Take People Where They're At

 

U.S. Women outpace men in college completion for decades now

 

Editor's note:

What are the implications of the fact that more women are college educated than men? 

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Murder rate and life expectancy in US as compared to other developed countries

 

The most telling indicator of a people’s welfare is life expectancy. US life expectancy is forecast at 79.5 years for both sexes this year. This makes it 48th in the world. China’s life expectancy is forecast to be almost as high, at 78. UK and German life expectancy is 81.5, French 83.5, Italy’s 83.9 and Japan’s 84.9. Yet the US spends far more on health, relative to GDP, than any other country. This shows great wastefulness, though this low US life expectancy has a number of additional explanations. Yet, what does the high measured US GDP mean if some 17 per cent was spent on health, with such poor results? More broadly, what does US prosperity mean when combined with such potent indicators of low welfare? These outcomes are the result of high inequality, poor personal choices and crazy social ones. Some 400mn guns are apparently in circulation. 

From Adam Tooze's Chartbook.

Corporate malfeasance and the moral compass

David Markham's email expresses concern over corporate irresponsibility and the prioritization of profit over human well-being. He argues that corporations, shielded by legal protections, operate with impunity, causing harm without consequence. Markham connects this to a decline in public morality and a failure of the political system to represent the people's interests, questioning the values driving societal choices. He advocates for a renewed moral compass emphasizing human dignity and justice.

 

Hi Martha

1. Thank you for posting this. It's spot on. It's one of the stimuli that makes a person either laugh or cry or probably both.
2. There is a new term floating around, "corporate killers." 
3. While the Supreme Court has ruled that corporations are persons with free speech rights in Citizens United, corporations have gotten the privileges of "free speech" but none of the responsibilities. 
4. Corporative operatives are  above the law because they get to operate behind the corporate shield, and they are never held accountable for their decisions even when they cause great harm up to and including death. 
5. Is it any wonder then when aggrieved victims take the law into their own hands? Will we see more of this now that our legal system has failed us?
6. So while the cartoon is funny it also makes people more aware of how they are being victimized by corporate malfeasance and that malfeasance is perpetrated by actors usually with a profit motive.
7. Is healthcare a human right or a mercenary commodity to be profited from?
8. What happens when capitalism is antithetical to human welfare?
9. Regulatory controls have gotten a bad wrap since Regan who said that government is the problem. 
10. It is a problem for the profiteers who would exploit the people that government was created to protect.
11. The next presidential administration, congress, and judiciary has been taken over by an ideology which protects and promotes the oligarchs interests above those of the people who elected them to represent them.
12. What makes voters so stupid? What makes them identify with and support the grifters and unethical operatives in the government to represent them?
13. When did profit become more important than human dignity, worth, and well being?
14. There is something seriously wrong with the moral compass that is guiding our society's choices.
15. What is called for is a new moral compass that affirms and promotes the inherent worth and dignity of every human being. Is that too much to hope for and require of our fellow citizens and people we elect to represent us in our democratic form of government?

Hoping for a better world where dignity, equity, justice, and compassion prevails,

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Do you know where your live Christmas tree came from?

 Summary

This Public News Service report from December 13, 2024, covers diverse social and environmental issues. Key stories include: the plight of migrant workers in Virginia's Christmas tree industry, a new OSHA rule ensuring proper fitting of construction safety gear, and the impact of a Minnesota union's success in mitigating healthcare cost increases. Further articles examine the potential rollback of pro-worker policies under a new National Labor Relations Board and various state-level news including legislative vacancies, eviction protections, and climate change initiatives. Finally, the report highlights concerns about food insecurity and the challenges of affording groceries.

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What can we learn from A Day In The Life Of Abed Salama?

 Summary

David Markham recommends A Day in the Life of Abed Salama, a 2024 Pulitzer Prize-winning non-fiction book, to his colleagues. The book, focusing on a Palestinian father's desperate search for his son after a bus accident, powerfully illustrates the hardships faced by Palestinians due to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Markham highlights the book's ability to illuminate the complex realities of life in Gaza and the systemic obstacles faced by Palestinians. He positions the book as a valuable resource for increasing understanding of the conflict, relevant to psychotherapists' work. The book's immersive narrative explores the intertwined lives and histories of individuals caught within the conflict.

For the book, A Day In The Life Of Abed Salama

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Corporate Influence in Healthcare: A Decline in Quality and Ethics

Corporate influence in healthcare has led to a decline in the quality of care and a shift in focus from patient well-being to profit generation.

Private equity firms, in particular, have been criticized for their extractive practices.

