Minorities will be the majority by 2042 (health insurance, salaries, budget)

[Lucario]

Originally Posted by JerseyG

No, we're all from apes...last I heard...at least that's what's being taught in school. You've got proof otherwise? We're all Africans? Good. Reparations are a thing of the past then. Glad it won't be brought up again either. Glad to know Africans (or at least decendents of) sold their fellow Africans into slavery. It's over now? Great!

No, what's being taught in school is that the first Homo sapiens (that would be a human being) "evolved" from a primate ancestor in Kenya. That would be Africa. Yes, we are all Africans.

And yes, Africans did sell Africans to Europeans (who, believe it or not, did descend from Africans) as slaves. If you don't want to hear anything about reparations, don't bring up slavery. Unfortunately for all of us, it is not over.

OK?

[Lucario]

Originally Posted by JerseyG

Why do you think that would be?

Better to be a black inner -city drug dealer than a white-suburban kid who uses? Does that mean a future salesman in the making? Head of his/her own personal cartel someday?

It's a shame that you think all inner-city schools are that apathetic. Why don't you put the blame where it's due , for once, and that would be on the majority of parents who live in the "inner-cities" like it's 1925 and apparently want to live like they have NOwhere to sit on a bus but in the back, even in 2008.

You've got QUITE the chip on your shoulder.

Ditto. I guess you don't know much about the inner city, except for what you see on Fox News or read in the New York Post. Or is it Rush Limbaugh who gives you your deep, analytical responses?

As for your first question, I think it speaks to a particular strain in American culture, the glorification of the criminal and the gangster. Our popular culture is full of it. Western outlaws like Jesse James or Butch Cassidy. Al Capone. Bonnie and Clyde. The Sopranos. I could go on. Glorification of the black gangsta is no different. It's just the contemporary manifestation of the warlike, criminal-glorifying American culture. I really don't know why you'd think it was any different from the past; a suburban white kid in 2008 wanting to be a gangsta is no different than a suburban white kid in 1878 being fascinated with the explots of Jesse James.

[JERSEY MAN]

Originally Posted by EEEPNJ

Question - to Mike in particular - but to MPB and JerseyGuy and any others out there that want to comment.

Let's just say that there is a person - of any race, creed, and bacground - but for purposes of this argument, let's say the person is a child. I am using a child as the example because children really don't have a voice or a say, they are there by for the grace of God if they don't have parents or guardians who care for them. Let's not even argue schooling...or housing... or neighborhods... let's make it life and death. The child is ill, seriously ill, and without proper medical care they may die.

If we lived in the society that you speak of - one with no social support systems whatsover - would it just be ok with you that this child was left to die? What if there were no parent in the picture - an absentee father, an addict mother who can't care for herself no less a child - again, any race, religion... but this is the scenario. The child has no way of getting a job. They can't pull themselves up by their bootstraps... they are at the mercy of those who are to care for him/her. But they are really on their own.

In this scenario...should the child die just because they do not have the money or insurance to to pay for medical treatment?

Because 0 social services would mean just that.

I really do not consider myself a liberal. I consider myself a conservative, moderate or liberal depending on the issue at hand... but if we are talking social programs some of my conservative friends always jump to "so you support welfar queens bilking the system on your dime." OF course I do not. Honnestly, very few do. BUT if you are going to take it to one extreme...this is my example of taking it to another.

What would be the correct answer in the scenario I mention here?

You can go to any hospital in the state and get free medical, it's called charity care. The state provides this and doesn't let people die in the streets.

[JERSEY MAN]

Originally Posted by Sunil's Dad

No, what's being taught in school is that the first Homo sapiens (that would be a human being) "evolved" from a primate ancestor in Kenya. That would be Africa. Yes, we are all Africans.

And yes, Africans did sell Africans to Europeans (who, believe it or not, did descend from Africans) as slaves. If you don't want to hear anything about reparations, don't bring up slavery. Unfortunately for all of us, it is not over.

OK?

I'm american and thats it. Not european american, irish american, german american, austrian american. I was born in america and I am damn proud to say that I AM ONLY AMERICAN.

[Lucario]

Originally Posted by JERSEY MAN

I'm american and thats it. Not european american, irish american, german american, austrian american. I was born in america and I am damn proud to say that I AM ONLY AMERICAN.

