[A-List] An Apology To Anne

[Hari Kumar <hari.kumar@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Anne: " Your final, mocking comment of "But why don't we just take a leaf out of Jonathan Swift's
book, & just change the age-scale on his prescription? eh?" only demonstrates that you didn't read
what I wrote which is that state-subsidized medicine is dangerous for this very reason. As far as
the implication that I am some unfeeling monster happy to see old people suffer and be hustled off
to eternity goes, I want no one to die unnecessarily or to be denied needed care, but I do have
different, sincerely held ideas about how that can best be accomplished."
HARI:
1) THE MAIN THING I SHOULD WRITE is: I certainly did not mean to imply that you were an "unfeeling
monster" - I do apologise. It was a polemical flourish - meant to show the logical implication of
your views. However, like many "flourishes" - it was in retrospect, totally off-mark. But I
certainly, and very sincerely apologise for that implication. On re-reading I can see how one could
make the un-intended implication. It was not meant - I assure you - And I once more swear off
rhetoric!
2) However - I do remain [& just as passionately as you but in an opposite direction] of the
overall views re state ownership/control of health care - that I had stated.
Frankly it is not the mere fact of State control- it is WHAT TYPE of state it is we are talking of.
[Though clearly we will not agree on this matter].
3) Canadian Drugging: You are of course quite right - that Canadian kids are subject to the same
degree of over-drugging/Ritalin-Keep-The-Brats-Quiet Syndrome. I have not really seen any good
analyses of this syndrome [Perhaps I have not adequately explored that literature], and it is
entirely unclear to me whether or not there is truly a:
(i) Secular rise in the prevalence of Attention Deficit Syndromes (so-called in the jargon -
Hyeperactivity otherwise) or not. It is entirely possible given the degree of hidden drugging (let
us call the food additives/the environmental pollutants including lead etc) that this is a true
phenomenon. (ii) Or whether this is a purely 'social' phenomenon driven by over-crowded
class-rooms/alienation of families etc.
Of course all that begs the question that you are raising : What is the root cause? And I do not
dispute that the ROOT cause should be sought and found before effective therapy can be prescribed -
both individual & societal.
PS: I would be very interested in an exact citation for your quotation from Bismarck.
Hari