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ysabetwordsmithBased on an audience poll, this is the free epic from the April 6, 2021 Poetry Fishbowl making its $200 goal. It was spillover from the March 6, 2021 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from fuzzyred. It also fills the "Let's Misbehave" square in my 2-1-21 "Romance Book Titles" card for the Valentine's Bingo fest.
"The Nexus of Choice and Persuasion"
[March 1954]
"Well, that was an unmitigated disaster,"
Aldous Fruehauf said in disgust, throwing
the newspaper onto the dining table.
Ronald Wells raised his eyebrows.
"Now what's wrong?" he asked.
"The Reinsurance Bill failed,"
Aldous grumbled. "Why can't
America get its act together? Egypt,
Australia, and the United Kingdom
all have universal health care. Both
the Nordic countries and Eastern bloc
have plans underway. The Soviet Union
has had it in the cities since 1920!"
"Don't look at me, I didn't vote
against it," Ronald replied.
"It's your country," Aldous said.
"It was my country," Ronald said.
"We parted company over a difference
in ethical standards, you may recall."
Aldous gave a dark chuckle. "Well,
I suppose that does argue against
letting the government meddle
in people's health care," he said.
"But we really do need something."
"Let me see that," Ronald said.
Aldous passed him the newspaper
and the file he'd been keeping
about the Reinsurance Bill.
Ronald read the materials,
then said, "This is bullshit.
You could do better than this.
Hell, I could do better than this!"
"Hmm," said Aldous. "Maybe
we should try it. We've had
a lot of problems getting care
for our people, especially now
that we're attracting some
with superpowers and that
really isn't a popular thing."
"Tell me about it," Ronald said.
"Do you have any idea how many
people join Kraken just to get
food and a place to sleep?"
"A little over 33% among
ranked personnel," Aldous said.
"A solid 67% among minions."
Ronald winced. "I didn't
know it was that high."
"After the war, the economy
is booming, but people want
peace and quiet, not reminders
of how bizarre the world can be,"
Aldous said. "They're hunkering
down in their shiny new suburbs."
"Don't remind me of the suburbs,"
Ronald said with a shudder. He'd
been to one on an assignment,
and one was more than enough.
"They are hideous, aren't they?"
Aldous said. "Anyway, it's clear
that these people don't want
to take care of each other,
let alone us. We shall have
to do for ourselves, I think."
"Will our men go for that?"
Ronald said. "We're getting
the ones who like some structure,
but most are still wild young things."
"Every time a new message
seems to grab us, and we think,
'I just might try that,' we are at
the nexus of choice and persuasion
that is civilization," Aldous said.
"It requires a balance between
the individual and the group."
"That's what we should call it!"
Ronald said. "A health nexus."
Aldous smiled. "I like that idea.
In fact, that gives me inspiration
for the structure. A nexus connects
everything. What if we do just that?"
"Like what?" Ronald wondered.
"People are arguing over who gets
to be insured, or choose their doctor,
and who has to pay for it," Aldous said.
"We could just throw it all together.
Everyone in Kraken is covered, and
all of our medics offer their services
to whomever needs what they can do.
We pay for it out of our collective funds."
"We really need more medics, though,"
said Ronald. "We never have enough."
Aldous gave half a smile. "Did you
know there are some people who
can heal any injury or illness now?
And medical doctors don't like them."
"That sounds like we need to field
a recruitment team," said Ronald.
"While we're at it, let's break into
some medical colleges and steal
their files for applicants who can't
get scholarships or afford tuition
on their own," said Aldous. "If we
pay their way, they can repay us
with a few years' work, not cash."
"Broke kids will love that,"
Ronald said. "They might
even decide to stick around."
"Well, we can guarantee them
plenty of work and all the excitement
they'll ever need," Aldous said dryly.
"Smart people like labs, right?"
Ronald said thoughtfully. "I mean,
I have issues with what happened
to me and my men, but our guys
are more careful. Could we keep
more medics by offering lab space?"
