Do people need to be more accepting of others? Yes, of course they do. Do we need to stop judging people? Of course, just because your idea of what is right and wrong isn't the same as the next person's doesn't mean you can say if they are a good or bad person. But the main issue is that we need to stop justifying placing judgment on others with our own misgivings and hurt feelings.
You can't justify a wrong with another wrong. For example, Bill Maher ranted the other night that he was tired of Christians and other religious people bad mouthing him for being an atheist. And then went on to justify calling Christians and people of any deistic faith morons and idiots. Not to mention he has said in the past that all Christians are schizophrenic. Okay let's look at this. You don't want them talking bad about you but it's okay to talk bad about them.
Oooh, poor wittle Bill. Yes, that may have been immature and hypocritical of me to say, but to make a point. If you are going to act like an uneducated and ignorant child, then the people speaking to you and about you are going to treat you as such. Something my husband is always saying, 'People will only be as smart as you let them be.'
Well, Bill, you are being hostile to this group of people, yet fighting for equal rights. The problem with equal rights activists is that a lot of them (not all of them because that would be stereotyping) but a lot of them want equal rights, only in the way that they believe is morally or ethically correct. For instance, Bill Maher is fighting for equality of people regardless of religious following, however if you practice any religion you are wrong. Do you see how contradictory this is?
Many people following the gay rights activists, they are fighting for marital rights regardless of sexual orientation. However, to many traditional heterosexual couples and individuals the union of marriage is a union between a man and a woman as it has been for many years. Should homosexuals have the right to get married? I'd rather not place my personal opinion on political subjects into my posts at this time, however to say that a couple who has been together as long as any heterosexual couple can not join in some sort of legal binding union to allow them to file taxes together, to leave their belongings to their partner if something should happen to them, to allow them to be beneficiaries, to do legal things that anyone should be able to do regardless of the situation, yes I absolutely believe that this is the legal right of any US citizen. If a woman can leave $12 million to her dog, then a man should be able to leave his things to his male partner and vise versa a woman to a woman.
But I'm getting off track. The main thing is that people need to stop making comments in a derogatory manner, yes. But the people who are taking every little thing offensively in the name of being prejudiced against are just as bad. Especially if you are living a blessed life.
My closest friends growing up would ask me every now and then, 'What is it like to grow up being Asian?' And I would always ask them, 'Well, what is it like growing up being white?' How can you tell anyone the difference when you haven't ever been anything else? I would often ask my friends, 'Well, do you look at me as being Asian?' They would say, 'No, I look at you as being you.' And I would say, 'Well, I figure that's the way I think of myself.' Do white people/black people/asian people (I'm sorry for everyone that I've left out) look in the mirror each day and think 'I'm white/black/asian?' No of course not.
That's all for now. I think my rant will become redundant and repetitive if I keep going. Take Care everyone!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Playing with "Deadly Morals" and Chronic Pain part 2
We need to stop treating pain patients as mental patients (literally, if you ask your personal doctor if they believe in chronic pain disease they will most likely tell you that they don't. Or else they will say something about the advances in medications for depression as a treatment for pain, or how there is no conclusive evidence proving that chronic pain exists)
We need to stop treating pain patients as having an addiction problem. Are there patients out there that could have an addiction problem? Sure. I'm not stupid, naive, or set on my position to the point where I am not willing to admit that there could be pain patients with a problem. But IS that problem addiction? Or are they dependent on these medications in order to maintain a quality of life? This is the difference we need to emphasize. And if it is addiction, then odds are is that they don't actually suffer from pain. If you have been addicted to a pain medication long enough, you may have started with medication, but not actually know how much pain your body is in. This is the difference that needs to be recognized. I know a man who once checked himself into a detox to find out exactly how much pain he was in because he knew that some of the side effects of the wrong pain medication can cause pain. I'm not saying that anyone else should do this. In fact I don't recommend it under any circumstances. But I told that anecdote to make a point. If a person is "chasing a high" then they are not utilizing the medications to manage their pain in order to life their life, they are using the medication in order to gain the euphoric effect. What needs to be done is to stop the stereotype that all people who receive or ask for medications classified for the treatment of pain are addicted to the medication.
As of December of 2011 there were 8,113,000 people receiving social security for disability. (www.ssa.gov) Out of 310,500,000 US citizens. (www.census.gov) That is 1 in every 38 US citizens. Does that seem acceptable to you? The question isn't "Why can't these people work and stop mooching off the government?" the REAL question is "Why is no one helping them regain control of their lives?" THAT is the real question. Throwing money at people doesn't help them get their lives back. The basic necessities of life:food, water, shelter, hygiene, work and compassion. These are the things that people need to live. But the greatest thing we need to have for one another is Love.
