My favorite serious columnist is Dr. Thomas Sowell of the Hoover Institute. He has a knack for explaining complex concepts in plain, easily understood terms. Today he wrote another jewel that explains that what we call health insurance is not functioning as insurance should, and why that is. As is usually the case, politicians are to blame, but we've been going along with them every step of the way.
First, you have to understand what insurance is supposed to be. It is the sharing of risk, and in a free market it can be quite efficient in keeping every body's costs down. But politicians can't seem to stand free markets. They just always seem to think it needs a little help to make it "better." Almost without exception, "better" turns out to just be more expensive. In the endless struggle to think well of themselves, they will mandate coverage of things that will surely cause them to be thought well of and premiums to be more expensive. But that's just one aspect of making themselves experts on things about which they know nothing. The most insidious and corrupting thing they did was to make the purchase of health insurance for you, tax deductable to your employer. Not only does this add an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy between you and your health care, it immediately inserts your employer into the process of deciding what coverage you need. I know of very few employees, other than those in charge of employee benefits, who actually have any input into what their health insurance covers or costs. At best, the employee gets to choose between two or three types of plans that the employer chooses to offer. But again, it's the employer who is deciding.
And running your health insurance through your employer is the only reason that the term pre-existing condition even exists. If everybody purchased their health insurance directly, changing jobs would not mean changing insurers, which is almost the only time the issue comes up. And the really stupid part is that in almost every case, the employer would rather be paying that money directly to the employee and letting them decide what insurance to buy or not buy, AND the employee would rather have it that way too! They could choose to go out and buy a policy that say, doesn't cover check ups, doesn't cover office visits, doesn't cover inoculations, vaccines or drug co-pays. Maybe it has a deductable like an auto policy, it never starts paying on any malady until you go over $500. A policy written like that would be dirt cheap and something a lot of people would buy.
Now your typical liberal is reading these words (as if typical liberals read this blog) and saying, "No drugs, check-ups or preventative care? What kind of insurance is that? It only covers the really big stuff!"
And they'd have a point, it would actually make it insurance rather than pre-paid health care, which is what they have now. The typical person's idea of perfect health insurance is one where they never, and I mean never, pay a single dime for health care of any kind. And that's a lot of what they like about the idea of living in England or Canada too.
http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2012/08/28/risky_business
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
The Penalty of Leadership
One of the things I do as a result of my trivia habit is that I regularly visit web sites like “This Day in History,” which as you can guess is all about the things that have taken place on that date throughout history. A lot of times they will mine that site for potential questions for that night’s games.
So today I read a story about a fascinating man named Henry Leland. You may not recognize his name, but you know the companies he started. He was a businessman/engineer who was hired by Henry Ford Motor Co. to salvage what he could. Henry Ford had grown tired of investors telling him what to do, so he walked away to start Ford Motor Co. on his own. His investors at Henry Ford Motor Co. hired Leland to liquidate the factory. Instead, he convinced them to let him build cars there, and founded Cadillac on this day (August 22nd) in 1902. He was a demanding boss and insisted that his cars could not be just good enough, they had to excel. His cars were a huge success, such that the company was sold to GM, where he clashed with a board who did not share his vision of excellence. During this time he built the first water cooled V-8 engine, the one that powers most vehicles to this day.
He left GM when oddly enough they refused to help aid the US war effort in WWI (???). So he took over an aircraft engine plant right as the war was ending and turned to making luxury cars again, this time they were called Lincolns after his favorite president. Later an economic downturn forced him to sell out to Henry Ford. But here’s the interesting part.
During the internal debate at GM about whether or not to build his V-8 engine, Leland took out a full page ad in a January 1915 Saturday Evening Post called The Penalty of Leadership. It can stand as a manifesto for anybody who refuses to settle for good enough. But all I could think of reading it was that this is likely how Mitt Romney feels about his time at Bain Capital. This was written by a man who had scaled the summit and knew what it took to get there.