"Maybe for the more educated ones,"
Aldous said, making a note. "I'll
have someone look into that."
"People like choices," Ronald said.
"All we really need to add is persuasion."
"Let's misbehave," Aldous said.
They grinned at each other. They
were very, very good at that.
It would be exciting to see
how much they could build at
the nexus of choice and persuasion.
* * *
Notes:
Ronald Wells -- He has light brown hair, fair skin, and blue eyes. Originally an American soldier, he left and now travels around the world organizing supervillains. Ronald is one of the Kraken commanders in 1956, who helped found the Anything Goes Games.
Origin: He was subjected to intense training and weird dietary supplements while in the army, intended to make soldiers more durable. In his case it worked, but when other guys in his unit started getting sick, he found out what was going on and was so pissed that he deserted on the spot. He was soon recruited by Kraken and worked his way up the ranks.
Uniform: Kraken uniform of dexflan and capery, with commander insignia. The jumpsuits are sensibly designed with sleek fit, plenty of pockets and fasteners for equipment. They provide Expert (+4) Camouflage to a designated user, but if worn by anyone else, turn garish neon colors.
Qualities: Master (+6) Combat, Master (+6) Strategy, Expert (+4) Cooperation, Expert (+4) Gamer, Expert (+4) Soldier, Good (+2) Athletic, Good (+2) Resilience, Good (+2) Spy
Poor (-2) Bullshit Tolerance
Powers: Good (+2) Tough
Motivation: Fucking hell, I can do better than that!
Aldous Fruehauf -- He has fair skin, brown eyes, and black hair. His heritage is German, Polish, and Russian. Growing up, he had few friends, and other kids picked on him for being too smart. A Kraken operative recruited him while he was trying to get into college. Aldous is one of the Kraken commanders in 1956, who helped found the Anything Goes Games. He builds model boats and planes as a hobby.
Origin: His super-intellect grew in gradually.
Uniform: Kraken uniform of dexflan and capery, with commander insignia. The jumpsuits are sensibly designed with sleek fit, plenty of pockets and fasteners for equipment. They provide Expert (+4) Camouflage to a designated user, but if worn by anyone else, turn garish neon colors.
Qualities: Master (+6) Analyst, Master (+6) Leadership, Master (+6) Memory, Expert (+4) Gamer, Expert (+4) Strategy, Good (+2) Building Models, Good (+2) Meticulous, Good (+2) Needs Minimal Sleep, Good (+2) Patience, Good (+2) Self-Defense, Good (+2) Stealth
Poor (-2) Vision
Powers: Good (+2) Super-Intellect
Motivation: To know everything.
* * *
"Every time a message seems to grab us, and we think, 'I just might try it,' we are at the nexus of choice and persuasion that is advertising."
-- Andrew Hacker
There is a spectrum from influence and persuasion to manipulation and coercion. The differences rely on two main things: whether someone is deceiving others to gain something at their expense, and how much if any force is used. These skills support influence and persuasion without the use of deceit and force.
The roots of America's lousy employment-based health "Insurance" system came out of a wage cap in World War II. The 1954 Reinsurance Bill was the third attempt to set up a national health care system like civilized nations had, but it failed both here and in Terramagne.
Universal health care dates back at least as far as the Russian Revolution (1917), after which the Soviet Union established a centralized public health system in cities by 1920 (although it didn't cover rural citizens yet). A few more countries picked it up in the following decades, but the big boom happened after World War II.
nexus
Pronunciation /ˈneksəs/ /ˈnɛksəs/
Translate nexus into Spanish
NOUN nexus, nexuses
• 1A connection or series of connections linking two or more things.
‘the nexus between industry and political power’
1. 1.1 A connected group or series.
‘a nexus of ideas’
2. 1.2 The central and most important point or place.
‘the nexus of all this activity was the disco’
Origin
Mid 17th century from Latin, ‘a binding together’, from nex- ‘bound’, from the verb nectere.