When I worked as a home-based CSA, a couple of times I got the question, "What's your nationality?" I always said, "American." Then they asked "what kind? What's your background?" Then I would tell them (it's a bit complicated).

[Lucario]

Originally Posted by JERSEY MAN

You can go to any hospital in the state and get free medical, it's called charity care. The state provides this and doesn't let people die in the streets.

You can get treated in an emergency room. You are treated by emergency room physicians, not family physicians or specialists. It is not the right model for health care. There is no preventive care, no monitoring of chronic conditions, no way to get prescriptions. No dental care. It is inefficient and incomplete; charity care is the care of last resort. By the time people get to the emergency room, their health is already adversely affected by their lack of access to care. They show up with adverse diabetic reactions, broken bones, heart problems, liver problems; I could go on.

What we need is real health care for everyone.

[EEEPNJ]

Originally Posted by JERSEY MAN

You can go to any hospital in the state and get free medical, it's called charity care. The state provides this and doesn't let people die in the streets.

I'm aware of that. But I'm saying if the "absolutely no assistance" folks got their way then what. What if that were NOT the case. Would you say it would be a better world if we let people in that situation just die, as if they are worthless, just because they don't have the means to get the medical care the need? I used a child in this example because I feel we can agree that a child can not attain these things on their own and are at the mercy of the adults surrounding them. And yes, it would be ideal if every child had adults surrounding them who could both provide for them and care for them, but we all know this is not always the case. So what does society do? Do we say we just don't care - let them die? Or do we do something to help the child in need?

[EEEPNJ]

Originally Posted by JERSEY MAN

I'm american and thats it. Not european american, irish american, german american, austrian american. I was born in america and I am damn proud to say that I AM ONLY AMERICAN.

So you are a native American then?

[EEEPNJ]

Originally Posted by Sunil's Dad

You can get treated in an emergency room. You are treated by emergency room physicians, not family physicians or specialists. It is not the right model for health care. There is no preventive care, no monitoring of chronic conditions, no way to get prescriptions. No dental care. It is inefficient and incomplete; charity care is the care of last resort. By the time people get to the emergency room, their health is already adversely affected by their lack of access to care. They show up with adverse diabetic reactions, broken bones, heart problems, liver problems; I could go on.

What we need is real health care for everyone.

I see the effects of poor health care at work daily. I have seen horror stories, and these are all "working" folks, no one is getting a hand out. It is just heartbreaking. I've worked in several organizations, but in the past, the majority of them were in companies where the employees made at least decent wages and the health care offered was decent. Now I'm in a company where those at the top are very wealthy, those of us in "corporate" are middle-class, and the vast majority of our workers are hourly folks making sub-standard wages. The health care offered is inadequate to meet most needs (huge deductibles and co-pays... very expensive premiums). I have seen people who have had horrendous consequences because they could not get the care the needed. And these are not lazy people....it breaks my heart and makes me sick to my stomach.

[mike0421]

Originally Posted by Sunil's Dad

You can get treated in an emergency room. You are treated by emergency room physicians, not family physicians or specialists. It is not the right model for health care. There is no preventive care, no monitoring of chronic conditions, no way to get prescriptions. No dental care. It is inefficient and incomplete; charity care is the care of last resort. By the time people get to the emergency room, their health is already adversely affected by their lack of access to care. They show up with adverse diabetic reactions, broken bones, heart problems, liver problems; I could go on.

What we need is real health care for everyone.

I'm not so sure universal health care is the answer. It's not what it's cracked up to be. If you reference Canada, as an example, more than 825,000 Canadian citizens (or about one out of 33) are currently on waiting lists for surgery and other necessary treatments. Fifteen years ago, the average wait between a referral from a primary-care doctor to treatment by a specialist was around nine weeks. Today, that wait is over 16 weeks, or about double what doctors consider clinically reasonable. Why? In part, these waits are due to a doctor shortage. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Canada ranks 24th out of 28 countries in doctors per thousand people.

Why so few doctors? Over the past decade, about 11 percent of physicians trained in Canadian medical schools have moved to the United States. That’s because doctors’ salaries in Canada are negotiated, set and paid for by provincial governments and held down by cost-conscious budget analysts. Today, in fact, the average Canadian doctor earns only 42 percent of what a doctor earns in the United States.

I don't want government involved any more than it already is involved in our health care system.