Friday, March 17, 2006
The greed factor
Adam Smith in An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations postulated that an "invisible hand" propels the economy of nations based on self-interest. He did not argue that self-interest is always good; he merely argued against the view that self-interest is necessarily bad. He criticized those who act purely out of self-interest and greed, and warns that, "[a]ll for ourselves, and nothing for other people, seems, in every age of the world, to have been the vile maxim of the masters of mankind." Smith believed that while human motives are often selfish and greedy, the competition in the free market would tend to benefit society as a whole anyway (Wikipedia.org).
From my limited experience I observe that greed (or self-interest) motivates many of our society's actions. Greed has made capitalism great and greed destroyed communism. We see greed for money, greed for power, greed for affection, greed for fame, greed for self-satisfaction. As children, we seek our parents' affection. As adults, we seek recognition of other kinds. Advertisers use the word "need" and say it is what motivates us. We have basic needs which once fulfilled motivate us to go after wants. Maslow described these wants as higher order needs.
People (as do animals) kill to meet their basic needs when these basic needs can't be fulfilled by other means. And, yes, although people may kill so their children can eat (or even eat their children to feed themselves), more people kill to satisfy their greed for wants. Thus, as a nation we kill to satisfy a greed for safety and security (or is it oil) and we are being killed in turn based on a greed to preserve an archaic way of life.
Greed for money and the power it buys is what propels capitalism. And as Adam Smith believed this greed (or self-interest) also benefits society. However, it can also be the destruction of our society. Because of greed, the media giants quash free speech and diversity of opinion. (Look at what happens in a news room when a media chain buys a family owned newspaper.) Because of greed, governments support the evils of gambling at the behest of lobbyists who are equally greedy. Because of greed, tobacco and liquor companies continue to sell their addictive products to the detriment of all. Because of greed, pharmaceutical companies produce and sell dangerous and unneeded drugs. Because of greed, doctors peddle drugs and people buy them in hopes of a quick fix. Doctors also operate when its not necessary. (I have a scar and am left with only one lung as proof.) Because of greed, farmers put harmful pesticides on crops and growth hormones into cattle. It is because of greed that we will all be eating genetically modified food. This list could go on and on and on.
Let me add, however, that I am also guilty of greed. I have too much debt and a house that is too big. At least I can be comforted by the thought that my greed helps other people satisfy theirs.
see http://www.g-r-e-e-d.com/GREED.htm
From my limited experience I observe that greed (or self-interest) motivates many of our society's actions. Greed has made capitalism great and greed destroyed communism. We see greed for money, greed for power, greed for affection, greed for fame, greed for self-satisfaction. As children, we seek our parents' affection. As adults, we seek recognition of other kinds. Advertisers use the word "need" and say it is what motivates us. We have basic needs which once fulfilled motivate us to go after wants. Maslow described these wants as higher order needs.
People (as do animals) kill to meet their basic needs when these basic needs can't be fulfilled by other means. And, yes, although people may kill so their children can eat (or even eat their children to feed themselves), more people kill to satisfy their greed for wants. Thus, as a nation we kill to satisfy a greed for safety and security (or is it oil) and we are being killed in turn based on a greed to preserve an archaic way of life.
Greed for money and the power it buys is what propels capitalism. And as Adam Smith believed this greed (or self-interest) also benefits society. However, it can also be the destruction of our society. Because of greed, the media giants quash free speech and diversity of opinion. (Look at what happens in a news room when a media chain buys a family owned newspaper.) Because of greed, governments support the evils of gambling at the behest of lobbyists who are equally greedy. Because of greed, tobacco and liquor companies continue to sell their addictive products to the detriment of all. Because of greed, pharmaceutical companies produce and sell dangerous and unneeded drugs. Because of greed, doctors peddle drugs and people buy them in hopes of a quick fix. Doctors also operate when its not necessary. (I have a scar and am left with only one lung as proof.) Because of greed, farmers put harmful pesticides on crops and growth hormones into cattle. It is because of greed that we will all be eating genetically modified food. This list could go on and on and on.
Let me add, however, that I am also guilty of greed. I have too much debt and a house that is too big. At least I can be comforted by the thought that my greed helps other people satisfy theirs.
see http://www.g-r-e-e-d.com/GREED.htm
Thursday, March 16, 2006
The best remedy for the bird flu? Hole up in your home.
If I were to make a list of irresponsible government officials, Mike Leavitt, the US secretary of Health and Human Services would head the list. His crime - fear mongering. Recently he has told us that if the bird flu becomes dangerous to humans, to survive we might have to hole up in our homes. So store up as much food as possible. For the latest on Leavitt's fear mongering go to http://pandemicflu.gov/.