The Penalty of Leadership
In every field of human endeavor, he that is first must perpetually live in the white light of publicity. Whether the leadership be vested in a man or in a manufactured product, emulation and envy are ever at work. In art, in literature, in music, in industry, the reward and the punishment are always the same. The reward is widespread recognition; the punishment, fierce denial and detraction. When a man's work becomes a standard for the whole world, it also becomes a target for the shafts of the envious few. If his work be mediocre, he will be left severely alone -- if he achieves a masterpiece, it will set a million tongues a-wagging. Jealousy does not protrude its forked tongue at the artist who produces a commonplace painting. Whatsoever you write, or paint, or play, or sing, or build, no one will strive to surpass or to slander you unless your work be stamped with the seal of genius. Long, long after a great work or a good work has been done, those who are disappointed or envious, continue to cry out that it cannot be done. Spiteful little voices in the domain of art were raised against our own Whistler as a mountback, long after the big would had acclaimed him its greatest artistic genius. Multitudes flocked to Bayreuth to worship at the musical shrine of Wagner, while the little group of those whom he had dethroned and displaced argued angrily that he was no musician at all. The little world continued to protest that Fulton could never build a steamboat, while the big world flocked to the river banks to see his boat steam by. The leader is assailed because he is a leader, and the effort to equal him is merely added proof of that leadership. Failing to equal or to excel, the follower seeks to depreciate and to destroy -- but only confirms once more the superiority of that which he strives to supplant. There is nothing new in this. It is as old as the world and as old as human passions -- envy, fear, greed, ambition, and the desire to surpass. And it all avails nothing. If the leader truly leads, he remains -- the leader. Master-poet, master-painter, master-workman, each in his turn is assailed, and each holds his laurels through the ages. That which is good or great makes itself known, no matter how loud the clamor of denial. That which deserves to live -- lives.
So today I read a story about a fascinating man named Henry Leland. You may not recognize his name, but you know the companies he started. He was a businessman/engineer who was hired by Henry Ford Motor Co. to salvage what he could. Henry Ford had grown tired of investors telling him what to do, so he walked away to start Ford Motor Co. on his own. His investors at Henry Ford Motor Co. hired Leland to liquidate the factory. Instead, he convinced them to let him build cars there, and founded Cadillac on this day (August 22nd) in 1902. He was a demanding boss and insisted that his cars could not be just good enough, they had to excel. His cars were a huge success, such that the company was sold to GM, where he clashed with a board who did not share his vision of excellence. During this time he built the first water cooled V-8 engine, the one that powers most vehicles to this day.
He left GM when oddly enough they refused to help aid the US war effort in WWI (???). So he took over an aircraft engine plant right as the war was ending and turned to making luxury cars again, this time they were called Lincolns after his favorite president. Later an economic downturn forced him to sell out to Henry Ford. But here’s the interesting part.
During the internal debate at GM about whether or not to build his V-8 engine, Leland took out a full page ad in a January 1915 Saturday Evening Post called The Penalty of Leadership. It can stand as a manifesto for anybody who refuses to settle for good enough. But all I could think of reading it was that this is likely how Mitt Romney feels about his time at Bain Capital. This was written by a man who had scaled the summit and knew what it took to get there.