One example is the case of Steward Health Care, where a private equity firm, Cerberus Capital Management, bought six Catholic hospitals, only to later sell the land and force the hospitals to pay rent.

This financial strain led to understaffing, outdated equipment, and a decline in basic services, ultimately resulting in poorer patient outcomes and even increased mortality rates.

Despite these issues, the firm still profited significantly from their investment.

This focus on profit over patients is not limited to private equity firms.

Health insurers, for example, have been accused of "gamifying" the system to maximize profits.

UnitedHealth, the largest private insurer in the US, has been found to incentivize doctors to diagnose more conditions in patients, even offering bonuses for those who complete the most appointments with seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage.

This practice leads to overpayments from the government to insurers, diverting taxpayer money away from those who need it.

Even nonprofit health care organizations have been found to engage in practices that prioritize revenue over patient care.

There are examples of nonprofits, like Providence and Allina Health, using debt collectors against low-income patients who were entitled to free care and denying care to patients with unpaid bills.

This shift in focus from patient care to profit has eroded the traditional ethical foundations of medicine.

The professional ethic of placing patients' interests above commercial ones is being replaced by a view of medicine as just another business.

This change is reflected in the language used to describe healthcare, with patients becoming "consumers," doctors "providers," and health care a "commodity."

However, the sources also highlight some positive developments, suggesting that the tide may be turning.

Lawmakers are expressing concern about the practices of Medicare Advantage insurers and are seeking ways to curb excessive patient diagnoses.

There are also legislative efforts to increase scrutiny of private equity in healthcare and to penalize firms engaging in harmful practices.

Additionally, doctors across the country are unionizing at unprecedented rates to advocate for better patient care and resist corporate dominance in healthcare.

For more click here.

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The financialization of American health care

Summary The provided text examines the detrimental effects of corporate influence on healthcare in the United States. It details how private equity firms, like Cerberus Capital Management with Steward Health Care, prioritize profit over patient care, leading to declines in quality and accessibility. The article further illustrates how large insurance companies, such as UnitedHealth, incentivize excessive diagnoses and treatments to maximize Medicare reimbursements. This corporate model is contrasted with the traditional medical ethos of prioritizing patient well-being, revealing a system where financial motivations undermine the core values of healthcare. Ultimately, the piece argues that this "Gilded Age of medicine" necessitates systemic reform to protect patients and preserve the integrity of the medical profession.

For The New Yorker Article click here.

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New York State first in US to mandate paid prenatal leave

 Summary

Governor Kathy Hochul announced New York's pioneering paid prenatal leave program, starting January 1, 2025. This initiative, the first of its kind in the nation, ensures all pregnant New Yorkers can attend crucial medical appointments without financial hardship. Hochul highlights the program's significance in preventing mothers from choosing between employment and prenatal care. The program's impact is expected to positively affect over 136,000 pregnant women. Hochul expresses pride in this achievement and thanks supporters for their continued backing.

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Weekly newsletter 12/02/24: Bill of Rights Day, Disinformation, Autocracy, Inc.

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December 15th is Bill of Rights Day. 

There are some great resources here provided by Larry Ferlazzo. As the USA moves further from democracy to autocracy a reminder about the Bill Of Rights is especially relevant and timely.

Disinformation can contribute to avoidable harm and death

Disinformation is prolific in our age of digital media when publishing can occur without any editing. It seems ironic that I am writing this when I engage in this activity myself. However, what distinguishes my publication is that I have taken the Pro Truth pledge and promise my readers to publish only what I have vetted and know to be true to the best of my ability.

Some people hold the value of honesty, accuracy, and validity very highly while others, motivated by any number of incentives, are selling something based on explicit and implicit agendas. It behooves the consumer of media to insist on honesty and accuracy and to discern the motivations and incentives of the communicator. The question “Why is this person communicating this to me can be very illuminating.” In everyday language we should ask “What is this communicator up to and hoping will happen as a result of communicating this message”?

Just as people can spread infectious bacteria and viruses, they can spread false information. Just as infectious diseases can harm and kill so can toxic disinformation.

For more from Hayden Godfrey’s article, “Doctors Who Put Lives At Risk With Covid Misinformation Rarely Punished? click here.

Autocracies, Inc by Anne Applebaum

As the US has slipped further from democracy to autocracy with the re-election of Donald Trump as president, knowledge of the signs and symptoms of autocracy as a form of government and the consequences of this development has become much more important. This shift in governance processes have highly significant influence on the daily events described in the media.

