The tablet arrived a few days ago, working fine of course. Here's hoping it lasts through two years of school...

There is a video on the Internet that shows Michael Moore on David Letterman. Aside from the mutual mental circle jerk going on it was pretty good. Of course they talked about his new film Sicko. It got me thinking of what it will be like in the States with universal health care. In two years I will be doing x-rays for a living, and with true universal health care I would be considered a government employee again, no? I guess not, because we would still be subject to private organizations selling the premium health care, and I could always work for such a place. Would it stifle innovations in the medical field? The health care is top notch, when you can pay for it, due in part to the money involved. There is much more incentive to advance the science if there is money to be made, isn't there? This is what capitalism is all about after all. If private care were still available, would it not force people to use government facilities, which would have only basic, and therefore substandard care, because the government is footing the bill? It reminds me of the film my wife rented called The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, which was very interesting.

Well, that's my thoughts on health care. While eating lunch with a friend, the hardcore liberal, he was trying to convince me that a vegan diet would be worthwhile to pursue. I told him I didn't want to hear it, he said he was just attempting to influence me because he is my friend. I told him that statement was just a control mechanism, which reminded me of a video I saw called The Trap. In this video they say that love is nothing more... or rather avowed love is nothing more than one of many tools couples employ in order to control the other. His statement struck me as the same animal, concern used as a facade for covert manipulations.

He told me of a person at an atheist meeting sort of pushing nihilism. There was a discussion about it at the meeting which he found interesting. Nihilists believe that people can get along fine without rules, and should be subject to only their own whims. Self preservation will hold people in check. But people still have to interact, and if this interaction is going to be beneficial to all, there has to be some guidelines because people are inherently selfish. What nihilists fail to see is that people have to live with others, with so many people on the planet it is unavoidable. The only rational perspective we can hold is to acknowledge this, and codify the relationships. I guess that's not entirely true. Nihilists are correct in their belief that rules aren't necessary, but this assumes every person in the community holds the same rationale. Codes are necessary because people are not rational, and this is what nihilists do not acknowledge.

So, I finished Al Gore's book. He could have taken out all his self promotion bullshit and it would have been much better. Then there is the fact that it seemed every five minutes he was quoting someone else. Thomas Jefferson was a favorite, as well as some of the other founders. It felt like fucking peer review in English class, the audio version. It was distracting, and added nothing to the content. He criticizes Bush on bringing religion to the office, and in an effort to pander to the mindless believers, he makes a statement that faith and reason must be balanced when making decisions. In my opinion, faith and reason aren’t compatible in the least. There is a good reason we use the phrase blind faith. Faith, by its very definition as it relates to religion, assumes the absence of any reasonable basis. Faith is only necessary when people need to advance concepts that have no evidential basis. There is no gray area between the two ends faith and reason, and in fact oppose each other. He attempts to appeal to any religious inclinations a reader has, which undercuts his rationality plea.

Then there is his warning about information exchange, and how the channels need to stay open, and how information should flow in different directions. Most Americans spend too much time in front of the television, and it's a one way conversation. To stay informed, the lines of communication need to flow in all directions. This is true, but will it happen? One of the complaints in his book is that people don't read enough. If only people will start reading, things will be ok... at least, that's what he implies. However, we have mandatory education through twelve years of a child's life, and it doesn't seem to be helping much. Most are at least literate to some extent, but they have to want to use that literacy. A person doesn't even have to finish high school and, as long as they don't have to raise a family, can do 40 hours of shit work and have the luxury of freedom the rest of the time, within their means of course. It isn't life at the ritz, but it isn't slavery either. The point is, people have to want to make a difference, but right now there is no incentive.