OK, Mark - I see where you're coming from now. But I'm not offering the
American Right convenient sound-bites - I have no connection with these
circles. The same kind of forces that have undermined health provision in
the USA have seen to it that the NHS, conceived as a socialist innovation
during WW2, is being hollowed out, whatever the surface rhetoric of the
"managerial" Nu-Labour party. It hasn't - yet - been subverted entirely.
There are so many stories - how could one begin to illustrate the process?
Daily I register & forget the details of more outrages. I mentioned Italy
because I see a gradual encroachment in Europe of a new kind of fascism, a
kind of Imperium of the pseudomanagerial cheap con-trick, panem et
circenses for hoi polloi while sustaining local & ecological
infra-structures are destroyed. I kept off the subject of the USA
deliberately - it seems to me the Constitution there has been subverted
almost out of recognition. And what is perhaps the most ecologically noxious
organisation, Monsanto, comes from there. Its chief European executive
lives a few miles from Lagorce, Ardèche, where I live half the time:
despite popular opposition the company has got its claws into the EU and the
dreaded GM seeds are being introduced. But we cannot speak of incompetence
and not mention the great British "mislaid data" scandals - which
demonstrate the government's utter contempt for the individual's security
while trumpeting security issues in order to justify more surveillance.
Here in Berlin Wilmersdorf the mallards have reoccupied the local lake, as
the ice melts.
Quack!
mj
Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the
comprehension of the weak and that it is doing God's service when it is
violating all His laws.
John Adams to Thomas Jefferson.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Weiss" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, March 01, 2009 5:00 PM
Subject: Re: pullman on liberty
> Sorry to have ruffled feathers. Ducks are prone to that.
>
> There are stakes here. You must be aware that the NHS is presented as a
> bogeyman by the American right, while the situation in large parts of this
> country becomes desperate and is merely intolerable in the more favored
> places.
>
> Note that I don't defend Italy, which continues to redefine incompetence.
> I'm not sure why you raised it.
>
> Mark
>
> At 04:54 AM 3/1/2009, you wrote:
>>I can't hear the canard quacking. As you don't say, you are as abrasively
>>rude as ever. What I know and what I am going to spend time putting in a
>>mail to this list are two separate things. But what the hell.
>>
>>Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the
>>comprehension of the weak; and that it is doing God's service when it is
>>violating all His laws.
>>John Adams to Thomas Jefferson.
>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Weiss" <[log in to unmask]>
>>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>Sent: Saturday, February 28, 2009 7:43 PM
>>Subject: Re: pullman on liberty
>>>
>>>My luck has been surprisingly consistent over ten years.
>>>
>>>As you say, you don't know much. Most of this is a very old canard
>>>fortified by a few anecdotes. There are always horror stories--I could
>>>tell a few myself about the US, tho just the much higher rate of
>>>iatrogenic illnesses and the lower life expectancy here may speak for
>>>themselves. And folks began complaining when Attlee was PM.
>>>
>>>Your Austrian friend was probably triaged (apparently accurately, as
>>>witness her speedy recovery). There are strokes and strokes. In this
>>>country we do scans for cuts and bruises, at enormous cost, to amortize
>>>the expense of the machines. That three days in the hospital would have
>>>cost upwards of $6K in the US, by the way, and that would include no care
>>>whatsoever, just the bed and the linens.
>>>
>>>As to British resistance, there seems to be near unanimity about
>>>preserving the NHS. Maggie Thatcher tampered with it, but it's why she
>>>got tossed. What I did notice was a nursing shortage, fueled by lowered
>>>investment, which seems to have been reversed in the past year. In
>>>Scotland, at least, the nursing shortage is being addressed--beyond the
>>>standard free tuition for nursing students, they're now getting slaries
>>>while they're in school, and the shortage should be a thing of the past
>>>in about 5 years.
>>>
>>>There's an enormous nursing shortage in the US as well. In most places
>>>nothing's being done about it, and nursing degrees are so expensive that
>>>new hires are largely from other countries, where people can still afford
>>>to go to school.
>>>
>>>Mark
>>>
>>>>Tim can probably make more interesting comments on how daily life is
>>>>affected by all the laws, the virtual suspension of Habeas Corpus &
>>>>hollowing out of individual rights, the monstrous personal data balls-up
>>>>etc etc, general incompetence etc etc. - Italy has gone down the drain,
>>>>too, of course - I have a very good friend living there, her reports of
>>>>corruption & inefficiency are horrific, and the levels of racism &
>>>>intolerance have become truly shocking under Berlusconi, as you must
>>>>know from the papers. Things will get much worse in the years to come. I
>>>>wouldn't mind dying soon, but that's just me - other people I know say
>>>>well, it's interesting to see what will happen, isn't it? I'm going to
>>>>start smoking again...
>>>>mj
>>>>
>>>>Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the
>>>>comprehension of the weak; and that it is doing God's service when it is
>>>>violating all His laws.
>>>>John Adams to Thomas Jefferson.
>>>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Weiss" <[log in to unmask]>
>>>>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>>>Sent: Friday, February 27, 2009 10:47 PM
>>>>Subject: Re: pullman on liberty
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>It's a shame I can't read the article. The snippet of comment below is
>>>>>certainly provocative, and at odds with my experience of the UK, where
>>>>>I spend a lot of time, and France, where I used to live. Of course I'm
>>>>>comparing with the US, which hopefully Obama will make more nanny-like.
>>>>>The alternative seems to be the clutches of the evil stepmother of
>>>>>markets regulated only insofar as they guarantee profits and predation.
>>>>>
>>>>>My last trip to the UK I wound up in hospital in Glasgow for four days.
>>>>>Every system can improve, but compared to what one has on this side it
>>>>>was heaven. My experience with the French system has been even better.
>>>>>(When I got back to the States I made a trip to the emergency ward. Ten
>>>>>hours waiting.)
>>>>>
>>>>>In fact, Britain and France always strike me as youthful. Folks don't
>>>>>carry nearly the burden of anxiety that we do here and tend to be far
>>>>>more adventurous as a result. Which is to say that the restrictions on
>>>>>the downside amount to a grant of freedom on the upside.
|