Anyway, enough of the rant for now, but some further reading for you. There are some staggering statistics and facts in each of these articles. Enough to make me sick to my stomach and shocked and heartbroken while reading them.
The Deadly Morals
The Stigma of Chronic Pain
We need to stop treating pain patients as having an addiction problem. Are there patients out there that could have an addiction problem? Sure. I'm not stupid, naive, or set on my position to the point where I am not willing to admit that there could be pain patients with a problem. But IS that problem addiction? Or are they dependent on these medications in order to maintain a quality of life? This is the difference we need to emphasize. And if it is addiction, then odds are is that they don't actually suffer from pain. If you have been addicted to a pain medication long enough, you may have started with medication, but not actually know how much pain your body is in. This is the difference that needs to be recognized. I know a man who once checked himself into a detox to find out exactly how much pain he was in because he knew that some of the side effects of the wrong pain medication can cause pain. I'm not saying that anyone else should do this. In fact I don't recommend it under any circumstances. But I told that anecdote to make a point. If a person is "chasing a high" then they are not utilizing the medications to manage their pain in order to life their life, they are using the medication in order to gain the euphoric effect. What needs to be done is to stop the stereotype that all people who receive or ask for medications classified for the treatment of pain are addicted to the medication.
As of December of 2011 there were 8,113,000 people receiving social security for disability. (www.ssa.gov) Out of 310,500,000 US citizens. (www.census.gov) That is 1 in every 38 US citizens. Does that seem acceptable to you? The question isn't "Why can't these people work and stop mooching off the government?" the REAL question is "Why is no one helping them regain control of their lives?" THAT is the real question. Throwing money at people doesn't help them get their lives back. The basic necessities of life:food, water, shelter, hygiene, work and compassion. These are the things that people need to live. But the greatest thing we need to have for one another is Love.
Anyway, enough of the rant for now, but some further reading for you. There are some staggering statistics and facts in each of these articles. Enough to make me sick to my stomach and shocked and heartbroken while reading them.
The Deadly Morals
The Stigma of Chronic Pain
Moral Pedistal and Racism part 1
If something is funny, but it doesn't agree with your personal views, it doesn't mean it's not funny. As my husband would put it, funny IS funny.
I am Asian. I love when I make a humorous, but slightly racist joke about myself, in decent taste (I would never fool myself into thinking I have good taste) about Asians and their culture, ie: if someone asks why I can't see something properly saying that it's because my eyes are squinty or hadn't they noticed? I love the people who say, 'you really shouldn't say that, it's racist and offensive.' Offensive to who? When did people who are Caucasian or otherwise, it doesn't matter what you are, climb onto their moral pedestal and determine what is and isn't offensive to a group of people that THEY don't even belong to?!? I grew up always being a minority.
I mean in the last Census there were only 2.4% of Asians in the entire country. Plus I'm female. Plus I'm tall, so I don't even fall into the Asian stereotype. Looking from a stereotyping point of view I am a loner on all aspects. I'm not white, I'm not male, I'm not a short, tiny, petite little China doll. I don't fit into any majority any which way. The only Asian stereotype I truly fall under is that I am good at math and I like videogames. But since when do other people get off telling me that I should be personally offended by the statement I made about myself?
I have spent my entire life as a minority, but I just let comments roll off my back. My motto: If someone didn't mean a comment in a derogatory manner then don't take it offensively. For instance a family friend recently posted a picture of the White House Photoshopped black because Obama is President. It was funny. I laughed very hard at that. There was also some racist comment attached to it which was very funny as well. However, if every white person in the world were to take it offensively it would be outrageous. Not to mention if a white person reposted that same picture, there would be thousands of black folk outraged at it.
I sang my husband a song once that I learned in Sunday School as a kid that goes, ' Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and Yellow, Black and White they are precious in his site, Jesus loves the little children of the world.' My husband's reaction was 'that is the most racist thing I have ever heard in my life.' And it's true if you look at it that way. Is there still racism in the world? Of course there is. No one on this entire planet is going to say to themselves, 'gee, white/asian/black/indian/native american/australian/middle eastern(I think you get my point) people are so much better than us. I sure did get born with the wrong gene pool here.' No! That's kind of ridiculous isn't it?
More of this rant later
I am Asian. I love when I make a humorous, but slightly racist joke about myself, in decent taste (I would never fool myself into thinking I have good taste) about Asians and their culture, ie: if someone asks why I can't see something properly saying that it's because my eyes are squinty or hadn't they noticed? I love the people who say, 'you really shouldn't say that, it's racist and offensive.' Offensive to who? When did people who are Caucasian or otherwise, it doesn't matter what you are, climb onto their moral pedestal and determine what is and isn't offensive to a group of people that THEY don't even belong to?!? I grew up always being a minority.
