Thursday, February 05, 2009
The Definition of Irony
While studying about different viruses that can infect humans, said medical student contracts said virus and is now at home typing up some blog entries and posting pictures to facebook.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Trickling down- you gettin' kinda thirsty?
Why Trickle-Down Economics Doesn't Work.
I'm no economist, but I've been getting in a lot of conversations lately about the state of the economy and basic economic theories. I am of the opinion that trickle down economics doesn't work. I think it's a construct made up by the rich to help them hold onto their power and influence and I give them credit that they've managed to convince so many people so that it works. If enough Donald Trumps say that the only way to economic growth is relentless (and reckless) tax cutting, then eventually people are going to start to believe it.
The theory (as I understand it) is that if we cut taxes for the richest members of society, then they are going to have more money, and they are going to spend that money and that spending is going to "trickle down" to us as sales, jobs, and giant bonuses. Unfortunately, it doesn't really work like that. Rich people don't get rich by spending money. They get rich by investing it and saving it. Maybe the theory would hold up if rich people were really investing a much greater percentage of their money, but mostly they are just accumulating it and holding on to it.
This is shown by the huge gap that we have right now between the have's and the have-not's. Rich people just keep on getting richer and resting on their laurels of the past few years, while middle class people keep getting poorer as their wages remain the same and food and gas inflation eat into their paychecks.
I have nothing against rich people. I admire them for taking enormous risks and having them pay off. Who knows, I might be an entrepreneur someday. They are the people who really drive progress and economies forward. But the theory I don't subscribe to is the one where people who earn more don't have more of an obligation to pay for services in our government (i.e. taxes). If you earn more than $100,000, you are in a much better position to help pay than someone who makes 20,000 a year. Trust me, you're not really going to miss that $30,000 as much as the low-income earner is going to miss $5,000. One is whether you can take that trip to the Florida this year, the other is whether he can put enough food on his table to feed his three kids.
Another consequence of this relentless tax cutting is how short-sighted it is. We are accumulating trillions of dollars in debt...for what? So we can have cheap plastic toys from China. So we can wage war in a country that doesn't want us there? Where is the long-term investment in the money we are spending right now. I am spending a lot of money right now, but it's with the idea that it will pay off in a couple years with a good job and income. I don't see that strategy being employed by our government or our society in general. People around the world are starting to see this and it has lead to the decline in the dollar. The rest of the world is losing confidence that we are a good long-term investment. We are just spending right now and not investing. This is bad for our long-term prospects and for our children's.
The element that makes a really strong economy is a strong middle class that has a good income and upward mobility. Why do you think China's economy is growing so fast? Their middle class is surging upward as all the factory workers bring home a good income and want to spend it. There are rich people in China and there will be a lot more, but their middle class will be the biggest factor in the coming decade. Meanwhile, our middle class is declining. People are falling into the have or have-not category and that is eventually going to be bad for everyone.
There is one candidate that is talking about helping the middle class and the other is talking about continuing the current economic policies. I think we all know the current policies aren't working very well.
The theory (as I understand it) is that if we cut taxes for the richest members of society, then they are going to have more money, and they are going to spend that money and that spending is going to "trickle down" to us as sales, jobs, and giant bonuses. Unfortunately, it doesn't really work like that. Rich people don't get rich by spending money. They get rich by investing it and saving it. Maybe the theory would hold up if rich people were really investing a much greater percentage of their money, but mostly they are just accumulating it and holding on to it.
This is shown by the huge gap that we have right now between the have's and the have-not's. Rich people just keep on getting richer and resting on their laurels of the past few years, while middle class people keep getting poorer as their wages remain the same and food and gas inflation eat into their paychecks.
I have nothing against rich people. I admire them for taking enormous risks and having them pay off. Who knows, I might be an entrepreneur someday. They are the people who really drive progress and economies forward. But the theory I don't subscribe to is the one where people who earn more don't have more of an obligation to pay for services in our government (i.e. taxes). If you earn more than $100,000, you are in a much better position to help pay than someone who makes 20,000 a year. Trust me, you're not really going to miss that $30,000 as much as the low-income earner is going to miss $5,000. One is whether you can take that trip to the Florida this year, the other is whether he can put enough food on his table to feed his three kids.
Another consequence of this relentless tax cutting is how short-sighted it is. We are accumulating trillions of dollars in debt...for what? So we can have cheap plastic toys from China. So we can wage war in a country that doesn't want us there? Where is the long-term investment in the money we are spending right now. I am spending a lot of money right now, but it's with the idea that it will pay off in a couple years with a good job and income. I don't see that strategy being employed by our government or our society in general. People around the world are starting to see this and it has lead to the decline in the dollar. The rest of the world is losing confidence that we are a good long-term investment. We are just spending right now and not investing. This is bad for our long-term prospects and for our children's.
