Recently I read a blog of someone complaining because his wife was asked to be the Young Women's camp director for church and she would be away from home and their 3 year old for an entire week. The person's comment was, "If it hadn't been for my mother-in-law, we never would have managed."
As I have thought about that situation, it reminds me of how often we take blessings for granted and do not recognize them. Can you imagine Moses saying, "If it wasn't for the sea parting when we left Egypt, we never would have managed."
In both cases, it seems to me, the Lord provided a means of escape from the problems facing the individual. It's just one was more obvious than the other.
Until recently, I had been out of work and not had a permanent full time position for many months. A person familiar with my situation commented that I was not receiving any blessings in my life (regarding employment). That was from their perspective. From my perspective, it has been a great blessing to have our needs met and not be in serious financial situation, in spite of not having full time work for about 500 days.
My conclusion is that blessings are not always seen for what they are. I just hope that I can have the insight to see the blessings that come to me each day and not overlook them.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Counting Blessings
Blessings, like many things come in clusters. Some parts of the cluster may not seem sweet at the time. When my position at work was one of those eliminated, who would have thought that I would now be oh so much better trained in my church calling as stake employment specialist, Who would have thought that I would make a commitment with the extra time to exercize 6 days a week and would lose 20 pounds (and I know that number will increase), and who would know that when I stopped and took my blood pressure at the self serve BP station by Wal-Mart's pharmacy that my blood pressure would have dropped 25 points and would now be well within the normal range. Who would know that so many good things (and more good things to come, I am sure) would result from the seemingly not good thing of being out of work.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Thoughts on Health care legislation
A couple of experiences mold my view of debate over any government actions. The first was seeing some material printed in the 1960’s when going through an old piece of furniture. This article, published by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, discussed the great problems that would arise if lenders were required to tell consumers what the annual percentage rate of borrowing would be on a loan. The legislation passed and none of the terrible things foreseen came about.
The second incident occurred as I read a book What Kind of Nation
http://www.amazon.com/What-Kind-Nation-Jefferson-Marshall/dp/0684848716/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270578141&sr=8-1
About the political differences of John Marshall and Thomas Jefferson. They each claimed dire consequences if the other was elected (This was before John Marshal became a Supreme) The political rhetoric of today has nothing on how it used to be. They each in turn were elected and none of the dire consequences occurred.
I am not persuaded that health care is the worst thing that has ever happened in our nation, nor that it is the great panacea that others claim it to be. It contains some good, some neutral, and some bad.
I have worked with people who have had good job offers to go elsewhere, very much wanted to take the offer, but because they were diabetic and would not be covered under the proposed employer’s plan because of the pre-existing condition, remained in a job they disliked. That borders on involuntary servitude, aka slavery. The cost of medical care (even with health insurance) is one of the three major causes of personal bankruptcy, (the other two are loss of employment and family break up) I believe it is a good thing that lifetime limits has been eliminated. I believe it is a good thing that those who are unable to afford health insurance can now be covered.
I believe the health care bill also does some neutral things. I believe that health care costs need to come down. I recognize that shifting the cost elsewhere is not the same thing as reducing the cost. That is at best neutral and at worst negative as the true costs remain hidden. I was intriqued by a study by a Professor at Arizona State University who specializes in health policy. After researching the health care systems in all of the industrialized nations, she discovered that the percentage of people in each nation who liked the system they were under was the same for all systems and the same was true of the percentage that did not like the system they were under. Each system has to deal with the issues of cost of care, quality of care, and availability of care. A change in one of these affects the others. The balance between them may tilt one way or another. An action which will benefit one of the factors will reduce one of the others. Each action will delight one group and disappoint another but it all stays in balance for the entire country.
This is similar to when I was a boy with a paper route. Each day the papers came at the same time and it would take me an hour to deliver the newspapers. I experimented with different methods to cover all of the streets on my route. When I would make such a change I discovered that I got big tips and thanks from those who got their paper earlier. When I went on a different street first I would get a tip and thanks from the ones on that street. Either way the time I took to do it all did not vary. On the whole, I believe the same will happen with health care.
