The Health Jerk - Health Strategies
The American people have forgotten the meaning of accountability. Evidence of this behaviour is prevalent throughout our society. Parents are too busy to monitor the lives of their children appropriately...cable TV has become a blue print from discourteous, obscene and/or ignorant behaviour. We all laughed at the Beaver and his adventures. But I do not remember any disrespectful talk or attitude. I do not remember any blue language. I do not remember any overt sex scenes or overly promiscuous behaviour or clothing.
Cable TV has become the babysitter to our current generation of children.
Have you ever watched a Japanese cartoon - Anime? I know there was not many redeeming features to Yogi Bear or Bugs Bunny. But, compared to anime, Yogi was Aesop and Bugs was Emily Post.
Moving on to computer games, is it possible to make a computer game which does not feature overtly sexual appearance and graphic violence? We all value the internet because of its freedom. Unfortunately freedom with responsibility for consequences is not really freedom at all. Some pontificating media types talk about censureship versus freedom of speech. Depending on the topic this week, they take the popular stance. If it is violence in schools this weeks, then we need more rules, more control, more oppression? If it is a government or police coverup then we need more 'right to know' access to information, yada yada yada.
Wake up people. We need to be accountable for our actions and the actions of those for whom we are guardians, parents, whatever. If we do not start taking control of our lives and if we do not begin to demostrate some self discipline and common sense, then our society as we know will implode. In the large cities today, it hovers on the edge of no return. If you do not believe that think about this:
-Our public school system is so unsafe for students and teachers that most school systems today will not allow a pocket knife on campus. This rule is so inflexible that if a student breaks the rule then they are charged with a felony and will likely serve either juvenile or jail time.
-The number of people killed in our inner cities day in day out rivals the soldier losses in the Iraq war.
-The largest cash crop in the USA is marijuana.
-What bothers most people today is fears.
We are afraid of everything today. Listen to the weather channel. You would think that weather was a first time event and always in crisis. What is really going on is information overload. Many of our fears are centered on not measuring up to our Mother, Father, older brother, boss, society, whatever. What has happened is that we have become complacent in the last 50 years. We have lost our self reliance. We expect someone to do it all for us. It starts when we are little and escalates from there. It does not matter what aspect of life you examine, it is the same everywhere.
Then
Primary school homework was done at the kitchen table. Help was offered if Junior got stumped but mostly it was completed by him immediately after school before dinner, before chores.
Now
Mom or Dad work with Junior and complete homework with sophisticated presentations which demostrate that 30 year old adults can pass grade 5, maybe. If for some reason Junior is not an A student, then the teacher is remiss and extra help is solicited either inside the school system or from a private tutoring company.
From the tone of my comments here, you can assume that I am disappointed in our performance as a society when it comes to health care. Sicko and Michael aside, it is all about accountability. I will examine a number of issues which relate to our health care system in this series. Enjoy. React. Solve.