letter exchange with my old friend

This is an article I sent my friend and his response as well as mine...


Nytimes article was sent to you by JJ. His comment on the article was:

"An interesting article on health and socialized medicine...The Germans are also healthier and live longer than the Americans..Also socialized medicine"

HEALTH | May 2, 2006 see the article at this website http://www.examiner.com/a-95754~Middle_Aged_Americans_Sicker_Than_British.html


Older Americans Sicker Than the English, Study Says
By ALAN COWELL
The disparities could not be ascribed to the two countries' different health care systems, said one of the authors of the study.

Dear JJ

I look at the FAT youngsters we have today and wonder how long this nation of ours will last. I have terrible concerns for my grandkids.

I think back and realize that every older generation said the same thing about every younger generation for my whole life and they all worked it out in the end.

I know you think highly of the socialized medicine in Germany and I have always accepted that it works very well there. I haven't known anyone from the UK that has anything good to say about their medical care.

I believe longevity has much to do with life style and less to do with the quality of medical care. My doctor told me to stop smoking for years but I choose to employ cigarettes.

American choose life styles much different from Europeans and are willing to sacrifice much, including health, to attain those life styles. Larger homes, SUV's et al. They also choose longer work hours, less vacation time, higher stress and lower family quality time. Are we right? Probably not. Do we tell Europe they shouldn't take the month of August off for vacation? No one I know gives a shit.

So, if you're going to change all this, where are you planning to start?

Have a good one,

Your buddy











Dear ol´ Buddy

A good question! The only thing I can do about it is to make sure I am informed and have take a healthy dose of skepticism everyday. The next thing is to make sure as an American I take an honest look at the pros and cons of our society as compared with Europe stop thinking that we have a lock on morality and vision which we don't. Germany is the third or fourth richest nation in the world and most German workers get 6 weeks vacation. They have required military or civilian service for all young men. They also live longer and a lot drive big fast Mercedes. ( I have a Nissan).


I sent you an article I believe in which it is posited that the present administration has sqandered our good will in the world with go it alone, the hell with the rest of the world, we are the most moral nation in the world, therefore we can start wars, torture people, jail people without habeus corpus, eavesdrop without authority, condemn people to death just like the evil regime in China, presidentially disobey the law more than 650 times, spit on enviromental issues, politicize health so that condoms and family planning are not promulgated in the developing nations that need it, scorn the UN, and the list goes on.

Yes we are proud of ourselves and glad that we don't rate time to go on vacation or spend time with the family...

I did not realize that the Europeans are telling us to take longer vacations or work less hours. Have I missed something? Most Germans are fascinated with the USA and many would like to be able to come and work or live here. They do appreciate our sense of freedom, but I do not think the average American who is of European descent even thinks about what Europe much less the entire rest of the world is doing. Two thirds of American students have no idea where Iraq is.

I do agree that the quality of life is more important than simply living a long time but I want to fully enjoy what remaining years I have such the ability to move, play, work, travel without too many physical and mental restrictions. The sheer joy of a 30 or 40 mile bike ride is tantamount to any debilitating habit such as too much alcohol, tobacco, or whatever unhealthy habit.

In that vein, I want to read things that uplift more than discourage me so I take with a grain of salt any of the right or left wing ideological pronouncements and acuate the positive.

Yo! Have a good day

JJ
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