I see a significant negative with the passage of the health bill and this is what it is. The momentum to correct problems in the health care delivery process has stopped without addressing the most significant issue. That issue is that there has been confusion in health care over who the customer is. The customer is the one that pays the bill. In health care that is the insurance companies, not the patient. If the patient was the customer I believe health care would improve and costs would decrease. See this article from The Harvard Business Review:
http://hbr.org/web/extras/insight-center/health-care/will-disruptive-innovations-cure-health-care
Another problem is that prepaid health care is masquerading as health insurance. Insurance is used when there is a high cost risk which will occur in a population. It cannot be determined which member of the population will incur the cost. Insurance spreads the cost of the risk among a large group. That way the large potential unknown cost becomes a known cost, the cost of insuring against the loss. Such a program does not cover the routine and the expected anymore than my auto insurance covers the costs of brakes, oil change, and replacing windshield wipers. Yet health “insurance” asks me just to pay $10 or $25 when I visit the Dr. (True he only sees me for three minutes and 15 seconds so those add up over the course of the day.) but that really isn’t insurance.
I have also found these additional articles on health care to be of interest,
http://hbr.org/web/extras/insight-center/health-care/why-innovation-in-health-care-is-so-hard
http://hbr.org/web/extras/insight-center/health-care/redefining-competition-in-health-care
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/03/health_care_of_the_future.html
And just for perspective.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1969/12/how-good-is-government-medical-care/6085/
The second incident occurred as I read a book What Kind of Nation
http://www.amazon.com/What-Kind-Nation-Jefferson-Marshall/dp/0684848716/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270578141&sr=8-1
About the political differences of John Marshall and Thomas Jefferson. They each claimed dire consequences if the other was elected (This was before John Marshal became a Supreme) The political rhetoric of today has nothing on how it used to be. They each in turn were elected and none of the dire consequences occurred.
I am not persuaded that health care is the worst thing that has ever happened in our nation, nor that it is the great panacea that others claim it to be. It contains some good, some neutral, and some bad.
I have worked with people who have had good job offers to go elsewhere, very much wanted to take the offer, but because they were diabetic and would not be covered under the proposed employer’s plan because of the pre-existing condition, remained in a job they disliked. That borders on involuntary servitude, aka slavery. The cost of medical care (even with health insurance) is one of the three major causes of personal bankruptcy, (the other two are loss of employment and family break up) I believe it is a good thing that lifetime limits has been eliminated. I believe it is a good thing that those who are unable to afford health insurance can now be covered.
I believe the health care bill also does some neutral things. I believe that health care costs need to come down. I recognize that shifting the cost elsewhere is not the same thing as reducing the cost. That is at best neutral and at worst negative as the true costs remain hidden. I was intriqued by a study by a Professor at Arizona State University who specializes in health policy. After researching the health care systems in all of the industrialized nations, she discovered that the percentage of people in each nation who liked the system they were under was the same for all systems and the same was true of the percentage that did not like the system they were under. Each system has to deal with the issues of cost of care, quality of care, and availability of care. A change in one of these affects the others. The balance between them may tilt one way or another. An action which will benefit one of the factors will reduce one of the others. Each action will delight one group and disappoint another but it all stays in balance for the entire country.
This is similar to when I was a boy with a paper route. Each day the papers came at the same time and it would take me an hour to deliver the newspapers. I experimented with different methods to cover all of the streets on my route. When I would make such a change I discovered that I got big tips and thanks from those who got their paper earlier. When I went on a different street first I would get a tip and thanks from the ones on that street. Either way the time I took to do it all did not vary. On the whole, I believe the same will happen with health care.
