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Me thinks the Dr. doth protest too much
Re "Doc, give me a pill"
Amazing how people selectively employ the old "personal responsibility" position to justify blaming the victims. I just love the old broad brush with which to paint generalizations! Sure, sure, mutter a few words about exceptions* but….the overwhelming majority (that group we hear so much about yet, damn, if they aren't elusive when it comes to concrete facts and figures…never mind that, so long as I argue for their existence, perhaps no one will call me on it) and off we go categorizing people and their afflictions based on some personal criteria of what is deemed worthiness. How's that for shockingly arrogant?
I could generalize that all military doctors do is look over the
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CS's letter reminds me of people who blame the homeless for not pulling themselves together and getting a job, finding housing, etc.
I'd argue that by the point someone is homeless, it hardly matters how or why they arrived at the condition.
Rather, I have an obligation to try and do what I can without applying the absurd reasoning of "If I can do it, why can't they?"
It hardly matters what I'm capable of, and it shouldn't be a criteria for determining whether or not to extend help to those in need.
I'd expect the same approach from a physician.
By the time someone has diabetes, it is sort of condescending to suggest what they might have done to prevent it.
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wounded and declare them fit to go back out and kill. Wouldn't be accurate, but what the heck, it would support my bias. Sure, that would be gross reductionism…sort
of like implying that the obese bring their problems upon themselves, ignoring factors such as poverty and accessibility of adequate nutrition. So much easier to dismissively order someone to take a walk, and stop eating.
As for complaining about patients desiring a pharmaceutical solution to their ailments, I'm afraid that unless CS is actively out resisting the Pharma ghouls, there is a certain degree of complicity in the problem. Sort of like I pay taxes, therefore I'm complicit in the daily slaughter of people in this horrific war. Sure, I speak out against it, but like it or not, I'm still supporting it. I mean, if we want to point fingers and talk about personal responsibility. The health care industry has become a system of tablet dispensing. Blaming the consumer for what has been presented to them as the only available option is again, sort of arrogant. These issues don't exist in a vacuum.
CS's letter reminds me of people who blame the homeless for not pulling themselves together and getting a job, finding housing, etc. I'd argue that by the point someone is homeless, it hardly matters how or why they arrived at the condition. Rather, I have an obligation to try and do what I can without applying the absurd reasoning of "If I can do it, why can't they?" It hardly matters what I'm capable of, and it shouldn't be a criteria for determining whether or not to extend help to those in need. I'd expect the same approach from a physician. By the time someone has diabetes, it is sort of condescending to suggest what they might have done to prevent it.
As for CS's suggestion that society's challenges can be met by the following:"Require parenting classes for all new parents. Raise insurance premium rates for smoking and obesity. Strengthen psychiatry and social work services."
It again makes the arrogant assumption that we are all too stupid for our own good and need the likes of CS to instruct us on the proper way to live our lives without providing any actual support to do so. "Education" sounds good-just get those poverty stricken people some education so they can chose the apple over the box of mac and cheese. News flash-poor people understand the benefits of fruit and vegetables, they just can't (I know this will come as a terrible shock) afford them. Can't eat "education" CS.
* I've been wondering about Melissa as well. Having had the same diagnosis a decade ago, I can attest that it was no picnic. Nor was it self-inflicted.
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