The Penalty of Leadership
In every field of human endeavor, he that is first must perpetually live in the white light of publicity. Whether the leadership be vested in a man or in a manufactured product, emulation and envy are ever at work. In art, in literature, in music, in industry, the reward and the punishment are always the same. The reward is widespread recognition; the punishment, fierce denial and detraction. When a man's work becomes a standard for the whole world, it also becomes a target for the shafts of the envious few. If his work be mediocre, he will be left severely alone -- if he achieves a masterpiece, it will set a million tongues a-wagging. Jealousy does not protrude its forked tongue at the artist who produces a commonplace painting. Whatsoever you write, or paint, or play, or sing, or build, no one will strive to surpass or to slander you unless your work be stamped with the seal of genius. Long, long after a great work or a good work has been done, those who are disappointed or envious, continue to cry out that it cannot be done. Spiteful little voices in the domain of art were raised against our own Whistler as a mountback, long after the big would had acclaimed him its greatest artistic genius. Multitudes flocked to Bayreuth to worship at the musical shrine of Wagner, while the little group of those whom he had dethroned and displaced argued angrily that he was no musician at all. The little world continued to protest that Fulton could never build a steamboat, while the big world flocked to the river banks to see his boat steam by. The leader is assailed because he is a leader, and the effort to equal him is merely added proof of that leadership. Failing to equal or to excel, the follower seeks to depreciate and to destroy -- but only confirms once more the superiority of that which he strives to supplant. There is nothing new in this. It is as old as the world and as old as human passions -- envy, fear, greed, ambition, and the desire to surpass. And it all avails nothing. If the leader truly leads, he remains -- the leader. Master-poet, master-painter, master-workman, each in his turn is assailed, and each holds his laurels through the ages. That which is good or great makes itself known, no matter how loud the clamor of denial. That which deserves to live -- lives.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Update
You may recall that I wrote about the social friend that kept trying to bait me into a political debate. Her technique was that she would make a statement about some issue or bring up a TV show plot that was about some political issue. But she always began by talking to my wife, while stealing glances at me to make sure I was listening. That was my cue to be distracted. I would suddenly see something "over there," and look away.
But she finally hit one of my hot buttons, and I couldn't help myself.
She began by talking about gun control in general. Now, she knows I support Concealed Carry laws, but really, gun control is not a hot button issue by itself, for me. I am not even a gun owner. But what does get me going is when liberals talk gun control. And what gets me most is the way they are so completely and utterly dishonest in their arguments.
They have an army of straw men. They want to argue about gun shows. They want to argue about background checks. They want to argue about fully automatic weapons. They want to argue about magazine size. They want to argue about "assault weapons" even though they have a hard time precisely defining what one is. They want to argue about the Castle Doctrine. But mostly they want to have their mantra accepted as a truism. Their mantra is "less guns are better."
So she starts in bemoaning how the Colorado shooter had amassed 6,000 rounds of ammunition by shopping over the Internet, and didn't undergo a background check!
"You just shouldn't be able to get that much ammunition at once without sending up a red flag!"
"If shooting is your hobby and you fire off a hundred rounds a day, that's only a two months supply."
"But he bought full body armor! That should have tipped somebody off."
"Did he buy all that at the same place?"
"N0."
"Do you really want somebody checking out your purchases to see if they "raise any flags?"
At this point she hadn't pushed my button yet. But then she brought up Trayvon Martin and concealed carry and Bo Morrison and the Castle Doctrine. That did it.
"I will remind you that Trayvon Martin and Bo Morrison were two black teenagers killed a half a country apart. Meanwhile in Barrack Obama's hometown of Chicago they had 100 dead black teenagers this year by June, and they were all killed by illegal guns, and nobody claimed the Castle Doctrine as a defense. But for some strange reason we never hear about that. And I'll point something else out too, Chicago has the most restrictive hand gun ownership laws in the country. Illinois is the only state that doesn't allow concealed carry."
"Well, those people need to keep there laws off my uterus!"
I kid you not.
But she finally hit one of my hot buttons, and I couldn't help myself.
She began by talking about gun control in general. Now, she knows I support Concealed Carry laws, but really, gun control is not a hot button issue by itself, for me. I am not even a gun owner. But what does get me going is when liberals talk gun control. And what gets me most is the way they are so completely and utterly dishonest in their arguments.
They have an army of straw men. They want to argue about gun shows. They want to argue about background checks. They want to argue about fully automatic weapons. They want to argue about magazine size. They want to argue about "assault weapons" even though they have a hard time precisely defining what one is. They want to argue about the Castle Doctrine. But mostly they want to have their mantra accepted as a truism. Their mantra is "less guns are better."
So she starts in bemoaning how the Colorado shooter had amassed 6,000 rounds of ammunition by shopping over the Internet, and didn't undergo a background check!