I see a significant negative with the passage of the health bill and this is what it is. The momentum to correct problems in the health care delivery process has stopped without addressing the most significant issue. That issue is that there has been confusion in health care over who the customer is. The customer is the one that pays the bill. In health care that is the insurance companies, not the patient. If the patient was the customer I believe health care would improve and costs would decrease. See this article from The Harvard Business Review:
http://hbr.org/web/extras/insight-center/health-care/will-disruptive-innovations-cure-health-care
Another problem is that prepaid health care is masquerading as health insurance. Insurance is used when there is a high cost risk which will occur in a population. It cannot be determined which member of the population will incur the cost. Insurance spreads the cost of the risk among a large group. That way the large potential unknown cost becomes a known cost, the cost of insuring against the loss. Such a program does not cover the routine and the expected anymore than my auto insurance covers the costs of brakes, oil change, and replacing windshield wipers. Yet health “insurance” asks me just to pay $10 or $25 when I visit the Dr. (True he only sees me for three minutes and 15 seconds so those add up over the course of the day.) but that really isn’t insurance.
I have also found these additional articles on health care to be of interest,
http://hbr.org/web/extras/insight-center/health-care/why-innovation-in-health-care-is-so-hard
http://hbr.org/web/extras/insight-center/health-care/redefining-competition-in-health-care
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/03/health_care_of_the_future.html
And just for perspective.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1969/12/how-good-is-government-medical-care/6085/
Friday, March 12, 2010
Just Sayin...
I was reflecting on some of the sayings that have come up at different points in my life and have stuck with me:
1. In the First grade, after taking a longer than normal time to walk home(I reversed course every time I saw a dog, my sister had been bit by a dog that summer and I had heard about rabies shots) My dad get a saying which ended up being posted on my wall,
"Courage is not the absence of fear but the master of it."
2. When I was in college I ran across a quote which I copied and put on the wall of my room. It went something like this:
"There is no substitute for the first rate person, 10 second rate people cannot replace them"
3. I worked and worked to get our family to develop a family mission statement. I finally drafted one myself and it has remained largely ignored. Except my daughter, when she was working at a company doing engraving had it engraved on a plaque and gave to me for Christmas.
"An Andrews is patient. An Andrews is kind and envies no one. An Andrews is never boastful nor conceited, not rude or indecent, never selfish and not quick to be resentful or take offense. An Andrews keeps no score of wrongs, does not gloat over other person's problems, but delights in the truth, the eternal potential of ourselves and others. There is nothing an Andrews can't face. We are loyal, we believe in one another, We expect the best of one another. There is no limit to our faith, our hope, or our endurance. Our love will never fail! We will be valiant. We will have joy and have fun.
4. I have been teaching a class on Family finance. One of the lessons is on goal setting and has this quote from Will Durrant's Story of Philosophy. It ow adornes the fridge.
We want to know that the little things are little, and the big things are big, before it is too late; we want to see things now as they will seem forever--'in the light of eternity.'
So there you have it, the sayings and accumulated wisdom I have picked up through the years
1. In the First grade, after taking a longer than normal time to walk home(I reversed course every time I saw a dog, my sister had been bit by a dog that summer and I had heard about rabies shots) My dad get a saying which ended up being posted on my wall,
"Courage is not the absence of fear but the master of it."
2. When I was in college I ran across a quote which I copied and put on the wall of my room. It went something like this:
"There is no substitute for the first rate person, 10 second rate people cannot replace them"
3. I worked and worked to get our family to develop a family mission statement. I finally drafted one myself and it has remained largely ignored. Except my daughter, when she was working at a company doing engraving had it engraved on a plaque and gave to me for Christmas.
"An Andrews is patient. An Andrews is kind and envies no one. An Andrews is never boastful nor conceited, not rude or indecent, never selfish and not quick to be resentful or take offense. An Andrews keeps no score of wrongs, does not gloat over other person's problems, but delights in the truth, the eternal potential of ourselves and others. There is nothing an Andrews can't face. We are loyal, we believe in one another, We expect the best of one another. There is no limit to our faith, our hope, or our endurance. Our love will never fail! We will be valiant. We will have joy and have fun.
