I hadn't seen the TALK TO ME post--funny that the metaphor keeps resurfacing from independent sources. It's sad, really--all these opportunites and resources wasted on people who just want to be told what piece of plastic crap they should buy, or eat, or worship this week. You're right that the "ranchers" care less about the masses than they would about cattle. Anyone raising livestock understands that universal health care, decent food and clean water are an investment, not a gift. I could really use a desert island right about now.

or Cancel

I won't rip you up, Michael, and I do know what you mean, but there are occasions when you have to say, "It's not me, it's you." Standing in the cold, driving rain, I might try to find it invigorating, I might think of all the things that are worse than being wet, I might count the reasons I deserve to be warm and dry--or I can take shelter. It's nasty out there right now, so I'm staying in. Dearest echo, the financial benefit of caring for people comes from the expenses that are avoided. It's just like ranching--you're better off taking care of the whole herd equally. Trying to protect a few prize head is futile--once disease gets a foothold, you can lose it all. Tuberculosis has been creeping back into our population--there's a cure for it, but it's very expensive and it takes about a year of treatment. It's mostly found among the homeless and otherwise neglected, but once they get it, nurses get it, then even the well-heeled patients having elective procedures get it, then their families get it, and so on, and so on. The problem of contagion also applies to poverty, violence, ignorance, etc. Disease is just the easiest example.

or Cancel