This whole bird flu scare seems to me a way to enrich the pharmaceutical industry and to get people more addicted to its solutions to health care. Billions of dollars are being spent on vaccines and an avian flu vaccine won't be ready for five or six years. Part of the problem is that the pharmaceutical industry won't share its proprietary information with the scientific community. Congress recently allocated $3.8 billion to fighting avian flu. $3.3 billion went to Leavitt's department. As of March 13, 2006 the WHO confirmed 177 cases of bird flu and 98 deaths, mostly in Asia. That's for a period beginning in 2003. Most cases are of bird handlers and there is no evidence of it spreading from one human to another.
NOW I think having food storage is common sense and wise. And so is staying away from people with flu. But a better solution to fighting disease is to increase the body's ability to fight disease. The best way to do that is to eat healthily and exercise.
What bothers me is that the common sense solutions are being ignored. Dr. Rima Laibow indicates that the bird flu virus causes a form of scurvy that people die from. (See her website healthfreedomusa.org.) The best solution for scurvy is to eat right, taking foods rich in Vitamin C. And, of course, take Vitamin C. Sailors used to eat sauerkraut. Interestingly, pasteurizing milk destroys Vitamin C.
Dr. Laibow suggests we stop eating processed foods and switch to "a diet rich in fruits, dark and brightly colored veggies, free range animal protein and organic everything." She writes, "It goes without saying that the more processed foods you eat, the more chemicals, flavors, preservatives, pesticides, sugar and artificial sweeteners, in short, the more junk you put into your body, the more acidic your body will be and the less resistant to viral infection it will be."
This is not the message Secretary Leavitt is telling Americans. Nor is it one we hear in the news media. Most of what we hear is fear mongering. My cynical side says that what this does is make the rich pharmaceuticals richer.
See also Dr. Joseph Mercola's articles entitled "Avian flu epidemic is a hoax" and "Medical journal admits truth about bird flu." Source of Mike Leavitt's comments is Bob Lonsberry's column of March 14, 2006, "Prepare now to survive the flu."
This whole bird flu scare seems to me a way to enrich the pharmaceutical industry and to get people more addicted to its solutions to health care. Billions of dollars are being spent on vaccines and an avian flu vaccine won't be ready for five or six years. Part of the problem is that the pharmaceutical industry won't share its proprietary information with the scientific community. Congress recently allocated $3.8 billion to fighting avian flu. $3.3 billion went to Leavitt's department. As of March 13, 2006 the WHO confirmed 177 cases of bird flu and 98 deaths, mostly in Asia. That's for a period beginning in 2003. Most cases are of bird handlers and there is no evidence of it spreading from one human to another.
NOW I think having food storage is common sense and wise. And so is staying away from people with flu. But a better solution to fighting disease is to increase the body's ability to fight disease. The best way to do that is to eat healthily and exercise.
What bothers me is that the common sense solutions are being ignored. Dr. Rima Laibow indicates that the bird flu virus causes a form of scurvy that people die from. (See her website healthfreedomusa.org.) The best solution for scurvy is to eat right, taking foods rich in Vitamin C. And, of course, take Vitamin C. Sailors used to eat sauerkraut. Interestingly, pasteurizing milk destroys Vitamin C.
Dr. Laibow suggests we stop eating processed foods and switch to "a diet rich in fruits, dark and brightly colored veggies, free range animal protein and organic everything." She writes, "It goes without saying that the more processed foods you eat, the more chemicals, flavors, preservatives, pesticides, sugar and artificial sweeteners, in short, the more junk you put into your body, the more acidic your body will be and the less resistant to viral infection it will be."
This is not the message Secretary Leavitt is telling Americans. Nor is it one we hear in the news media. Most of what we hear is fear mongering. My cynical side says that what this does is make the rich pharmaceuticals richer.
See also Dr. Joseph Mercola's articles entitled "Avian flu epidemic is a hoax" and "Medical journal admits truth about bird flu." Source of Mike Leavitt's comments is Bob Lonsberry's column of March 14, 2006, "Prepare now to survive the flu."
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Superhero Dr. Bob
First there was Batman and Robin, Superman and Spiderman. Now we have a new superhero, Dr. Bob.
Without jesting, Dr. Bob Arnot's self-proclaimed accomplishments sound like those of a jet-age superhero. Tall, blond and handsome, this celebrity journalist flies from the midst of one battle to the next without fear or harm. From Afghanistan to Pakistan, Iraq to Jordan, Somalia to the Sudan, he reports on the evils of terrorism, death and mahem, and while others die around him he stands amidst a storm of bullets that leave him unscathed. For example, there is the time he saved the lives of a teenage mother and her baby who were caught in a shower of weapons' fire between Iraqi and American forces. Dr. Bob rushed out from the American lines and in his perfect Arabic told the woman to sit down. He stayed there with her until they could be rescued by American forces.