A nexus connects things to other things. The more connections, the more effective it is in performance and the more resilient it is against problems.
Risk pooling is a technique used by insurance and governments to spread out the cost of expensive problems that would otherwise crush those with a modest budget. The larger the pool, the better the protection overall. With private insurance, the goal is to make money rather than provide care, creating a clear conflict of interest; the corporation often divides people into smaller pools, forcing the sicker ones to pay more than they can afford while the healthiest ones contribute little, which largely defeats the purpose of insurance to buffer against problems. Total coverage creates the largest possible pool, covering everyone, and thus minimizing the cost to individuals. Including all providers, as well as all clients, maximizes choice. Nonprofit insurance is more cost-effective because it doesn't have private investors sucking money out of the system. In this case, supervillains choose to cover everyone and everything because 1) some of them are good at math and 2) most of them are damn tired of being excluded.
fuzzyred. It also fills the "Let's Misbehave" square in my 2-1-21 "Romance Book Titles" card for the Valentine's Bingo fest."The Nexus of Choice and Persuasion"
[March 1954]
"Well, that was an unmitigated disaster,"
Aldous Fruehauf said in disgust, throwing
the newspaper onto the dining table.
Ronald Wells raised his eyebrows.
"Now what's wrong?" he asked.
"The Reinsurance Bill failed,"
Aldous grumbled. "Why can't
America get its act together? Egypt,
Australia, and the United Kingdom
all have universal health care. Both
the Nordic countries and Eastern bloc
have plans underway. The Soviet Union
has had it in the cities since 1920!"
"Don't look at me, I didn't vote
against it," Ronald replied.
"It's your country," Aldous said.
"It was my country," Ronald said.
"We parted company over a difference
in ethical standards, you may recall."
Aldous gave a dark chuckle. "Well,
I suppose that does argue against
letting the government meddle
in people's health care," he said.
"But we really do need something."
"Let me see that," Ronald said.
Aldous passed him the newspaper
and the file he'd been keeping
about the Reinsurance Bill.
Ronald read the materials,
then said, "This is bullshit.
You could do better than this.
Hell, I could do better than this!"
"Hmm," said Aldous. "Maybe
we should try it. We've had
a lot of problems getting care
for our people, especially now
that we're attracting some
with superpowers and that
really isn't a popular thing."
"Tell me about it," Ronald said.
"Do you have any idea how many
people join Kraken just to get
food and a place to sleep?"
"A little over 33% among
ranked personnel," Aldous said.
"A solid 67% among minions."
Ronald winced. "I didn't
know it was that high."
"After the war, the economy
is booming, but people want
peace and quiet, not reminders
of how bizarre the world can be,"
Aldous said. "They're hunkering
down in their shiny new suburbs."
"Don't remind me of the suburbs,"
Ronald said with a shudder. He'd
been to one on an assignment,
and one was more than enough.
"They are hideous, aren't they?"
Aldous said. "Anyway, it's clear
that these people don't want
to take care of each other,
let alone us. We shall have
to do for ourselves, I think."
"Will our men go for that?"
Ronald said. "We're getting
the ones who like some structure,
but most are still wild young things."
"Every time a new message
seems to grab us, and we think,
'I just might try that,' we are at
the nexus of choice and persuasion
that is civilization," Aldous said.
"It requires a balance between
the individual and the group."
"That's what we should call it!"
Ronald said. "A health nexus."
Aldous smiled. "I like that idea.
In fact, that gives me inspiration
for the structure. A nexus connects
everything. What if we do just that?"
"Like what?" Ronald wondered.
"People are arguing over who gets
to be insured, or choose their doctor,
and who has to pay for it," Aldous said.
"We could just throw it all together.
Everyone in Kraken is covered, and
all of our medics offer their services
to whomever needs what they can do.
We pay for it out of our collective funds."
