Absox
5mo ago
This is the wrong take. From a less speciously confucian standpoint:
Pardoning Hunter sends the message that it's not worth sacrificing the interests of yourself or your family to uphold the institutions of law and order that sustain the United States.
As president of the United States, JB's duty is to uphold said institutions. As a leader, he's meant to set a moral example for other citizens. Perhaps following his example is most prudent in the present day, but I wouldn't call it moral by any means.
Absox
5mo ago
I would say right now that there is in fact broad variation in competence in the medical profession. You can see from the average medical licensing exam scores of different specialties that the best MDs tend to go into opthalmology, dermatology, and neurosurgery, whereas the worst ones go into family medicine and psychiatry.
About a year ago I had a rather severe case of mononucleosis, and was sick for about a month. I went to my primary care provider after having a 102F fever for about five days straight, but all the tests they ordered were negative, including the test for Epstein-Barr (though that particular test has like a 30% false negative rate), and they weren't able to give me a diagnosis. After the fever dragged on for ten days I went to the ER, where the resident suspected a cyst in my liver due to elevated enzymes and ordered a CT, along with a huge number of other tests. The next day I was seen by an infectious disease specialist, who suspected mono. Eventually a more accurate blood test confirmed the diagnosis. My health insurance covered everything, but in total my ER visit and 1 night stay in the hospital cost the insurance company about $18,000. There was no intervention except to rest, so I chose to go home. The fever went away like two days later.
Hilariously, my friend who's an anesthesiologist and medical school professor gave me the correct diagnosis before I went to the hospital. He advised me to go to the ER just to be safe but suspected mono, despite the initial negative test result. We've collaborated on research and I know him to be exceedingly competent, but this episode just reinforces in my mind that there are significant differences in the competence of physicians.
There definitely need to be more residency openings to keep up with demand, but part of that problem is that Americans are just so unhealthy compared to other developed countries. Japan has an older population, about 3/4 as many doctors per capita, yet they seem to be doing somewhat better.
Absox
6mo ago
I was under the impression that any amount of alcohol consumption has overall negative impact, in that it raises your overall risk of cancer and other digestive and liver problems.
Absox
6mo ago
They've achieved daoist enlightenment and have aligned their desires with the will of heaven, and in doing so can accomplish their goals without effort.
Absox
8mo ago
On somewhat of a side note, but unlike the US department of state, which takes upwards of two months to issue passports, and sometimes multiple years to approve visa petitions, Chinese bureaucracy is considerably faster... I've gotten papers processed by the NYC consulate before in under a week.
Fast and cheap is at least theoretically possible. A big chunk of healthcare is walk-in in China, where the life expectancy already exceeds that of the United States. Appointments with specialists are easy to get, with most wait times measured in days to weeks rather than months.
There may be some state subsidization going on, but the direct cost to the consumer, along with overall cost of care is much lower than in the west. Overall I admit not knowing how their system actually works.
There is something resembling health benefits by employers, but as far as I can tell it's literally just a health savings account that the employer contributes some money in every year rather than insurance.
If you adjusted for the life expectancy hit of air pollution, they'd be comparable to SK and Japan in longevity, so their public health actually seems to be effective. Big gains in the past decade as well.
More options
Context Copy link