I'm a pilot and I'm terrified of heights. I get vertigo even thinking about looking over the edge of a cliff. I would also really like to try skydiving one of these years.
I think that a better way to express it for many people is we're not afraid of heights, we're afraid of falling and dying. Removing the falling aspect "cures" the phobia.
As a climber who is also scared of heights, I like to describe it as "a rational fear of heights". If I'm actually safe, I'm fine with it. It's the thought that a single slip, mental or physical = death. Even with a waist-high barrier, I'm still not going to look over the edge for fear of leaning too far. Give me a glass room hanging over the grand canyon that's stable and I'll be happy to go inside, lie face down on the floor, etc.
That is a rational fear. What you are describing is a normal fear. In my caseit would be more of a phobia where even when I am perfectly safe I would sweat, heartbeat would increase and I might get into a panic attack as suck.
> It really doesn't seem very many steps above slavery.
If I ever go through that system there is no way in hell I am coming out of the prison "reformed". Today when I look at a young kid I feel compassion and I will help the kid in need. After coming out of an US Prison I am likely to see everyone else as "these people were responsible for putting me through hell". That lack of compassion is way more worse.
I am not surprised that so many people turn out to be repeat offenders.
Before there was strong for-profit bit in the mix (but it was always there) but the main idea was that rehabilitation is too complicated and doesn't work. Something to the effect of "Oh look we tried, half-hardheartedly, it failed, there is no point wasting time, these people never learn so just lock them up away from the society for as long as possible". That was always going hand in hand with tough-on-crime politics and a general sadistic undercurrent in the American culture that celebrates punishment for punishment's sake.
But once the for profit element was added into the mix there is an actual disincentive to rehabilitate people as it would mean a direct reduction in profits. So before it was bad but this is like adding some gasoline into the fire.
There was for example, the case of a judge in PA who had a deal with the local prison/juvenile center of sorts where he was sending teenagers in for minor infractions and was getting kickbacks.
Prison industrial complex also lobbies the government to keep the War on Drugs going because a reform there also would directly cut profits for them.
There even a whole ecosystem of predators exploiting every single angle possible to milk the prisoners and their families' money and labor. Down to telecom companies with ridiculously expensive charges when prisoners talk to their loved ones, to companies selling food (the commissary) and so on.
It surprises me that US government has not yet started harvesting organs of the prisoners. Why does someone who has been sentenced for 20 years in prison need his extra kidney for ?
> 30% of California forest firefighters are prisoners .. The state argued against parole credit for these prisoners as it would draw down the labor force and lead to depletion of the firefighter force.
I guess if some of them die fighting fire we as a society are told to think "good riddance".
Lack of compassion for those wronged by the state is a Achilles heel of US civilization. It is going to cause a damage down further as people's respect for law erodes over time.
I can totally see them doing it. It would be the same as the GP described. It wouldn't be compulsory but those that don't agree get their good time reduced, get written up, marked for non-cooperation and so on. In other words there enough mechanisms for this to happen.
When I was doing renovation at my place, I think I could go for much cheaper labor. Deadlines will likely slip, tho, as quality of work. I would perhaps end up paying more for worse result.
Try to pay as much as feasible for the actual work, as few as possible for overhead.
You end up paying extra for 'cheap' labor anyway, in the form of higher taxes for those who have to pay them, that includes you. Less transparent economy leads to what is discussed in parent article. All what 'cheap' labor does is lining the pockets of middle men selling this snake oil. With your money.
There is very often is an additional benefit. It just isn't directly to you.
Isn't that what minimum wage is all about? And disability, social security, and public education? There are lots of benefits to these programs, but the benefits often go directly to someone else, and indirectly back to whoever paid for them.
Also, I think a lot of problems come from paying the cheapest possible price, rather that paying for value. An over-focus on short-term profits causes a lot of long-term issues.
Well no, because of lack of general availability. But I pay extra for many things to avoid certain corporate behaviour. In a free market, that's my right. We're trying to wean ourselves off of Amazon, in fact, but we're a one-car family, and Prime is an amazing service.
For example USA does not have government mandated paternity leave and hence a lot of people value that 3 month salary over staying at home without pay. This means the McDonald on corner is able to have necessary staff and the Comcast technician is able to come to your house on a Saturday.
People leaving jerk boss is not always a good thing because Jerk is a value between 0 to 1. UBI simply tilts it in employees favor which is exactly same as against society's benefit.
I am only explaining the facts. Forced paternity leave takes out some amount of labor from market increasing prices for everyone else for those services.
You're not thinking very deeply. There's more to society than absolute economic efficiency. Giving fathers time to engage properly with their newborn children helps those children succeed throughout life, and makes happier and more effective workers.
Besides, I've been a father of newborns who also had to work full-time. It was beyond exhausting, and I sure wasn't working anywhere near 100%.
My wife was facing a burnout at the work. She was needlessly scared and suffered panic attacks. It is something I have gone through too and coped. But in her case because I love her more than I love myself I decided to take her to a doctor who then refereed her to a psychologist who then prescribed her drugs which on quick research appeared to be his plan to keep her on those forever. My expectation was that the doctor would suggest her some mild drugs and ask to take up Yoga or some other hobbies and assure her that everything is in fact alright with her.
He on other hand made a big deal out of whole thing.
We decided to trash all the medicines and lived happily without any issues.
My doctors have given me opioids so many times and I typically throw them out. Why take a substance like that if pain is bearable ?
To address your final question: patients are strongly pushed to take prescribed medications at the prescribed intervals.