"We really need more medics, though,"
said Ronald. "We never have enough."
Aldous gave half a smile. "Did you
know there are some people who
can heal any injury or illness now?
And medical doctors don't like them."
"That sounds like we need to field
a recruitment team," said Ronald.
"While we're at it, let's break into
some medical colleges and steal
their files for applicants who can't
get scholarships or afford tuition
on their own," said Aldous. "If we
pay their way, they can repay us
with a few years' work, not cash."
"Broke kids will love that,"
Ronald said. "They might
even decide to stick around."
"Well, we can guarantee them
plenty of work and all the excitement
they'll ever need," Aldous said dryly.
"Smart people like labs, right?"
Ronald said thoughtfully. "I mean,
I have issues with what happened
to me and my men, but our guys
are more careful. Could we keep
more medics by offering lab space?"
"Maybe for the more educated ones,"
Aldous said, making a note. "I'll
have someone look into that."
"People like choices," Ronald said.
"All we really need to add is persuasion."
"Let's misbehave," Aldous said.
They grinned at each other. They
were very, very good at that.
It would be exciting to see
how much they could build at
the nexus of choice and persuasion.
* * *
Notes:
Ronald Wells -- He has light brown hair, fair skin, and blue eyes. Originally an American soldier, he left and now travels around the world organizing supervillains. Ronald is one of the Kraken commanders in 1956, who helped found the Anything Goes Games.
Origin: He was subjected to intense training and weird dietary supplements while in the army, intended to make soldiers more durable. In his case it worked, but when other guys in his unit started getting sick, he found out what was going on and was so pissed that he deserted on the spot. He was soon recruited by Kraken and worked his way up the ranks.
Uniform: Kraken uniform of dexflan and capery, with commander insignia. The jumpsuits are sensibly designed with sleek fit, plenty of pockets and fasteners for equipment. They provide Expert (+4) Camouflage to a designated user, but if worn by anyone else, turn garish neon colors.
Qualities: Master (+6) Combat, Master (+6) Strategy, Expert (+4) Cooperation, Expert (+4) Gamer, Expert (+4) Soldier, Good (+2) Athletic, Good (+2) Resilience, Good (+2) Spy
Poor (-2) Bullshit Tolerance
Powers: Good (+2) Tough
Motivation: Fucking hell, I can do better than that!
Aldous Fruehauf -- He has fair skin, brown eyes, and black hair. His heritage is German, Polish, and Russian. Growing up, he had few friends, and other kids picked on him for being too smart. A Kraken operative recruited him while he was trying to get into college. Aldous is one of the Kraken commanders in 1956, who helped found the Anything Goes Games. He builds model boats and planes as a hobby.
Origin: His super-intellect grew in gradually.
Uniform: Kraken uniform of dexflan and capery, with commander insignia. The jumpsuits are sensibly designed with sleek fit, plenty of pockets and fasteners for equipment. They provide Expert (+4) Camouflage to a designated user, but if worn by anyone else, turn garish neon colors.
Qualities: Master (+6) Analyst, Master (+6) Leadership, Master (+6) Memory, Expert (+4) Gamer, Expert (+4) Strategy, Good (+2) Building Models, Good (+2) Meticulous, Good (+2) Needs Minimal Sleep, Good (+2) Patience, Good (+2) Self-Defense, Good (+2) Stealth
Poor (-2) Vision
Powers: Good (+2) Super-Intellect
Motivation: To know everything.
* * *
"Every time a message seems to grab us, and we think, 'I just might try it,' we are at the nexus of choice and persuasion that is advertising."
-- Andrew Hacker
There is a spectrum from influence and persuasion to manipulation and coercion. The differences rely on two main things: whether someone is deceiving others to gain something at their expense, and how much if any force is used. These skills support influence and persuasion without the use of deceit and force.
The roots of America's lousy employment-based health "Insurance" system came out of a wage cap in World War II. The 1954 Reinsurance Bill was the third attempt to set up a national health care system like civilized nations had, but it failed both here and in Terramagne.
