; whenever our President does other than we wish, we Americans want to throw the bum out, and, maybe out of the same confused reasoning ... we Americans can’t seem to stay married either.

If this honeymoon and marriage were to end in 2012, America would be the loser.

DAY 6 – Is the Government to Blame?

*** Please note: a number of individuals have told me that they are enjoying reading my book/blog. Some of them had forgotten, or did not realize that they could opt to “follow” my blog; by signing up to follow my blog, you will receive each blog post directly in your e-mail. To “follow” click the “follow” button on the right side of the screen at the top of the blog. – Today is DAY 6 of the blog and already 4 of you are “followers”. If you find something in a post particularly interesting, please share it with a friend. It would be a delight to have 365 followers at the end of this year and the end of this book! ~ Thank you, Kris ***

I’m not so much into blame these days. But .... if the idea is to do some exploring to try to understand why government and governing are so problematic, then I’m on the job.

As we all learned in school, we the people chose our form of government and we elect the officials who carry out that design. We ARE the government.

Growing up, I got the impression that one was a “good citizen” if he registered and voted. When I reached the age of 21 I started behaving like a “good citizen”.

Unfortunately I made little time to inform myself about local, state or national leaders or issues.

I knew that officials were elected to carry out the wishes of the people. But, apparently I missed the part about we the people communicating with our elected officials to let them know what we desire and expect. Previous to my 50th birthday, I knew of few individuals who had ever met with a city council person, a county supervisor, a state senator, or a member of the US Congress to discuss issues or request action.

In my 50s I began to realize that in the previous 30 years I had been meeting only the most minimal standard for being a “good citizen”. I began to realize that a part of the serious dysfunction of our government was me.

(Note: United States national election in 3 weeks; on Tuesday, November 2nd. What is your role? Are you encouraging others to vote? Are you discussing the issues and candidates with family, friends, co-workers, and people that you meet in the grocery line?)

DAY 5 - A Day Late

So, this, October 10, is day 6 of my year-long book project, and here I am a day late. You might be surprised. You might be wondering, “Wow, is this guy serious about this book? Just started, and he is off the mark!” Well, I am not surprised; but I’ve been living with me for the last 59 years.

As we, my wife Joanne and I, snuggled into bed last night, pooped, as usual, she asked, “Did you post your book entry for today?” Well, I hadn’t. I consistently bite off a bit more than I can chew. This last week included the usuals of trying to keep up with self-care (sleep, yoga, healthy food), and my full-time chiropractic practice, and also included a CPR  (Citizens for Peaceful Resolutions – http://c-p-r.net) general meeting on homelessness, a CPR board meeting, and hours of preparation for the Earth Charter Summit and Awards in Ventura (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/EarthCharter).  Yesterday, DAY 5, started with final prep for the Earth Charter event, moved quickly to treating patients in the office, transitioned to a participation in the Earth Charter event, followed by clean-up and heading home at 7 PM.

The reason that it is OK for me to be behind is because I feel good about what I chose that behinds me. There will always be important, if not critical needs in the world that I will consider in my life’s triage.

So, here is my DAY 5 posting:

In the months leading up to the launch of this book, I began to create an outline of topics that I will address during the year. Below you will find the current outline. At this moment I have approximately 25 subheadings; each of those with multiple subjects to explore. Be assured, this outline will morph in the process.

 I do not expect to address these topics in any order. I plan to go with my flow. It is my intent to address government on a number of occasions in these next weeks leading up to our national election in the US on Tuesday, November 2nd.

OUTLINE
-Family
            Mine
            Parenting
            Marriage
-Nonviolent Communication (NVC - http://cnvc.org)
-Peace
-Love
-Health
            Doctoring
            Patienting
            Food
            Human Anatomy & Physiology
            The Gut
            Chiropractic
            Public Health
            Music Singing and Dance
-Culture & Common Beliefs
-Government
-Me

See you later today with DAY 6!