"You just shouldn't be able to get that much ammunition at once without sending up a red flag!"
"If shooting is your hobby and you fire off a hundred rounds a day, that's only a two months supply."
"But he bought full body armor! That should have tipped somebody off."
"Did he buy all that at the same place?"
"N0."
"Do you really want somebody checking out your purchases to see if they "raise any flags?"
At this point she hadn't pushed my button yet. But then she brought up Trayvon Martin and concealed carry and Bo Morrison and the Castle Doctrine. That did it.
"I will remind you that Trayvon Martin and Bo Morrison were two black teenagers killed a half a country apart. Meanwhile in Barrack Obama's hometown of Chicago they had 100 dead black teenagers this year by June, and they were all killed by illegal guns, and nobody claimed the Castle Doctrine as a defense. But for some strange reason we never hear about that. And I'll point something else out too, Chicago has the most restrictive hand gun ownership laws in the country. Illinois is the only state that doesn't allow concealed carry."
"Well, those people need to keep there laws off my uterus!"
I kid you not.
My New Program
A few months back, somebody asked me if I was still riding my bike. They were referring to my recumbent trike that I had bought two years earlier. I had to admit I wasn't and it made me feel just guilty enough to change that. I started riding again within days and have kept at it every day since.
But there is one discouraging epiphany that happens when you look at yourself in the mirror, vow to loose 25 pounds and then proceed to do so.
That occurs when you realize that you greatly overestimated how differently you would look, because you should have been thinking more along the lines of 50 pounds. On the other hand, loosing another 25 pounds doesn't look that tough since I just did that. But I think it must get harder, really.
But there is one discouraging epiphany that happens when you look at yourself in the mirror, vow to loose 25 pounds and then proceed to do so.
That occurs when you realize that you greatly overestimated how differently you would look, because you should have been thinking more along the lines of 50 pounds. On the other hand, loosing another 25 pounds doesn't look that tough since I just did that. But I think it must get harder, really.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Looking Ahead
Here is how the presidential race is shaping up.
The President passed one of the most unpopular bills in history with Obamacare and did so without any bipartisan support. He is saddled with one of the worst economies in years with unemployment stubbornly over 8% and nobody on whom he can conveniently blame it. George W. Bush has been gone for three and a half years and people aren't buying that anymore. Obama's approval rating has been stuck well below 50% and they can't move the needle no matter how much they spend on TV commercials. Of course the TV commercials aren't designed to increase the President's positives they are designed to up Romney's negatives. What are Romney's negatives you ask? That would be being very, very wealthy and not releasing every tax return he has ever filed. And in case you don't know it, although that would be hard to believe, he has an elevator for his multiple cars, including those of his wife who has a "couple of Cadillacs," and he once put his dog in a kennel on the roof of his car. This particularly outraged the PETA crowd as well as all the rednecks who haul their dogs in the back of their pick up trucks. They thought using the kennel made him look like a wuss. All pretty damaging stuff.
Seriously. That's the best they can come up with.
The President passed one of the most unpopular bills in history with Obamacare and did so without any bipartisan support. He is saddled with one of the worst economies in years with unemployment stubbornly over 8% and nobody on whom he can conveniently blame it. George W. Bush has been gone for three and a half years and people aren't buying that anymore. Obama's approval rating has been stuck well below 50% and they can't move the needle no matter how much they spend on TV commercials. Of course the TV commercials aren't designed to increase the President's positives they are designed to up Romney's negatives. What are Romney's negatives you ask? That would be being very, very wealthy and not releasing every tax return he has ever filed. And in case you don't know it, although that would be hard to believe, he has an elevator for his multiple cars, including those of his wife who has a "couple of Cadillacs," and he once put his dog in a kennel on the roof of his car. This particularly outraged the PETA crowd as well as all the rednecks who haul their dogs in the back of their pick up trucks. They thought using the kennel made him look like a wuss. All pretty damaging stuff.
Seriously. That's the best they can come up with.
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