Universal health care dates back at least as far as the Russian Revolution (1917), after which the Soviet Union established a centralized public health system in cities by 1920 (although it didn't cover rural citizens yet). A few more countries picked it up in the following decades, but the big boom happened after World War II.
nexus
Pronunciation /ˈneksəs/ /ˈnɛksəs/
Translate nexus into Spanish
NOUN nexus, nexuses
• 1A connection or series of connections linking two or more things.
‘the nexus between industry and political power’
1. 1.1 A connected group or series.
‘a nexus of ideas’
2. 1.2 The central and most important point or place.
‘the nexus of all this activity was the disco’
Origin
Mid 17th century from Latin, ‘a binding together’, from nex- ‘bound’, from the verb nectere.
A nexus connects things to other things. The more connections, the more effective it is in performance and the more resilient it is against problems.
Risk pooling is a technique used by insurance and governments to spread out the cost of expensive problems that would otherwise crush those with a modest budget. The larger the pool, the better the protection overall. With private insurance, the goal is to make money rather than provide care, creating a clear conflict of interest; the corporation often divides people into smaller pools, forcing the sicker ones to pay more than they can afford while the healthiest ones contribute little, which largely defeats the purpose of insurance to buffer against problems. Total coverage creates the largest possible pool, covering everyone, and thus minimizing the cost to individuals. Including all providers, as well as all clients, maximizes choice. Nonprofit insurance is more cost-effective because it doesn't have private investors sucking money out of the system. In this case, supervillains choose to cover everyone and everything because 1) some of them are good at math and 2) most of them are damn tired of being excluded.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-04-20 01:07 am (UTC)>:(
...I wonder how likely it is that someone'll try to apply it to contemporary nursing. I've heard there's some job-jumping lately because the supply/demand system is out of whack. (If they try, I expect massive protests.)
And if enough people follow the money, out healthcare system will collapse in poor areas. >.< No nurses, no /hospitals/.
And then we have another reason for more disadvantaged groups to distrust government / healthcare / society.
Seriously, far too many people forget that for most of human history, if you couldn't afford healthcare, you'd stay home and die. I don't /want/ to go back to that.
Thoughts
Date: 2021-04-20 02:33 am (UTC)Possibly, but if they did, they'd really shoot themselves in the foot. It's already an extremely unattractive profession, staffed by the desperate and those with an unavoidable vocation. If it won't even pay enough to live on -- which it barely does now -- they will lose personnel rapidly at a time when they need far more than they have.
>> (If they try, I expect massive protests.) <<
Nurses have the most need to unionize, and the least will to do so. That's sad, because any medical strike would be unbreakable. They could bring a city to its knees in hours. They just aren't willing to walk off the job, which means in addition to getting screwed themselves, they also let the government abuse their patients. *shrug* They'll figure out that was a bad idea when the advance of technology replaces them with telemedicine for many things, and undermines the whole industry.
>> And if enough people follow the money, out healthcare system will collapse in poor areas. >.< No nurses, no /hospitals/. <<
Well, duh. But it's already collapsing in rural areas. There aren't enough people to support ambulance services over wide areas. More and more hospitals are closing or consolidating. That means people have only one place to go, and if it sucks, they either choose to be abused, drive for hours if they can, or stay home.
>> And then we have another reason for more disadvantaged groups to distrust government / healthcare / society. <<
Overall trust in healthcare is about 33%. Consider that this includes all groups, and imagine how much lower that number is for the disadvantaged.
>> Seriously, far too many people forget that for most of human history, if you couldn't afford healthcare, you'd stay home and die. I don't /want/ to go back to that.<<
I'd rather not, but it's largely where I'm at. The type of health care I wish to buy is rarely available anymore, and the type people wish to sell is not what I want to buy. So I avoid the system as much as possible.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2021-04-20 04:44 am (UTC)I see it more as a hostage situation. You stay, and they treat you like crap. You leave, and your cartakee suffers and dies. (I think a lot of nurses, and especially those who stick it out, do care about their patients a whole lot.)
