Over the past few days I've come across several very useful and informative articles. I haven't got time to make each one into a detailed blog post, so I'll link to them here. I'm sure some of them will interest you.
1. What is the British military actually for?
This is about the British military, not the USA's, but nevertheless there are many common factors in the problems confronting each of them. I daresay we on this side of the Atlantic should pay equal attention to the reasons for the existence of our armed forces, and whether (and how well) they are structured to implement those reasons.
2. What happens if the State decides you're too expensive to keep alive?
A very thought-provoking academic study of Canada's Medical Assistance In Dying (MAID) program, and the pro's and con's of expanding it to provide involuntary euthanasia - in other words, a doctor or medical panel will decide whether your life is worth saving. If you're a net expense to the government or medical insurance, here comes the lethal injection. The abstract opens with this chilling statement:
"This study explores the potential economic savings from expanding medical assistance in dying (MAiD) in Canada, where it is currently a leading cause of death, to include vulnerable groups that cost the government more than they contribute in taxes. These groups include individuals with severe mental health issues, the homeless, drug users, retired elderly, and indigenous communities. Both voluntary and non-voluntary scenarios were analyzed, projecting total savings of up to CAD $1.273 trillion by 2047."So, if the Canadian government thinks you're worth less to them alive than what it would cost them to treat your medical issue(s) . . . enjoy the euthanasia polka!
3. The Declaration of Dependence
We are amid a significant shift in the cultural messaging around parenthood, and we can’t throw shame or money at the problem if we hope to solve it. A growing number of people in younger generations have decided that having children simply isn’t worth it. Why? ... The biggest shift ... is the acceptance of the idea that having children is merely one among many viable choices available if one is to live a flourishing adult life; indeed, it might lead to greater personal growth if one doesn’t have children at all. In very short order, the social pressure that used to insist that people who did not have children were selfish has shifted to its opposite—the idea that having children is selfish, given the world’s unsolvable problems and the need to pursue one’s own goals. From here, it is a short leap to viewing children as a burden, a cost to personal autonomy that is not worth paying.
4. The Loophole That Put Drunk Truckers Back On The Road
"A federal database built to flag and remove drunk and drugged truckers from U.S. highways used the equivalent of an "honor system" as its last line of defense between a family in a minivan and a substance addict steering an 80,000-pound mass of steel ... But what if a current alcoholic or drug addict could immediately get back behind the wheel by paying a third party to simply check off a box inside the database, rather than complete and pass follow-up drug or alcohol testing?" Looks like thousands of truckers have been doing precisely that - posing a grave danger to other American drivers.
Instrumental in exposing sufficient fraud so it could no longer be ignored by local or state officials is independent journalist Nick Shirley, who exposed the infamous “Quality Learing Center” day care fraud in Minneapolis, as well as many less well-known fraudulent day cares. So effective was Shirley, and so quickly did his work anger local fraudsters and state officials, Shirley received so many death threats he apparently decided to give California a try ... In Minnesota and California, honest public employees tried for years to expose fraud, but their superiors and the state Attorney General’s Office ignored them. But with Shirley’s discovery of incredible levels of fraud, the California Legislature was prodded into action: they’re criminalizing exposing fraud ... why would legislators, people sworn to protect the public, presumably at least in part by catching criminals defrauding taxpayers of billions, want to protect those criminals? It’s a puzzler, unless, perhaps, those NGOs and nonprofits are primary funding sources of the Democrat Party and Democrat politicians?
6. Things don’t happen to me. They happen for me
Rita is a personal friend of long standing, and shares a Substack with Lawdog, whom most of us know. I was touched by her recent essay, and thought it worth sharing.
I want to share something that has been much on my mind of late, but I want to preface this with the caveat that there’s a sea of pretty ideas out there that appeal instantly but that don’t stand up to intensive scrutiny ... The story I share with you below is about making a choice to perceive things from a more objective standpoint, rather than seeing every curveball as the ultimate disruptor that could have occurred, and making life a misery ... I’ve always tried to embrace the joy of living, but I’ve not always understood how to go about it. I think now I understand that this joy is not having the right things or the stylish possessions that the world dictates are the measure of a life well-lived. I think one can have a joyous life in the most humble of circumstances, if one chooses.
There you go, friends. I hope you found at least one or two of those articles worth your time.
Peter
11 comments:
2. MAID
From the study. "A rapid increase in immigrant population has exacerbated pressures on affordable housing, schools and hospitals"
So apparently the solution isn't to stop the foreigners from taking over, it's to accelerate the removal of legacy Canadians. I left Canada in 1983 and only go back for short visits to friends and family. I know this isn't a government proposal but a study, but once someone starts studying something like this, government action often isn't far behind.
2) Followup: If you read further in the study you find that he does quite a good job of outlining the negative ramifications to society of an expanded program (bringing in the obligatory concerns of the indigenous population) but given the title of the study and its premise, it would seem to be to be "too little, too late".
Regarding "what is the British military actually for", something the article neglects to mention is that defence procurement cycles are far longer than global political cycles. For instance the Ukraine war has been going on for less than four years, whereas it took more than 15 to get from a technology demonstrator to the Eurofighter Typhoon entering service. So if a government attempts to "tune" its military too exactly to current objectives, it is going to be obsolete by the time it is ready.
That is, in fact, one problem with the Typhoon; it is a Cold War plane in a post cold war world.
It appears to folks who study these things , that Greece could if it wanted to could easily invade and conquer England. Rule Britannia ,, not bloody likely.
RE MAID - there is also a $$$ "windfall" ("deathfall"?) to the state - all organs will be harvested just before actual death which is worth hundreds of thousands, plus other parts of the body (skin, bone etc). The new cannibalism.
Sarah Palin was 100% on target when she spoke about death panels.
Friend of mine from Canada has been 'lamenting' MAID for a while. He's my age, and almost afraid to go to the doctor now...
The list of categories for "involuntary" government assisted suicide looks an awful lot like the "useless eaters" a certain former Bavarian corporal and his henchmen used as a prototype for the "final solution of the Jewish problem in Europe." Is this the end game of the Medicare for all crowd?
2: I expect that to be my end, even here in the US. A few years yet before coming but the financial crisis will drive it. "How to save Social Security and Medicare" and "those old people are stealing our taxes"
#2 was, I believe, a campaign in Nazi Germany prior to WWII kicking off. It was called "Life unworthy of life" if I recall.
I read the Canadian paper...pretty chilling. Left me quite unsettled.
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