4. I have been teaching a class on Family finance. One of the lessons is on goal setting and has this quote from Will Durrant's Story of Philosophy. It ow adornes the fridge.
We want to know that the little things are little, and the big things are big, before it is too late; we want to see things now as they will seem forever--'in the light of eternity.'
So there you have it, the sayings and accumulated wisdom I have picked up through the years
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
I mentioned in an earlier blog that I may have some crystallized thoughts regarding the constitution by Thanksgiving. I have listed below the documents that have caused me to ponder the most. The firs is a commencement address given last May. I have included a link to the site since it is to long to list here.
http://www.claytonchristensen.com/documents/SNHUCommencementtalk-DemocracyCapitalismandReligion.pdf
The day after I read the above article, I heard the following story on the radio as I drove to work. I have copied the last section of that article.
'A Culture Of Illegality'
In recent years, Italy has recorded among the highest levels of tax evasion among Western countries and the largest number of serving members of Parliament found guilty of criminal offenses.
In a recent report, the state accounts court said corruption in the public administration is so vast that it is preventing the country's economic development and eroding the public's faith in government.
Rolando Patarca, a fisherman who is also a part-time chef and political activist, is demoralized by the society he sees around him.
"A culture of illegality has taken hold. We no longer have an ethical role model. We no longer want to follow the rules and respect the law and the constitution. We are in disarray, and we have given up. We have lost sight of our basic civil rights," Patarca says.
Berlusconi is fond of saying, "Italians like me the way I am."
Through two decades of TV dominance, many analysts say he has, in fact, reshaped Italian culture and values into his own image.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111513125
Finally I ran across this paragraph which is the final paragraph of an article in the encyclopedia of Mormonism onabout the constitution. I think these three documents seem to illustrate an important point.
To defend the principles of the Constitution under circumstances where the "iniquity," or moral decay, of the people has torn it to shreds might well require wisdom at least equal to that of the men raised up to found it. In particular, it would require great insight into the relationship between freedom and virtue in a political embodiment of moral agency.
http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Constitution_of_the_United_States_of_America
http://www.claytonchristensen.com/documents/SNHUCommencementtalk-DemocracyCapitalismandReligion.pdf
The day after I read the above article, I heard the following story on the radio as I drove to work. I have copied the last section of that article.
'A Culture Of Illegality'
In recent years, Italy has recorded among the highest levels of tax evasion among Western countries and the largest number of serving members of Parliament found guilty of criminal offenses.
In a recent report, the state accounts court said corruption in the public administration is so vast that it is preventing the country's economic development and eroding the public's faith in government.
Rolando Patarca, a fisherman who is also a part-time chef and political activist, is demoralized by the society he sees around him.
"A culture of illegality has taken hold. We no longer have an ethical role model. We no longer want to follow the rules and respect the law and the constitution. We are in disarray, and we have given up. We have lost sight of our basic civil rights," Patarca says.
Berlusconi is fond of saying, "Italians like me the way I am."
Through two decades of TV dominance, many analysts say he has, in fact, reshaped Italian culture and values into his own image.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111513125
Finally I ran across this paragraph which is the final paragraph of an article in the encyclopedia of Mormonism onabout the constitution. I think these three documents seem to illustrate an important point.
To defend the principles of the Constitution under circumstances where the "iniquity," or moral decay, of the people has torn it to shreds might well require wisdom at least equal to that of the men raised up to found it. In particular, it would require great insight into the relationship between freedom and virtue in a political embodiment of moral agency.
http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Constitution_of_the_United_States_of_America
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Lessons from playing croquet
For unknown reasons, this week I have recalled playing croquet in the back yard while growing up. If you have played croquet, you are aware what happens when your ball strikes another player's ball. You place the two balls together, put your foot on your ball, and with a great swing of the mallet can hit your ball which stays in place because of your foot but the energy is transferred to the other players ball which can go sailing far away and out of the way, to a 10 year old, it was great fun to send the other ball sailing.