Think of it like domestic violence - some people stay because they don't feel they can leave, and some of those are staying out of concern for someone else (often, but not neccesarily kids).
Just because someone isn't leaving or fighting back, doesn't mean that they think their situation is good. And just because we don't agree with their choice to stay doesn't make it okay to condemn that choice.
Also? If nurses went fully on strike? How many people would die or suffer irreparable damage? How many of those people are totally helpless and cannot be saved by laypeople? NICU, ICU, anyone who gets waved right on through the Emergency Room...
If there's a way to fix it (by nurses or laypeople) I'm listening, but I want a way that won't lead to needless mass death.
And I know enough about human psychology to realize that I am reacting to a possible small and sudden group of deaths more than a far more massive group of deaths dispersed over a long stretch of time. But if I can't be convinced to abandon an instinctual bias despite recognizing its existence, then other people who don't analyze instinctive psychology and the emotional reactions therof definitely won't.
>>Well, duh. But it's already collapsing in rural areas. There aren't enough people to support ambulance services over wide areas. More and more hospitals are closing or consolidating. That means people have only one place to go, and if it sucks, they either choose to be abused, drive for hours if they can, or stay home.<<
I wonder if we should start training healthcare workers like they do in the Third World. Or maybe we'll go back to having a Jack-of-all-trades 'Doc' in every town like the old Westerns.
I am already in favor of First Aid training for everyone who is willing. Maybe making more advanced courses availible, or adding First Aid to high school curriculums would help as well.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2021-04-20 05:00 am (UTC)True, but also compare it to overseers and collaborators. When you're part of an evil system, it tends to spill over on you -- and certainly, people who hate the system also tend to hate you.
>> (I think a lot of nurses, and especially those who stick it out, do care about their patients a whole lot.) <<
Some do. Some are evil. Even the good ones have less and less freedom to do things for people. Someone else, out of reach, makes most or all the decisions. Add in the fact that they're chronically understaffed and overworked in most facilities, and the ability to be coherent -- let alone compassionate -- drops notably.
>>Just because someone isn't leaving or fighting back, doesn't mean that they think their situation is good. And just because we don't agree with their choice to stay doesn't make it okay to condemn that choice.<<
Frankly I condemn the whole system. I have met a very few people in it who are good, and their ability to be helpful within its context is extremely limited and shrinking.
>>Also? If nurses went fully on strike? How many people would die or suffer irreparable damage?<<
Probably not that many. Most strikes are small, dealing with one employer. Patients in one city hospital -- which is where the vast majority are now -- could be moved to another. A widespread strike would be much worse, but you can't start with that; it only works in a large, tight-knit union industry and even there it's very hard to do.
Compare that to how many people suffer and die under the current system, not least of which because exhausted strungout people make mistakes.
>>If there's a way to fix it (by nurses or laypeople) I'm listening, but I want a way that won't lead to needless mass death.<<
Well, we could legislate things like a living wage, worktime limits, a limit or ban on swingshifts, appropriate staffing levels, etc. An even more unpopular option: I bet all-black hospitals would kill fewer black people than the mixed ones we have now.
>>And I know enough about human psychology to realize that I am reacting to a possible small and sudden group of deaths more than a far more massive group of deaths dispersed over a long stretch of time. But if I can't be convinced to abandon an instinctual bias despite recognizing its existence, then other people who don't analyze instinctive psychology and the emotional reactions therof definitely won't.<<
And that's exactly how America gets away with murdering vast numbers of people.