You decided your didn't need anything extra for your pain. That is good. Many people have difficulty toughing it out, maybe they had it worse. Perhaps some got an infection from their wisdom teeth removal (or they failed to follow directions and got dry socket leading to extreme pain). Given the prior doctor instructions (and perhaps not understanding why they are currently in pain) patients take their drugs at the maximum (or in some cases, above) the prescribed rate.
This isn't too say your choice was wrong, but that many others aren't as fortunate to avoid addiction, add once they are: their choices can no longer be considered rational, but as those made by an addict in pain who had been told opioids will help.
I live in France and the approach here to pain relief is very gradual, I was in a hospital with severe headaches, the nurse came every time I rang her and gave me mild pain medicines (alternating sometimes because it didn't work).
I am glad they didn't bring in the big guns, I am a bit worried about morphine and heroin stuff we read on the internet.
In most European countries, opioid painkillers will only be administered in hospitals when pain is so strong that you can't fight it with Ibuprofen or Aspirin (e.g. after surgeries).
I don't know a single person here in Europe who got a recipe for opioids by a GP or after leaving the hospital. That's not because pain is not treated but because doctors realise how dangerous opioids are.
In the most European countries co-codamol is OTC without a prescription.
I think it's quite common to get co-codamol or dihydrocodeine from a GP in the UK. However, this is really weak in comparison to the high-dose oxy or hydrocodone that US doctors seem to prescribe.
CO-Codamol has a comparably low codeine content which would likely make it less addictive (only guessing, not a doctor). It's a prescription drug in the UK.
Will probably depend on the doctor but the GPs I have seen in the UK have preferred Ibuprofen if it can treat the pain.
This is probably where cannabis would help, but I don't think even most medical states include anxiety/mild depression on their list of conditions for referral. Very few allow for pain without very specific parameters. Nah, instead we'll hit people over the head with hard drugs. Forever.
While Cannabis could help, what's wrong with Ibuprofen? It's the go-to drug for most doctors in Europe and used for the vast majority of patients with pain. Unless you had surgery or have been in an accident, pain is rarely that strong that you need opioids.
Taking ibuprofen for your pain today is perfectly acceptable. Taking it everyday in an attempt to treat chronic pain is not. There are heart and liver disorders linked to long term ibuprofen use.
Long term use of ibuprofen is linked with heart and liver issues, if I recall. I know I'm not citing a source here, just something I remember my wife telling me she read in a study, the best kind of evidence :)
FWIW, I've found ibuprofen to be the absolute best for my post-surgical pain. The issue is that it's 600-800mg every 6 hours to remain effective, and that's pushing some limits on dosage. Doctors have always told me fine in the short term, but bad longer term.
I know I'm saying this with a clear mind and pain free body right now, but I'm entirely unwilling to fill an opioid prescription in the future. The small amounts I've taken in the past for surgery were just too memorable - nothing should stick in your brain like that years after and be considered safe.
But cannabis can also be highly addictive IMO and can definitely cause anxiety/panic attacks in some people (especially with too high a dose in an inexperienced user).
Addictive in what sense? Opioid withdrawal can kill you. My understanding is cannabis is only mildly addictive and essentially results in short term irritability and a small rise in blood pressure for a few hours to a few days.
Anecdotally, the biggest potheads I know can take a month off without impact to their lives.
Regarding anxiety and panic attacks, I'm sure that's possible, but people don't die from it. An extra cup of coffee would do something similar for a longer period of time.
I don't think we've studied cannabis enough to truly know the negatives, but even heavily discounted historical and anecdotal evidence would suggest it's less harmful than opioids. That potential for harm might be low enough that you simply try it first for pain management, before moving on to stronger things that carry their own sets of risks. I'm not a doctor (or a cannabis enthusiast), just what I think I think.
How is your opinion informed on the highly additive nature of cannabis? As with any substance cannabis can be abused and can have negative consequences; however to say that is it highly addictive is highly misleading.
I agree that anxiety can be an issue especially with novice users, but those effects vary person to person and strain to strain.
Cannabis can help many conditions including anxiety but because of its long history of demonization it has not been standardized and requires a lot of work on the part of the patient to zero in on the correct dosage. This is starting to change with products like tinctures being more and more available that provide the ability to easily have lower / long lasting dosages.
Not only that, if someone has a leg injury and works doing roofs or tiles or is a plumber, it helps them get back to work faster. We have nearly zero safety net in the US.
I focused on the accidental in my review of the cause, thank you for reminding me that for some, not working, and the threat of no income can push them to push them themselves with opioids to fall into the trap of addiction
I have politicians in my family in India and this is actually an end-game for the politicians. This was damn too common with "urban banks" which are like credit unions. Last Indian president Mrs. Pratibha Patil was charged with such frauds during her political career.
This is how it worked with "urban banks". A politician sets up a bank and gets it running smoothly. Such banks can operate only on small deposits and limited to local area only. They are subject to different banking rules and can give much higher returns and aggressive loans. The banks typically do well.
As the elections nearby the politician and his friends will borrow huge loans. New projects will be setup with these loans. After an year or so the project declares bankruptcy and the loan becomes and NPA. Politician's friend buys the stalled project at throw away costs and then if needed sells back to the politician. Wealth is thus transferred from poor folks to rich politicians.
This time however it has happened with major banks.
The MD of India's top private bank makes around $5M-$10M a year. The Public sector bank MD however makes around $50K max a year. that is 10x less salary. The banks themselves are a giant jobs program.