He is an "activist" journalist, who participates in the events he covers. A trustee of Save the Children and founder of Operation Iraqi Lifeline, at each of his stops not only does it sound like he reports on the event, but he rescues and aids the children. He has plucked 50 children with cancer from Iraq and placed them in medical facilities where they can be cared for. Behind and supporting his efforts are the American forces - a peace corp with guns. Because of the efforts of American soldiers to rebuild Iraq one area went from 160 to 10 insurgency attacks a week. Eighty percent of the country is at peace, with only a few hot spots like Baghdad.
American soldiers love their missions, he says. Given five to ten years, democracy will exist in Iraq like in Afghanistan. But the terrorists (like Ho Chi Minh in Viet Nam) realize that they can win the war if they can defeat the US in its own press. If the terrorists can make the war "unpopular at home" and get the US to pull out, Iraq will become like Afghanistan under the Taliban.
Speaking March 6, 2006 at Northwest Missouri State University, Dr. Arnot told students they can make a difference by joining the marines or army, learning Arab in university, and contributing to aid efforts abroad. The biggest mistake would be "being isolationist." The war on terrorism will be won as the young men in the Mideast and Africa are educated and get jobs. The war will end as we "dry up the swamp breeding ground of terrorism," he said.
What does he see for his immediate future? More traveling to hot spots of the world and this year he will be involved in a TV program called "Dr. Danger." Good luck, Dr. Bob.
Dr. Bob Arnot is the medical anchor to CNBC's dLife and the former chief medical correspondent and special foreign correspondent to NBC News.
See also:
http://breakers.typepad.com/leftbeach/2004/02/dr_bob_arnot_an.html
http://www.apple.com/pro/video/arnot/
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/2/12/162342.shtml
http://www.ejeanlive.com/arnot.htm
http://www.kivana.com/acts/BobArnot.htm
Without jesting, Dr. Bob Arnot's self-proclaimed accomplishments sound like those of a jet-age superhero. Tall, blond and handsome, this celebrity journalist flies from the midst of one battle to the next without fear or harm. From Afghanistan to Pakistan, Iraq to Jordan, Somalia to the Sudan, he reports on the evils of terrorism, death and mahem, and while others die around him he stands amidst a storm of bullets that leave him unscathed. For example, there is the time he saved the lives of a teenage mother and her baby who were caught in a shower of weapons' fire between Iraqi and American forces. Dr. Bob rushed out from the American lines and in his perfect Arabic told the woman to sit down. He stayed there with her until they could be rescued by American forces.
He is an "activist" journalist, who participates in the events he covers. A trustee of Save the Children and founder of Operation Iraqi Lifeline, at each of his stops not only does it sound like he reports on the event, but he rescues and aids the children. He has plucked 50 children with cancer from Iraq and placed them in medical facilities where they can be cared for. Behind and supporting his efforts are the American forces - a peace corp with guns. Because of the efforts of American soldiers to rebuild Iraq one area went from 160 to 10 insurgency attacks a week. Eighty percent of the country is at peace, with only a few hot spots like Baghdad.
American soldiers love their missions, he says. Given five to ten years, democracy will exist in Iraq like in Afghanistan. But the terrorists (like Ho Chi Minh in Viet Nam) realize that they can win the war if they can defeat the US in its own press. If the terrorists can make the war "unpopular at home" and get the US to pull out, Iraq will become like Afghanistan under the Taliban.
Speaking March 6, 2006 at Northwest Missouri State University, Dr. Arnot told students they can make a difference by joining the marines or army, learning Arab in university, and contributing to aid efforts abroad. The biggest mistake would be "being isolationist." The war on terrorism will be won as the young men in the Mideast and Africa are educated and get jobs. The war will end as we "dry up the swamp breeding ground of terrorism," he said.
What does he see for his immediate future? More traveling to hot spots of the world and this year he will be involved in a TV program called "Dr. Danger." Good luck, Dr. Bob.
Dr. Bob Arnot is the medical anchor to CNBC's dLife and the former chief medical correspondent and special foreign correspondent to NBC News.
See also:
http://breakers.typepad.com/leftbeach/2004/02/dr_bob_arnot_an.html
http://www.apple.com/pro/video/arnot/
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/2/12/162342.shtml
http://www.ejeanlive.com/arnot.htm
http://www.kivana.com/acts/BobArnot.htm
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