>>I wonder if we should start training healthcare workers like they do in the Third World. Or maybe we'll go back to having a Jack-of-all-trades 'Doc' in every town like the old Westerns.<<
It would be a good idea, but the trend is toward hyperspecialists. You can't repay medical school loans as a family doctor. "Care teams" are now often dozens of people, because like factory robots, most of them only do one tiny little thing. This massively runs up the error rate -- it's like nobody ever played Telephone as kids. It makes normal people miserable and abnormal people reluctant to engage the system at all.
>>I am already in favor of First Aid training for everyone who is willing. Maybe making more advanced courses availible, or adding First Aid to high school curriculums would help as well.<<
I would make the training free to anyone who wants it, but not require it. Not everyone is good at it, and emergencies have plenty of other things to do.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2021-04-20 05:45 am (UTC)Good ideas. One of many reasons I didn't want to be in medicine, social work or teaching is that I don't want to be treated like crap.
(Retail has it's own problems, but at least when I worked there I got to solve many different problems -nature of the store- and was unlikely to accidentally ruin someone's life - or watch people being horribly hurt.)
>>An even more unpopular option: I bet all-black hospitals would kill fewer black people than the mixed ones we have now.<<
Wouldn't get government funding. Although, if religiously-funded hospitals are a thing it might be possible to squeak a clinic or something by, if it is affiliated with a black church.
Related, I wonder if one could get a nunnery-afflliliated women's clinic or a doctor/clinic affiliated with Native American spirituality.
I don't exactly like the idea of 'you must belong to X group to work/be treated here,' (especially as a whites-only or mens' only hospital sets of neon glaring alarm bells). _However_, I can see good arguments for it, and if the situation is dire enough,... Besides, people don't think it's odd to prefer a same-gender doctor for some things.
Alternate or additional suggestion: Offer a variety of doctors and let the patient choose. The doctors can encode as much or as little information as they want in their bio and profile pics. (Flag pin, goes to such-and-such synagogue, went into X specialty after surviving it as a child, etc etc). It still might not work, or work as well as the other idea but it might be better than what we have.
>>It would be a good idea, but the trend is toward hyperspecialists. You can't repay medical school loans as a family doctor.<<
If things get bad enough economy-wide or society-wise, we will likely go back to having a designated 'town Doc' who gets paid in eggs or firewood.
And for the healthcare worker idea - if we pick up the Elizabethian 'when sick 1) consult household 2) consult neighborhood 3) call doctor or priest' model, from my understanding Third World community healthcare workers are essentially the 'call community' stage.
They may have some official medical training, may have been taught by experience, or may be working out of a book.
And they might very well be involved in everything from teaching condom use to advising on pipelines, or advocating for the purchase of a vehicle to be a homeboy ambulance.
In America, I would expect the role not neccesarily to be filled by a medically-trained person (well, unless they're retired.)
I'd suggest looking for community leaders, preferably ones with caretaking experience, and I'm guessing most of them might be a little older. Then offer training, as much as you can and as much as they can learn.
If you have a lot of volunteers, you might end up with a group where you can have the older folks dealing with networking and low-energy stuff (administration, organization, meals, interpreting...), while interested younger folk take some of the high-energy jobs (like hauling somebody's ass to the ER at 3am, or keeping the grouchy drunk away from dangerous stuff).
This was written entirely from my brain at so-late-its-early, but I think its halfway decent. If you've got critiques, I'm listening.
>>I would make the training free to anyone who wants it, but not require it. Not everyone is good at it, and emergencies have plenty of other things to do.<<
Point taken.
What about adding Basic How to Deal With Emergencies to Health class (while including things like don't haul around people with possible broken spines) and then offer the First Aid (and possibly Advanced How To Deal With Emergencies) as add-ins, extra credit, whatever?
I remember learning fire safety in kindergarten;
- but some things (Check-Call-Care), were from 1st Aid in college
- some (how to use a fire extinguisher) were things I taught myself
- some (call 911/the tow company, then say "[location], [type of help needed]" in case the line cuts out) I only learned incidentally in adulthood.
