Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Budget Cuts
I never intended this to be a political blog - we have plenty of those, but it seems to have turned out that way. The elections this year have sent a clear message to Congress to cut the budget, but no one is wanting to take the hit in the back of the head that is needed to get the job done. It seems to always be "cut the other guys benefits, not mine". I guess we have lost sight of the fact they are benefits, not entitlements, not rights. During the push for health care reform last year the mantra seemed to be that everyone in the US had a "right" to adequate health care. Well, no, we don't. We have the best (and most expensive) medical system in the world, which gives the impression that if you can afford it, then you can get it.
We have the technology to do amazing things, but we do not have the national will to make fundamental changes in the way we do business. Until we learn how to harness the technology, and garner the will to make change, then we are going to continue to move backwards instead of forwards.
Before I was born, one of my Grandmother's died of renal failure. There was no such thing as kidney transplants, or even dialysis in those days. When your kidneys failed, for whatever reason, it was a death sentence. Now we are telling people, "Yes, a liver transplant will save your life, but you can't afford it and the government is no longer paying for it, so get your affairs in order." There has to be some type of sanity to be gained from all this madness.
We have the technology to do amazing things, but we do not have the national will to make fundamental changes in the way we do business. Until we learn how to harness the technology, and garner the will to make change, then we are going to continue to move backwards instead of forwards.
Before I was born, one of my Grandmother's died of renal failure. There was no such thing as kidney transplants, or even dialysis in those days. When your kidneys failed, for whatever reason, it was a death sentence. Now we are telling people, "Yes, a liver transplant will save your life, but you can't afford it and the government is no longer paying for it, so get your affairs in order." There has to be some type of sanity to be gained from all this madness.
