| RavenBlog |
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| Comments on Wednesday 4 September 2002: |
| It's time for another proper angry rant, brought to you today by the Virginia state tax people's "we need you to send us that W2 that you already sent us and don't now have a spare copy of because we have it", and by the letter Z, appearing in such words as Zoloft and Prozac. This rant covers all my favourite rant topics; doctors, America, and corporate slavery. Lots of people - good people - that I know are getting prescribed various antidepressants, in a Doctors' Classic "treat the symptoms not the cause" sort of way. I realise doctors can't really prescribe "your life not suck", but antidepressants being prescribed for most of these people is like having them wear a blindfold and a local anaesthetic as a 'cure' for them being repeatedly poked in the eye with sharp sticks. I'm not suggesting that their brain chemistry isn't fucked up. I'm suggesting that the reason it's fucked up is that everyone here lives to their budget or worse - a budget they acquire by working more hours than is reasonable, for an uncaring faceless corporate soul-destroying monster. A strange thing about this - I can't perceive anything different between America and England's dealings with money (apart from taxes in England being less effort). The people I know in America don't spend a lot of money frivolously, most of them earn more than their equivalents in England, rent and food isn't much different, there are a couple of bills that are worse but not so much so that it would counterbalance the "earning more". And yet, somehow, everyone here lives worse than paycheck to paycheck, always on the verge of being destroyed by a little car-trouble or an unexpected medical bill (such as for the prescription of a different brand of chemical blindfold). Even if you're 'winning', starting to earn a little more than enough to break even, you're still stuck in a perpetual nightmare of doing the bidding of others - if not employers, the tax bastards. There's even a celebration of 'labour day', celebrating the hardworkingness of Americans. There's no celebration of that one time emancipation pretended to happen. [22:58] |
| Jacay |
| Gods, life sucks. Actually it doesn't, but jobs and paychecks and general money does. For example, my brother claims my father makes more than enough to send my brother off to the college he wants to go to, but my mom's all 'No, I'm a teacher, my wages suck so you have to go to the local community college! Nyah!' and we're both pissed. It sucks, yes. I support you! *waves little flag* Whoo! |
| mvo |
| Well, I reckon at least the _doctors_ make money! |
| neowulf |
| The field of medicine, particualry that of conventional 'fix-em-up' medicines, has never been more than a giant maze of alleged statistics and supposition. Jump back for a second to the mid-eighteen hundreds (if my memory serves justly) when the medical field, with barely a whisper of opposition, popularized lobotomies as a treatment for the 'criminal' mindset, those considered to be socially unfit. This didnt just cover heinious acts but extended to any 'non-normal' act brought to the attention of the comitees. modern medicine has become no better over the years. Doctors prescribe pills suggested to them by drug companies and are often paid incetives to suggest the new drugs to their patients. The drugs prescribed often have had very little real world testing, creating only a quick fix, while the long term effects are yet to be seen. In fact, close to 70% of the regulary prescribed medicines in this country have had less than a two year field test, and no information on five year, ten year, or twenty year side effects. Blaaarrr!! its disguisting. Quality of life has been replaced by incentive to make a dollar, doctors have become no more than the long arm of the mighty Infernal machine know as the pharmacudical industry. We all need to start educating ourselves. Doctors who suggest these 'chemical blindfolds' hardly ever point out the alternatives. And there are alternatives, many of them entirely natural. The idea of herbal healing has become something of a fluke in this country, doctors laugh at plants and the FDA wont accept strong evidence that there are indeed alternatives to being spoonfed life through little chemical translators. It all comes down to the same old thing, the pursuit of the bloodly dollar. Quality of life lessens, as people have to work twice as hard just to get all those things commecials tell them them must have, while (ironically) never really having enough time to enjoy them. In this country 37 percent of the weath is in the hands of 1 percent of the people. One percent. The rich have always been rich, and they just keep getting richer while the working class stays just barely above the level of total dispair. We scoff at ancient cultures, how 'primative' they must have been, how 'pathetic' they must have been. Honestly, hunter-gatherer societies worked about two hours a day (per person, of course) and spent most of their time in other, more lively, pursuits. I have to go grate cheese for my bean chili stuff (although i dont know if you can truly call a mixture of bean and veggie- a chili) so thats all. -Technology should make our lives easier. We could use Technology to make our lives easier. The machine needs to be in the hands of the people rather than the dictators. Its the only way. We need to embrace change. This country has almost become socialist three times, but war or otherwise has always prevented the change. email me if you want to discuss (agree or disagree) systems of change, or if you want to comment on my miserable spelling and poor sentence structures. |
| KJB |
| Some doctors do. Unfortunately, a lot don't, and then they go crazy, and have to take large amounts of prescription drugs, and hate people. Besides, a lot of $$ goes at first to pay for med school bills. After that, though, it's all going to the Beemer and golf clubs. American society is jacked. Truly. |
| Dan H |
| It's "Labor" Day, isn't it... =) |