I think it might be useful to have some of the basic stuff availible without needing to take a specialist course.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2021-04-20 06:43 am (UTC)That's why I decided not to go into public education, and why I've bailed on more than one job. My low bullshit tolerance makes me unfit for modern society.
>>Related, I wonder if one could get a nunnery-afflliliated women's clinic or a doctor/clinic affiliated with Native American spirituality.<<
Well, there are a few facilities with a Native American doctor.
>>I don't exactly like the idea of 'you must belong to X group to work/be treated here,' (especially as a whites-only or mens' only hospital sets of neon glaring alarm bells). _However_, I can see good arguments for it, and if the situation is dire enough,... Besides, people don't think it's odd to prefer a same-gender doctor for some things.<<
I generally don't like it either. However, I note that in all-girl schools, the girls perform better academically especially in math and science. Given that black mothers die at 3-4 times the rate of white mothers, I would bet that rate would go down if they had (the option of choosing) all-black caregivers. Because nothing less, including wealth, protects from that. Numbers are similar for black babies dying.
>>If things get bad enough economy-wide or society-wise, we will likely go back to having a designated 'town Doc' who gets paid in eggs or firewood.<<
Yep.
>>And for the healthcare worker idea - if we pick up the Elizabethian 'when sick 1) consult household 2) consult neighborhood 3) call doctor or priest' model, from my understanding Third World community healthcare workers are essentially the 'call community' stage.<<
As it is now, many people do these things because they can't afford official care, or find it otherwise inaccessible.
Compare with Terramagne: most people have first aid training, there are some unofficial extras like street nurses, and the official system is tiered from neighborhood clinics to urgent care to emergency care. Things get handled at the lowest appropriate level, and passed upward if necessary. It works, and it prevents the traffic jams here.
>>What about adding Basic How to Deal With Emergencies to Health class (while including things like don't haul around people with possible broken spines) and then offer the First Aid (and possibly Advanced How To Deal With Emergencies) as add-ins, extra credit, whatever?<<
I'd love to see a class with all kinds of extra-credit modules for safety.
>>I remember learning fire safety in kindergarten;<<
The only useful thing I learned in fire lessons was "Stop-Drop-Roll." Everything else amounted to "run away and let it burn," which is downright vicious advice in a society that prefers to kill poor people. Figuring out things like how to put out a fire or how to tell if a fire is too big to fight with available materials, those I had to do on my own or find from other sources. Science classes have been quite handy for different methods of extinguishing -- well, and scouting, those had great instructions for campfire control.
>>I think it might be useful to have some of the basic stuff availible without needing to take a specialist course.<<
I agree. That's why we have libraries, and the internet is a great source of safety info. Though I still haven't found a really good, detailed set of instructions for casing a scene. They all say to do it, but never more than a few lines about how. I want the level of "stand this far back from a wrecked vehicle while analyzing it in case it explodes."
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2021-04-20 07:46 am (UTC)I am tired of people telling me to take what's of offer even if it is subpar nonsense. (I'm willing to put in work. I just want to be respected and valued as a person, instead of yanked around like a commodity.)
>>However, I note that in all-girl schools, the girls perform better academically especially in math and science.<<
...my most compelling argument for mixed-gender schools is that it teaches you how to deal with sexism and sexual harassment.
...oof, this society is messed up.
>>The only useful thing I learned in fire lessons was "Stop-Drop-Roll."<<
I think they taught us to stay near the floor and the touch-doorknobs-but-not-with-hands trick too.
Charitably speaking, it might be sensible to advise kids to always run, but teach teens or adults when and how to fight. Of course, it's also possible that the lessons are the lowest common denominator safety stuff...
>>I want the level of "stand this far back from a wrecked vehicle while analyzing it in case it explodes."<<
Look for stuff included in cop / EMT / firefighter / milita / military training materials. But I'm not sure how accesable they'd be to non trainees...
If you actually know someone who is ex-military or whatever you could also ask them for recommendations of a CliffNotes summary of the training.