Whenever my dad would hit another players ball, something quite different would happen. He would still strike his ball and send the other ball on it's way, but he would send it in the direction the other player was trying to go, he would help them out. Especially he would help out my mom. But in spite of helping us out, my dad still always won.
And the lesson from that is...? Well, I'm not sure. I don't play croquet anymore so I guess I won't ever be in a position to help others out when I could instead act like anyone else would and sidetrack them.
Whenever my dad would hit another players ball, something quite different would happen. He would still strike his ball and send the other ball on it's way, but he would send it in the direction the other player was trying to go, he would help them out. Especially he would help out my mom. But in spite of helping us out, my dad still always won.
And the lesson from that is...? Well, I'm not sure. I don't play croquet anymore so I guess I won't ever be in a position to help others out when I could instead act like anyone else would and sidetrack them.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Constitution 1
Way back in January, when I was planning on things I wanted to do this year, one of them was to learn more about the constitution. By the 4th of July I wanted to have crystallized my thoughts and put them together in a PowerPoint presentation. I'm running a little behind. I have developed a bibliography that I am working my way through. I am about half finished with the list at the end of this blog. However, if you are aware of any very good books on the constitution (that are available without spending over $40 (the cost on Amazon of 'The Constitutionalist' by George Anastaplo.))let me know. Maybe by Thanksgiving I will have it put together.
I have tried to include a wide spectrum of political ideas
The words we live by, Your annotated guide to the constitution by Linda R. Monk (this was handed out to all students at BYU a few years ago)
Liberty’s Blueprint, How Madison and Hamilton Wrote the Federalist Papers, Defined the Constitution, and Made Democracy Safe for the World. By Michael I. Meyerson
Just and Holy Principles, Latter day Saint Readings on America and the Constitution, Ralph C. Hancock Editor
A lawyer Looks at the Constitution by Rex E. Lee
Latter day Prophets and the United States Constitution edited by Donald Q. Cannon
The Summer of 1787, The Men who invented the constitution. By David O. Stewart
The Genius of America, How the Constitution Saved Our Country and Why it can Again, by Eric Lane and Michael Oreskes
Original Meanings, Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution by Jack N. Rakove (won Pulitzer prize)
Remnants of Belief, Contemporary constitutional Issues, by Louis Michael Seidman and Mark V. Tushnet
A More Perfect Constitution, 23 proposals to Revitalize our constitution and make America a fairer Country by Larry J. Sabato.
Federalist Papers
Anti Federalist Papers
I have tried to include a wide spectrum of political ideas
The words we live by, Your annotated guide to the constitution by Linda R. Monk (this was handed out to all students at BYU a few years ago)
Liberty’s Blueprint, How Madison and Hamilton Wrote the Federalist Papers, Defined the Constitution, and Made Democracy Safe for the World. By Michael I. Meyerson
Just and Holy Principles, Latter day Saint Readings on America and the Constitution, Ralph C. Hancock Editor
A lawyer Looks at the Constitution by Rex E. Lee
Latter day Prophets and the United States Constitution edited by Donald Q. Cannon
The Summer of 1787, The Men who invented the constitution. By David O. Stewart
The Genius of America, How the Constitution Saved Our Country and Why it can Again, by Eric Lane and Michael Oreskes
Original Meanings, Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution by Jack N. Rakove (won Pulitzer prize)
Remnants of Belief, Contemporary constitutional Issues, by Louis Michael Seidman and Mark V. Tushnet
A More Perfect Constitution, 23 proposals to Revitalize our constitution and make America a fairer Country by Larry J. Sabato.
Federalist Papers
Anti Federalist Papers
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