I mean in the last Census there were only 2.4% of Asians in the entire country. Plus I'm female. Plus I'm tall, so I don't even fall into the Asian stereotype. Looking from a stereotyping point of view I am a loner on all aspects. I'm not white, I'm not male, I'm not a short, tiny, petite little China doll. I don't fit into any majority any which way. The only Asian stereotype I truly fall under is that I am good at math and I like videogames. But since when do other people get off telling me that I should be personally offended by the statement I made about myself?
I have spent my entire life as a minority, but I just let comments roll off my back. My motto: If someone didn't mean a comment in a derogatory manner then don't take it offensively. For instance a family friend recently posted a picture of the White House Photoshopped black because Obama is President. It was funny. I laughed very hard at that. There was also some racist comment attached to it which was very funny as well. However, if every white person in the world were to take it offensively it would be outrageous. Not to mention if a white person reposted that same picture, there would be thousands of black folk outraged at it.
I sang my husband a song once that I learned in Sunday School as a kid that goes, ' Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and Yellow, Black and White they are precious in his site, Jesus loves the little children of the world.' My husband's reaction was 'that is the most racist thing I have ever heard in my life.' And it's true if you look at it that way. Is there still racism in the world? Of course there is. No one on this entire planet is going to say to themselves, 'gee, white/asian/black/indian/native american/australian/middle eastern(I think you get my point) people are so much better than us. I sure did get born with the wrong gene pool here.' No! That's kind of ridiculous isn't it?
More of this rant later
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Playing with "Deadly Morals" and Chronic Pain part 1
I recently read an article called "Deadly Morals" and it opens up eyes to a lot of the reasons why our modern health care or lack there of exists. But before I get to that I need to bring up a couple of other points.
1) Why is it that the only profession where you get paid ahead of time, and if the services are inadequate there are no means to complain (ie: service or complaint department) is the field of medicine?
2)Why is it that the only profession where it is legal and they are actually PROTECTED by the law to be able to discriminate without reason is the field of medicine?
3)Why is it that the only profession where there is nobody to hold them accountable, or press charges for wrongful action until someone is severely injured or dead (And you have to be able to physically prove it in court too!) is the field of medicine?
The answer to all of these questions is actually quite simple. In one word the answer is power. People protect the field of medicine and all of those who work within it because they are the people who hold our healths and livelihoods in their hands, these are the people who are one of the biggest financial profiteers in the country, these are the people who can literally get away with murder. Now giving credit where credit is due, the federal government has a lot to do with this. Starting with the DEA. They go into clinics where they literally deceive doctors who are helping hundreds sometimes thousands of patients and shut them down. Some clinics are shut down for the actions of one patient. Federal Agent "Friedman" stated "The DEA here is very active at getting at this burgeoning problem of prescription drug abuse."(http://www.oregonlive.com)
This burgeoning problem of prescription drug abuse. What burgeoning problem of prescription drug abuse? (First of all, if drug addicts want to get their fix bad enough they will steal, lie, cheat, sometimes even kill in order to get it. I was watching and episode of Dr. Phil the other day (yes, I am slightly ashamed to even write that) and this woman was on who was a nurse who had been through several jobs getting fired from each of them because she would steal doctors' prescription pads, she would steal patients' identities in order to get more scripts, she would steal her family's identities and money in order to buy drugs off the street. She had no pain whatsoever she just had to get her fix. THAT is a drug addict. But someone who is addicted to pain killers is not going to continue going to doctors over and over again, trying through legitimate means to receive minimal help. An addict is not trying to regain control of their life. A pain pill addict is someone who is addicted to the euphoric response created by the medication, some similar to the response addicts can get from drugs such as heroine, cocaine, opium, whip-its, crack, I can't think of any other street drugs off of the top of my head, but many of the drugs listed above have very similar chemical reactions in the brain, some even attach to the same receptors as many prescription medications that are prescribed for whatever reason.