From Autocracy, Inc. by Anne Applebaum

"Nowadays, autocracies are run not by one bad guy but by sophisticated networks relying on kleptocratic financial structures, a complex of security services—military, paramilitary, police—and technological experts who provide surveillance, propaganda, and disinformation.  p. 1

"Unlike military or political alliances from other times and places, this group operates not like a bloc but rather like an agglomeration of companies, bound not by ideology but rather by a ruthless, single-minded determination to preserve their personal wealth and power: Autocracy, Inc.  p. 2

"Instead of ideas, the strongmen who lead Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Angola, Myanmar, Cuba, Syria, Zimbabwe, Mali, Belarus, Sudan, Azerbaijan, and perhaps three dozen others share a determination to preserve their personal wealth and power; Autocracy, inc.  p.3

The world is run by corporations which the US supreme court has deemed as persons for constitutional purposes. What's up with that?

Capitalism where the profit motive is the only legitimate value system for corporations to pursue furthers the power of the oligarchs who can buy the political policies they prefer by financing elections.

What do you think Elon Musk is doing working with Trump heading a concocted government agency called the “Department of Efficiency”? The billionaires run the US.

Our US motto, instead of "In God We Trust" should be "Money Talks and Bullshit Walks."

So, I think Applebaum is on to something in the introduction. And now I am very interested in reading the rest of the book to see what she has to say.

OB-GYNs leaving Texas

What happens in states where OG\B-GYN can no longer provide women with reproductive health care without engaging in criminal activity? They leave the state to practice elsewhere.

Increasingly red states have inferior health care with poorer health care outcomes for women.

For more click here.

This is another example of how poor social policies contribute to lower quality of life for people who live under the jurisdiction of those policies.

"Enshittification" is the word of the year

From The Guardian

We’re all living through the enshittocene, a great enshittening, in which the services that matter to us, that we rely on, are turning into giant piles of shit,” author Cory Doctorow said earlier this year.

In 2022, Doctorow coined the word “enshittification”, which has just been crowned Macquarie Dictionary’s word of the year. The dictionary defined the word as follows.

“The gradual deterioration of a service or product brought about by a reduction in the quality of service provided, especially of an online platform, and as a consequence of profit-seeking.”

Editor's note: The internet and all the methods of digital communication promised to make human communication more effective and efficient and to help us, as human beings, become smarter.

As is true with everything in life there are adverse side effects and a downside or shadow side to the phenomenon. In many ways the internet and digital communication have enhanced our human interactions and functions, and in other ways it is has made our interactions and functioning more frustrating, anxiety inducing, and dysfunctional.

The hope that as we gain more experience with these tools we, humans, will learn how to use them more effectively and efficiently. In the meantime, enshittification, is something we are challenged by and must learn how to manage efficaciously.

How does disinformation go viral?

 

Across groups, social influences also produce noise. If someone starts a meeting by favoring a major change in the company’s direction, that person might initiate a discussion that leads a group unanimously to support the change. Their agreement might be a product of social pressures, not of conviction. If someone else had started the meeting by indicating a different view, or if the initial speaker had decided to be silent, the discussion might have headed in an altogether different direction—and for the same reason. Very similar groups can end up in divergent places because of social pressures.

Kahneman, Daniel; Sibony, Olivier; Sunstein, Cass R.. Noise . Little, Brown and Company. Kindle Edition. 

Sometimes what Kahneman et al. call “informational cascades” is called “peer pressure.” Solomon Ashe and other social psychologists demonstrated this dynamic decades ago.

We have colloquial sayings like “Better to go along to get along,” and “When in Rome you do as the Romans do,” and “Why go against the grain?” and “Don’t upset the apple cart,” and “You shouldn’t disturb the status quo.”

Keeping with the title of their book, the authors write that informational cascades are “noise.” Indeed they are. A major contributor to informational cascades is power and what are sometimes called “opinion leaders.” The first story told about the incident, event, or topic "frames" the future discussion to which any subsequent offering will be compared. "Disinformation" often goes viral in this way with the first story constantly being spread as subsequent commentors try to rebut it.

When posts on social media go "viral" they demonstrate what Kahneman is calling an "informational cascade."

To what extent are you an opinion leader in the groups you participate in? When have you been the leader and when have you been subject to another leader and group pressure? Have you ever participated in an organizational decision which didn’t seem right to you but you went along because you did not want to challenge the developing majority opinion of the group?

Noise is well worth reading as it provides a deeper understanding of the disinformation so rampant in our society in our digital age.

Markham's Slow News is moving back from substack to Blogger.

 Markham's Slow News is now back on Blogger instead of Substack. Look for new articles here. 

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