The element that makes a really strong economy is a strong middle class that has a good income and upward mobility. Why do you think China's economy is growing so fast? Their middle class is surging upward as all the factory workers bring home a good income and want to spend it. There are rich people in China and there will be a lot more, but their middle class will be the biggest factor in the coming decade. Meanwhile, our middle class is declining. People are falling into the have or have-not category and that is eventually going to be bad for everyone.
There is one candidate that is talking about helping the middle class and the other is talking about continuing the current economic policies. I think we all know the current policies aren't working very well.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
6310
There are many people who see God everywhere. They see God's action in all things, and in all of creation. But, I have trouble seeing God in all these things. When I look at life I zoom down to the smallest cell and wonder at it's intricacy, but never really believe that it was created. When I look at the stars I wonder at how far they are, but don't really see the need for a creator. When I go to church, I see people getting in touch with a spiritual need that we all feel, but I don't really see God.The place I really see God is in the hospital. That nexus of humanity that swirls with grief, joy, rage, pity, and all other shades of human emotion. Weird things happen that don't seem to make any sense at first, but then a pattern emerges that just screams out for an explanation beyond coincidence. I'll give you an example.
I was getting off my shift in the ER and strolling lazily behind a bed being taken into the hospital. I don't know if it was idle curiosity or just boredom that made me ask where they were headed.
"6310," replied the tech who was pushing the bed. I turned down another corridor and started to walk away without saying anything else when the patient in the bed called out,
"Why, you gonna come and visit me?"
I turned around and smiled at the lean, black girl in the bed. Her hair was disheveled her teeth were a little crooked. Like most hospitalized patients she looked like she was having a rough day. But, she had an infectious smile and I couldn't help but grin too.
"No, I just had to find out," I said. I turned around and continued to walk away wondering why I had said that. Technically, it wasn't a lie, but I felt kind of awkward saying it because I really had no reason to find out what room she was going to. I kept walking and my mind shifted gears to something else.
I was just about to unlock my car in the student lot when another car pulled up and huge lady leaned out the window.
"Excuse me, do you know where we can find visitor parking around here?"
I had never had that question before but I felt like I should know where it is. I stood there in a mental fluster trying to think of where they could go for parking.
"My daughter was just admitted from the ER for a sickle cell attack and we can't seem to find parking anywhere," said the lady. The image of the grinning girl flashed into my head and before I even thought about it I blurted out,
"6310!!"
"Huh?" Said the huge lady in the car.
"6310, that's where they are taking your daughter. I just saw her. Pull right around here and check that big parking garage there and then go to room 6310 and you'll find her. She looked pretty good."
"Thanks," said the lady as she pulled away with a puzzled look on her face.
I don't know if they ever found visitor parking, but 6310 is now firmly engraved in my memory as my prescient number. Experience cries out for explanation.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Civics 101
This makes me mad.
Why Karl Rove should go to Jail
It should make you mad as well. I don't care if it is political posturing by the Democrats, under article 1, section 8, clause 18 of the Constitution of the United States of America:
Sounds like a bunch of legal mumbo-jumbo, but it basically grants congress the power to issue subpoenas and investigate anything it chooses. This has been established by legal precedent over and over again and the law is quite clear that if a person is issued a subpoena from the Congress of the United States then they are COMPELLED to show up....period, end of story, no excuses, no choice. Karl Rove is very clearly breaking well-established law.
What's the Bush response when they break a law? Let's change the law. Let's try to rewrite the Constitution so it says that Congress can't compell ANY member of the Executive Branch to appear before it because that would violate the separation of powers. Any honest reading of the Constitution leaves the reader with the knowledge that, yes, there is separation of powers, but the executive branch and the judicial branch are designed to be checks on Congress. Congress is the big kid on the block and gets to make all the decisions. They design the law and the president's job is to either veto it or carry it out faithfully. The court's job is to decide whether that law is constitutional. Notice there's nothing in the Constitution about the Supreme Court checking the president. The branches aren't designed to be entirely equal. They are designed so that Congress is the ultimate authority with the president and the courts checking that authority.
Bush doesn't see it this way. He sees himself fully as powerful as Congress. He thinks that when congress passes a law, he can use a signing statement to disregard whatever part of that law that he dislikes. He thinks he can declare war. He thinks he can violate the law (torture, habeas corpus, and subpoenas are just a few examples). He thinks he has the power to override a congressional subpoena.
Bush is way overreaching his authority here and I think (I hope) the average American is starting to notice and get angry.
Why Karl Rove should go to Jail
It should make you mad as well. I don't care if it is political posturing by the Democrats, under article 1, section 8, clause 18 of the Constitution of the United States of America:
"The Congress shall have Power - To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof."
Sounds like a bunch of legal mumbo-jumbo, but it basically grants congress the power to issue subpoenas and investigate anything it chooses. This has been established by legal precedent over and over again and the law is quite clear that if a person is issued a subpoena from the Congress of the United States then they are COMPELLED to show up....period, end of story, no excuses, no choice. Karl Rove is very clearly breaking well-established law.
