Reading and noting basic materials (government and immorality)

DR. DEATH & WHAT IS TABOO

How we go about our daily lives and the decisions we make are a combination of morality and logic. Things that are weird are deemed so either because they are not moral or they are not logical, and vice versa; if someone does something illogical or immoral it is weird. When something has been recognized as weird and its normal counterpart has also been recognized the norm and those who follow it are given power and those which are weird pay the price. In most modern societies the government has the majority of the power, it would follow then that they often manage what is weird and what is normal in many cases. For example it is weird to be homicidal, thus people who commit homicide get arrested by the police, who are run by the government, to be taken to a judicial court, run by the government, and then they are put in a prison, run by the government. So when Jack Kevorkian was sent to prison for medically assisting people in suicide it was no surprise. He did something immoral, weird and finally illegal because it is not normal. He did this odd act in a government institution which was a medical practice, but the worst of it was that he was not actually a licensed doctor, “you were not licensed to practice medicine when you committed this offense and you hadn't been licensed for eight years” (Judge Jessica Cooper, New York Times).

Science is suppose to very much separate itself from emotion it is to be a study of high professionalism which operates purely on logic. When a hospital operated by people with a scientific degree is doing something immoral it becomes very controversial, because the basis of how the hospital takes place and the procedures that are preformed are very sacred. We have selected individuals to perform these tasks and they use their knowledge to aid those in need, so when they assist someone in their own destruction it becomes very taboo.

OVERCHARCHING FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT

                Hospitals are in place to be a social institution which is available to aid any in need. When someone may think of hospitals and medicine the typical thought would be of a doctor attempting to save someone’s life at all costs, something one might see in shows like ER or House, in turns out the cost is of the patent not the doctor. “Medical bills are a leading factor in more than half of the country’s personal bankruptcies” (Landmark) “Most of those who filed for bankruptcy were middle-class, well-educated homeowners” (CNN), a scary thought. When one reflects on how this might have come to be, who might have made this decision they become stumped.  Surely no one would make medical care so outrageously priced for common people that they could lose everything just for a few individuals to make money. But it is, and it blindsided nearly an estimated one million people who had to declare bankruptcy due to medical expenses in 2009, many of whom had presumed they had medical coverage via insurance.

REFUSING MEDICAL COVERAGE & GOVERNMENT CARELESSNESS

                As previously stated, hospitals are in place to aid the needy; as this may be the goal it is hard to achieve it because health insurance will often not cover patients. “The intent is to maximize profits”( Lee Einer), stated by the insurance industry “hitman”, who worked for insurance industries to help deny coverage to people who are insured. Unlike Kervorkian, this was not illegal and people responsible for denying coverage were not put in jail. Based off what was stated in previous paragraphs and what we know about the role of government it sparks inquiry that these people aren’t locked up as what they are doing is immoral and weird and when things are immoral and weird they are typically illegal. It aswell sparks inquiry about the legitimacy of government, a structure in place to protect the people by way of following the norms and possessions of those people. People bought health insurance in case of a tragedy should befall them, and when an accident did come they were beside themselves unable to receive the investment they made for the very possibility that this kind of thing may happen. In our capitalist-statist structure people were not given what they paid for. Thus an illegitimate transaction took place where the consumer was not informed by the seller of the product they were receiving, and what happened? They paid, received nothing,  and finally had to pay again.