I was recently watching a TV documentary about obesity and the food industry and one of the interviews that the programme contained shook me and got me thinking deep thoughts.
The interview itself was with an American doctor who carried out gastric band operations on patients. The thought of the operation itself was not the trigger for my thoughts but rather I was startled by two of the statements the doctor made. The first that he would choose a private patient rather than a medicaid patient because the formers' operation would cost the patient $7500 whereas an operation on the latter would only cost $900 and therefore the surgeon would make more money with the private patient. What struck me here was that at no time did the doctor the medical side of the operation and I was left thinking: What if the medicaid patient needed it medically more urgently than the private patient?
The second statement was the one that left me stunned, although at my age it probably shouldn't have. The doctor admitted that he would quite happily give a gastric band to any patient who could pay privately regardless of whether they needed it medically or not. The implication of this for me was profound. As long as there is money in it he was happy to provide the service. This concept sent me deep into a line of thought which I hope to discuss in the following posts.
OK before I go on I would like to state that I am not knocking the doctor or his motivation nor am I pointing any fingers of blame at the Americans because I feel that his comments arose from the societal structure he (and we) find ourselves. Also these thoughts are mine and arise from how I see the world - other may see it and view it differently. I understand this but the only tool I have to experience the world is my own conscience and that conscience is at the moment troubled. With that in mind I will outline what my problem is and what I want to discuss in future.
I have looked at our society and am deeply troubled as it appears extremely flawed. At present there seems to be a focus on the acquisition of money. This is having terrible knock-on effects lower down the economic food chain. As the example I cited above indicates this search for wealth tramples ethics and morals underfoot.
What I do not want to do though is debate society as it is, at least not for the present. What I would like to try and find out is how did we get here. Is there somewhere at the base a biological or evolutionary reason for our current behaviour as a species? This then is my intended journey. Whether we find any truths or reach our destination is unknown but it will be good to at least start the journey.
So to begin in the next post I will try and look at what drives our need for more and more wealth
The interview itself was with an American doctor who carried out gastric band operations on patients. The thought of the operation itself was not the trigger for my thoughts but rather I was startled by two of the statements the doctor made. The first that he would choose a private patient rather than a medicaid patient because the formers' operation would cost the patient $7500 whereas an operation on the latter would only cost $900 and therefore the surgeon would make more money with the private patient. What struck me here was that at no time did the doctor the medical side of the operation and I was left thinking: What if the medicaid patient needed it medically more urgently than the private patient?
The second statement was the one that left me stunned, although at my age it probably shouldn't have. The doctor admitted that he would quite happily give a gastric band to any patient who could pay privately regardless of whether they needed it medically or not. The implication of this for me was profound. As long as there is money in it he was happy to provide the service. This concept sent me deep into a line of thought which I hope to discuss in the following posts.
OK before I go on I would like to state that I am not knocking the doctor or his motivation nor am I pointing any fingers of blame at the Americans because I feel that his comments arose from the societal structure he (and we) find ourselves. Also these thoughts are mine and arise from how I see the world - other may see it and view it differently. I understand this but the only tool I have to experience the world is my own conscience and that conscience is at the moment troubled. With that in mind I will outline what my problem is and what I want to discuss in future.
I have looked at our society and am deeply troubled as it appears extremely flawed. At present there seems to be a focus on the acquisition of money. This is having terrible knock-on effects lower down the economic food chain. As the example I cited above indicates this search for wealth tramples ethics and morals underfoot.
What I do not want to do though is debate society as it is, at least not for the present. What I would like to try and find out is how did we get here. Is there somewhere at the base a biological or evolutionary reason for our current behaviour as a species? This then is my intended journey. Whether we find any truths or reach our destination is unknown but it will be good to at least start the journey.
So to begin in the next post I will try and look at what drives our need for more and more wealth
6 comments:
If I am insistent on paying for a tattoo, and the tattoo artist is willing to deface me for money, what business is it of society to intervene?
Similarly, therefore:
If I am insistent on paying for a gastric band, and the surgeon is willing to operate for money, what business is it of society to intervene?
Paul,
I am not arguing for government intervention in your personal choices - in fact I am not (yet) arguing anything. If I were to have a personal preference I would say that the government might intervene if those who could not afford care that they need should be protected from being sidelined but, as I said, that is a personal feeling. What I am interested in I think is how we got to where we are as a society (i.e. rampant capitalism and consumerism).
If there is no sudden growth in demand for gastric bands then the private provision thereof should have no impact on the public provision.
Take plastic surgery as an example. In most of the world the main job of the plastic surgeon is the repair of birth "defects" and burns. In the USA most plastic surgery is cosmetic. The burns patients still get treated because the USA has *lots* of plastic surgeons. The UK follows this example: A gradual increase in the demand for cosmetic surgery has led to a gradual increase in the number of plastic surgeons. No burns victims are left untreated as a consequence.
Similarly, I would suggest, there is no public provision of gastric bands threatened by the private provision of same.
Now, whereas I am in favour of public healthcare, an interesting observation is this: Where there is no public provision, private provision is much cheaper than it is in those countries where there is public provision! Public healthcare chases out "affordable" private healthcare. You seem to be suggesting it's the other way around.
I know you're not (yet) arguing for or against anything, merely making observations. Me too!
Paul,
I understand your points and agree with most of them. What I am trying to do, however, is identify the deeply underlying mechanism that is responsible for the society we have if I can. By that I do not mean the economic mechanism as such but a biological or evolutionary mechanism if there is one.
What led to the post is my own shock at the statements the doctor made. This may have more to do with my naivety rather than anything else but it got me wondering where all of it came from. Note I am not making a statement as to whether it is good or bad, right or wrong (even though, as a person, I have my opinions). Think of it as a gedankenexperiment by a bored grumpy old man :)
No, no, no, get off that fence: It can't be comfortable so straddled! Outrage us, tell us how it should be!
Paul,
I'm comfortable enough at the moment. Unfortunately I can't get off the fence yet as I still need to think about this one at the moment a) I don't really understand the problem fully (working on that), b) don't know how to analyse the problem and c) have no real facts to make any hypotheses. But I am working on it :)
Post a Comment