What's the Bush response when they break a law? Let's change the law. Let's try to rewrite the Constitution so it says that Congress can't compell ANY member of the Executive Branch to appear before it because that would violate the separation of powers. Any honest reading of the Constitution leaves the reader with the knowledge that, yes, there is separation of powers, but the executive branch and the judicial branch are designed to be checks on Congress. Congress is the big kid on the block and gets to make all the decisions. They design the law and the president's job is to either veto it or carry it out faithfully. The court's job is to decide whether that law is constitutional. Notice there's nothing in the Constitution about the Supreme Court checking the president. The branches aren't designed to be entirely equal. They are designed so that Congress is the ultimate authority with the president and the courts checking that authority.
Bush doesn't see it this way. He sees himself fully as powerful as Congress. He thinks that when congress passes a law, he can use a signing statement to disregard whatever part of that law that he dislikes. He thinks he can declare war. He thinks he can violate the law (torture, habeas corpus, and subpoenas are just a few examples). He thinks he has the power to override a congressional subpoena.
Bush is way overreaching his authority here and I think (I hope) the average American is starting to notice and get angry.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Snowed In
I had one of the most painful experiences of my life today. I thought I was interested in psychiatry before I went and followed an older medical student around today. The first patient we went to was ok. He was a little "snowed" but could answer questions and generally seemed optomistic about the prospects for his future and that he would get out. He had some moderate dementia but was still pleasant to work with. The second patient was half awake and answering our questions with single word answers like "yes, no and mmmm" The last guy was really the icing on the cake. He had all kinds of medical problems and it was clear that he didn't know what was going on with him, but the main thing was just how freakishly slow he was. He was eating lunch when we walked in and my med student asked him a preliminary question. It literally took him 15 seconds to respond to the question. And when he did, it was with some kind of non-sensical, mono-syllabic whisper. Now, you may be thinking "15 seconds, that's not bad." So the next time you have a conversation with your significant other, I want you to count to 15 before you answer any question that they put to you. I guarantee they'll dump your ass or file divorce the next day. It took us 20 minutes just to get out of him that he didn't feel like killing himself. Add to that fact that it was sweltering inside the room and I was sweating through my white coat and it pretty much made for the worst experience ever.
I understand he's depressed and that it's a very sad case and I wish we could help him, but he was like a black hole sucking my energy, patience, and empathy. I think I empathized too well. I was genuinely depressed after the encounter. I couldn't interact with my friends normally. I had to eat a relatively large meal and then go take a two hour nap before I even felt a semblance of normal. It was actually kind of scary that my emotions could be affected so easily. I can see why doctors now say you need to be able to distance yourself from experiences like that. We want to pull them out of the black hole, but have to be careful that we don't get sucked in ourselves.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
My Walk to School
There is a graveyard on the way to school. I've driven past it every day for the last 7 months. I glance over every now and then as a name and a cross flashes by, but it never really registers. Since the weather has warmed up, I've begun walking to school. Now I pass the graves much more slowly.
In fact, I've even started to walk through the cemetary. It's much more peaceful and I can be alone with my thoughts. I pass the graves and read the names and wonder who the people were. I think about what death will be like and I think that if it's as peaceful as that cemetary then it won't be bad at all.
There is a certain irony in the passage of a student physician through a place of death every morning and afternoon. Death no longer holds the fear and revulsion that was there before. I've been up close and personal with death in order to learn how to heal the living and the passage through the graveyard is more peaceful than unnerving.
The saddest part of the journey is right before I leave the graveyard. I pass small graves with teddy bears and flowers. The peace is broken and I have to avert my eyes. The death of children is still reserves that fear. It drains my spirit but it reminds me why I am doing what I am doing. Why death is a worthy adversary and why the fight against it is such a noble pursuit.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Bush is a War Criminal
I don't know why it took this article for me to see the truth. I have been hearing the news for the last several weeks and I don't know why I couldn't connect the dots.
Facts:
1). Torture is a war crime under both US law and the Geneva Convention.
2). Waterboarding is torture.
3). The Bush Administration has been purported to use waterboarding in several instances.
Ergo, the Bush administration has committed a war crime. I think that qualifies as "high crimes and misdemeanors" that is the requirement for impeachment.
Now, all the evidence of a particular war crime has been destroyed. Hmmm.....
On this most special day in our culture, one has to wonder what Jesus would think of waterboarding. Would he call it torture?
Merry Christmas.
Facts:
1). Torture is a war crime under both US law and the Geneva Convention.
2). Waterboarding is torture.
3). The Bush Administration has been purported to use waterboarding in several instances.
Ergo, the Bush administration has committed a war crime. I think that qualifies as "high crimes and misdemeanors" that is the requirement for impeachment.
Now, all the evidence of a particular war crime has been destroyed. Hmmm.....
On this most special day in our culture, one has to wonder what Jesus would think of waterboarding. Would he call it torture?
Merry Christmas.