That being said, these patients that people place in a stereotype of "pain pill seeker" especially when diagnosed with chronic pain diseases, is not preventing the pain pill addict from receiving medication, IT IS preventing the pain patient from receiving the medications that can enable these patients to get out of bed, rehabilitate their bodies, get back to work, get back to being productive members of society, and getting off of state and federal aid. "Back injuries cost $126 billion a year in medical costs and lost productivity."(National Center for Health Statistics) That is $126 billion dollars a year that could be going towards our children and their educations, that is $126 billion dollars a year that could be going towards work programs to create opportunities for those who are out of work not due to health problems and that is $126 billion a year that could be going towards veterans coming back from war with injuries that will prevent them from leading a normal life after their sacrifice for our country. Let me write it out: $126,000,000,000.00. per year. Can you even imagine what that much cash looks like? And that is only for back injuries. Now add in leg injuries, arm injuries, brain injuries, nerve damage, burn victims, cancer patients, other chronic pain patients such as lupus, fibromyalgia, rsd/crps, phantom pain, peripheral neuropathy, and on and on and on. Can you imagine how much money each year our federal government is dishing out to help these people through their times? Now imagine just how many of them would be back in the work force already if only they would have received: 1) the medical care (Whether it be the medications they need or other modalities of treatment, but I'm focusing on the modality that those in power have made nearly impossible for those who need it to receive.) they needed in order to maintain a good quality of life and ability to move around independently (to do basic things such as groom, eat, sleep, dress, bathe on their own. All things that we as healthy individuals take for granted) 2) Once those things are accomplished assistance in regaining control of their lives (help finding housing, jobs, social therapy for those who have been alone except for doctors for years and need it)
1) Why is it that the only profession where you get paid ahead of time, and if the services are inadequate there are no means to complain (ie: service or complaint department) is the field of medicine?
2)Why is it that the only profession where it is legal and they are actually PROTECTED by the law to be able to discriminate without reason is the field of medicine?
3)Why is it that the only profession where there is nobody to hold them accountable, or press charges for wrongful action until someone is severely injured or dead (And you have to be able to physically prove it in court too!) is the field of medicine?
The answer to all of these questions is actually quite simple. In one word the answer is power. People protect the field of medicine and all of those who work within it because they are the people who hold our healths and livelihoods in their hands, these are the people who are one of the biggest financial profiteers in the country, these are the people who can literally get away with murder. Now giving credit where credit is due, the federal government has a lot to do with this. Starting with the DEA. They go into clinics where they literally deceive doctors who are helping hundreds sometimes thousands of patients and shut them down. Some clinics are shut down for the actions of one patient. Federal Agent "Friedman" stated "The DEA here is very active at getting at this burgeoning problem of prescription drug abuse."(http://www.oregonlive.com)
This burgeoning problem of prescription drug abuse. What burgeoning problem of prescription drug abuse? (First of all, if drug addicts want to get their fix bad enough they will steal, lie, cheat, sometimes even kill in order to get it. I was watching and episode of Dr. Phil the other day (yes, I am slightly ashamed to even write that) and this woman was on who was a nurse who had been through several jobs getting fired from each of them because she would steal doctors' prescription pads, she would steal patients' identities in order to get more scripts, she would steal her family's identities and money in order to buy drugs off the street. She had no pain whatsoever she just had to get her fix. THAT is a drug addict. But someone who is addicted to pain killers is not going to continue going to doctors over and over again, trying through legitimate means to receive minimal help. An addict is not trying to regain control of their life. A pain pill addict is someone who is addicted to the euphoric response created by the medication, some similar to the response addicts can get from drugs such as heroine, cocaine, opium, whip-its, crack, I can't think of any other street drugs off of the top of my head, but many of the drugs listed above have very similar chemical reactions in the brain, some even attach to the same receptors as many prescription medications that are prescribed for whatever reason.
That being said, these patients that people place in a stereotype of "pain pill seeker" especially when diagnosed with chronic pain diseases, is not preventing the pain pill addict from receiving medication, IT IS preventing the pain patient from receiving the medications that can enable these patients to get out of bed, rehabilitate their bodies, get back to work, get back to being productive members of society, and getting off of state and federal aid. "Back injuries cost $126 billion a year in medical costs and lost productivity."(National Center for Health Statistics) That is $126 billion dollars a year that could be going towards our children and their educations, that is $126 billion dollars a year that could be going towards work programs to create opportunities for those who are out of work not due to health problems and that is $126 billion a year that could be going towards veterans coming back from war with injuries that will prevent them from leading a normal life after their sacrifice for our country. Let me write it out: $126,000,000,000.00. per year. Can you even imagine what that much cash looks like? And that is only for back injuries. Now add in leg injuries, arm injuries, brain injuries, nerve damage, burn victims, cancer patients, other chronic pain patients such as lupus, fibromyalgia, rsd/crps, phantom pain, peripheral neuropathy, and on and on and on. Can you imagine how much money each year our federal government is dishing out to help these people through their times? Now imagine just how many of them would be back in the work force already if only they would have received: 1) the medical care (Whether it be the medications they need or other modalities of treatment, but I'm focusing on the modality that those in power have made nearly impossible for those who need it to receive.) they needed in order to maintain a good quality of life and ability to move around independently (to do basic things such as groom, eat, sleep, dress, bathe on their own. All things that we as healthy individuals take for granted) 2) Once those things are accomplished assistance in regaining control of their lives (help finding housing, jobs, social therapy for those who have been alone except for doctors for years and need it)
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