“First do no harm”
I have been at the Lake for a few days (I hope that you missed me), but I am back, full of piss and vinegar.
A few days ago, I was involved in a freakish little mishap.
While backing out of my carport, I hit (or was hit) by my neighbor who was also pulling out of her own parking area.
Since our cars are parked in a perpendicular manner, I didn’t see anything in my rearview mirror and she didn’t see me either.
There was just this sudden sickening sound of crunched metal plastic and the deafening sound of silence when we both stopped.
Whose fault was it? I don’t know.
What I do know though, is that (after seeing an appraiser) this innocent little fender bender will cost just about $3000.00 to fix.
I probably could buy a good used previously owned car for that price.
I called my insurance company and was promptly told that my premium would go up.
Foul! Double foul!
I have not had any accident for the last 30 years but the insurance company doesn’t want to hear that. It eagerly collected my money during all that time without a word of thanks and will continue to do so.
Now, at the first little mishap they have the audacity to penalize me by raising my premium.
I ask you ladies and gentlemen, is that fair? But I have not said my last word…
What is the definition of “insurance” anyway? Merriam-Webster, my faithful bedside companion says:
“A practice or arrangement by which a company or government agency provides a guarantee of compensation for specified loss, damage, illness, or death in return for payment of a premium.”
Not bad, but I found a better definition:
“Insurance – an ingenious modern game of chance in which the player is permitted to enjoy the comfortable conviction that he is beating the man who keeps the table.” Ambrose Bierce
In other words, the game is rigged. And it is legal…
If you ask me, insurance is a big Ponzi scheme.
And what about medical insurance? Isn’t it a big rip-off?
“I basically believe the medical insurance industry should be nonprofit, not profit-making. There is no way a health reform plan will work when it is implemented by an industry that seeks to return money to shareholders instead of using that money to provide health care.”
Dianne Feinstein, California US Senator
Right on Dianne! Exactly my feeling. Why do you think that I voted Democrat for all these years?
I am not a Socialist, but I believe that medical care should not be tied to profit. It is an unholy alliance that has a sulfurous smell.
The Hippocratic Oath says “First, do no harm” but charging an arm and a leg (and probably a kidney) for a medical procedure is doing great harm to the population at large.
Good healthcare should not be the sole prerogative of the wealthy.
But enough ranting for today.
My little problem as you well know, is nothing compared to the BIG gun problem facing America.
Alain