Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/10/31
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Well, everyone has to work. I don't think the US has a monopoly on stress. But I would suggest that the biggest killers - heart disease, cancer... what else? - could be very largely mitigated if people simply ate more simply and exercised more frequently. Tobacco is another major killer, of course. We could probably all live more healthily than we do. "In some circles it may be fashionable to blame the victim for the disease" - well, in some circles it is no doubt habitual to perceive every call to greater responsibility as a threat to entrenched habits of life. Which, of course, it is. The victim is quite often the perpetrator, IMO. Heart disease is not malaria. - -- Rob http://www.robertappleby.com Mobile: (+39) 348 336 7990 Home: (+39) 0536 63001 All outgoing email scanned by Norton AntiVirus (TM) 2003 Professional Edition. - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Barney Quinn" <barney.quinn@noaa.gov> To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us> Sent: Friday, October 31, 2003 12:31 PM Subject: Re: [Leica] something something and now animals > Rob, > > Yes, there certainly are many illnesses which we inflict on ourselves. > But, there are also many which aren't. I have some strong feelings > about the "lifestyle" analysis of disease. Not everyone is in a > position where change is possible. For instance, stress can kill, yet > in the United States many people have to work two and even three jobs > to make ends meet. They, and others, simply have no choice but to > accept the damage and hope for the best. Sick is sick. Disease is > disease is disease. It some circles it is fashionable to blame the > victim for the disease. I am not a big fan of that. It may lower your > guilt quotient, but it does nothing for the sick person. > > Barney > > > On Friday, October 31, 2003, at 02:19 AM, Rob Appleby wrote: > > > I don't know about blindness, but many of the chronic illnesses modern > > society is plagued by are the outcome of a lifestyle which is premised > > on > > the fact that almost anything can be correcte with the right > > treatments. The > > fact is that we live in a very irresponsible manner and most of our > > malaises > > are self-inflicted. > > > > Another side to this is the way in which modern allopathy enforces or > > tries > > to enforce a radical monopoly over all forms of health care, not just > > via > > the ideology of treatment, but also through legal measures. Other > > practitioners (Sheldon of Natural Hygiene is a good example) were > > legally > > persecuted all their lives for espousing and practicing treatments > > which > > threatened the monopoly of establishment medical practice. > > > > The drive of modern research to find a consumable cure for every ill > > dovetails very nicely with consumerism as a whole; to simply revise our > > lifestyle habits in order to avoid disease rather than purchasing off > > the > > shelf remedies to cure our self-inflicted maladies threatens not only > > the > > medical establishment, but the entire fabric of modern society. > > > > -- Rob > > > > http://www.robertappleby.com > > Mobile: (+39) 348 336 7990 > > Home: (+39) 0536 63001 > > > > All outgoing email scanned by > > Norton AntiVirus (TM) 2003 Professional Edition. > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Barney Quinn" <Barney.Quinn@noaa.gov> > > To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us> > > Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2003 10:34 PM > > Subject: Re: [Leica] something something and now animals > > > > > >> John, > >> > >> I don't know if I understand what you are trying to say. There > >> certainly > >> are operations which will prolong one's life. Ask a cancer or heart > >> patient. And, serious disease, like blindness can most certainly > >> shorten > >> ones life in a number of ways which range from making one more > >> accident > >> prone, more subject to opportunistic diseases, to destroying ones > >> will to > >> live. I think that your analysis vastly underestimates the pernicious > >> effects that chronic illness has on people. > >> > >> Barney > >> > >> John Collier wrote: > >> > >>> This is the classic misperception. That one or another operation will > >>> make us live longer. It may improve your quality of life but it will > >>> have little effect on how long you live. You imply that being blind > >>> will prevent you from functioning in society. I would agree with the > >>> proviso that you say "as I do now". Many people function perfectly > >>> well > >>> in society with a wide variety of conditions that "normal" people > >>> consider catastrophic. > >>> > >>> John Collier > >>> > >>> On Thursday, October 30, 2003, at 12:41 PM, Barney Quinn wrote: > >>> > >>>>> It is an opening into the broader debate of what consciousness and > >>>>> intelligence are. Should other "lesser" organisms be sacrificed to > >>>>> marginally improve our life span* (and looks)? > >>>> > >>>> Marginally improve my life span? I have very serious eye disease. I > >>>> have had > >>>> five operations. I may well need a sixth early next year. If it > >>>> weren't for > >>>> the modern, miracle medicinesand techniques which have been > >>>> developed > >>>> in part > >>>> with animal research I would be blind, unale to support myself, and > >>>> a > >>>> burden > >>>> to society. I am eternally greatful there there are doctors and > >>>> scientists > >>>> who have been willing to devote their lives to trying to help people > >>>> with > >>>> very real medical problems. > >>> > >>> -- > >>> To unsubscribe, see > >>> http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > >> > >> -- > >> To unsubscribe, see > >> http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > >> > > > > > > -- > > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html