Dr. Starner Jones (More Healthcare debate)

[Legacy Fan]

snopes.com: Dr. Starner Jones

Posting the snopes link because, yes, the letter was written, and is legit. If you've received this in an email forward or facebook, you'll notice that many have taken some creative license with the text to further the image. I've only quoted Dr. Jones' letter - not the email forward.

During my last shift in the ER, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient with a shiny new gold tooth, multiple elaborate tattoos, and a new cellular telephone equipped with her favorite R&B tune for a ringtone.

Glancing over her chart, one could not help noticing her payer status: Medicaid. She smokes more than one costly pack of cigarettes every day, and somehow still has money to buy beer. And our President expects me to pay for this woman's health care?

Our nation's "health care crisis" is not the result of a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. It is a crisis of culture- a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on luxuries and vices while refusing to take care of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance.

Life is really not that hard. Most of us reap what we sow."

Respectfully,
STARNER JONES, MD

The simple fact of the matter here is that Dr. Jones get's it right. Very right. Opponents of the letter & proponents for Universal healthcare are/will be quick to dismiss this as tea-party, racial, hate speech. But that's only because of their inability to see beyond the surface, of anything.

Dr. Jones is merely doing what at least 8 years of college/professional school, 3 years of internship/residency, and 1/2 million dollars of debt has trained him to do. And here's the most important one - it's what every single one of us expects and demands that he do: Observe & assess symptoms to diagnose & treat a problem.

Not wanting to pay for the antagonist's (from the letter) health care doesn't make you a bad person. It doesn't make you racist, or uneducated. It does make you an enemy (to some). It's pure laziness. It's so bad that Maslow's Heirarchy of needs should be re-written just to accommodate this demographic. I shouldn't have to pay for that, and neither should you.

You can choose to help (and I do) those who want to help themselves but can't afford to. Or don't know how to. I'm a project coordinator and a representative of my class for a group that provides dental care to underserved areas in my state. It's the original and a group/model that has been used as a blueprint for other states to begin their own projects. We do more in a weekend than Uncle Sam has since FDR.

[Greythan]

Is it a flaw in policy/strategy or a flaw in execution?

Do you really think that liberals want the government to provide people with cell phones?

Issues like this are so over-politized (exclusively for capitalist purposes I would argue). The result is that we spend all our time arguing over policy and spend no time on execution. When, and we all know this from our various vocations, success is 90% execution and 10% having the right strategy (or policy). IMHO.

[Jax Dawg]

I don't know if Dr Starner Jones is real or not and frankly I don't care. I agree with the message in his letter that you need to work for what is really important, do the right thing and don't burden the rest of the taxpayers because you wan't a free pass.

Regardless if you lean left or right I have a strong feeling the universal healthcare initiative or ObamaCare will be ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court eventually. The best thing that could come of this debate may be insurance reform that provides cheaper access to insurance with no cancellation of policy possible by insurance companies. Of course to make this work hospitals and doctors will have to be periodically audited by someone to ensure no gouging of insurance companies continues to occur and unecessary procedures are performed which both drive up costs astronomically.

[mz.]

Originally Posted by Commie Doctor

It is a crisis of culture- a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on luxuries and vices while refusing to take care of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance.

Welcome to the land of personal freedom, pal. If you want to to live in a country where freedom to what one wants, within the guidelines of the law, you're going to get a lot of this.

Can't have it both ways.

[Legacy Fan]

Originally Posted by mz.

Welcome to the land of personal freedom, pal. If you want to to live in a country where freedom to what one wants, within the guidelines of the law, you're going to get a lot of this.

Can't have it both ways.

I don't think he's looking to 'have it both waysk mz. Personal freedom inherently carries personal responsibility. In that if you want to pursue 'vices' etc, you should be responsible enough to accept the consequences of those choices and not demand to be let off the hook when the floor falls out.
Posted via Barking Hard Mobile

[mz.]

Originally Posted by Legacy Fan

if you want to pursue 'vices' etc, you should be responsible enough to accept the consequences of those choices and not demand to be let off the hook when the floor falls out.

Should is the operative word here, for me. While true in a utopian society, we can't really expect this to be the case in real life.

That's why, to me, this scenario (where some people abuse the system) is the lesser of the two evils (the other evil being the society where freedom of choice is limited/killed).

[Vegasdogg]

Originally Posted by mz.

Welcome to the land of personal freedom, pal. If you want to to live in a country where freedom to what one wants, within the guidelines of the law, you're going to get a lot of this.

Can't have it both ways.

Welcome to the land where life is tough, and it's tougher when you're stupid. I'm all for personal freedoms but that comes with consequences and accepting responsibility for your decisions.

You liberals feel this is all okie dokie don't ya.

[hiwaygal]

Originally Posted by mz.

Should is the operative word here, for me. While true in a utopian society, we can't really expect this to be the case in real life.

That's why, to me, this scenario (where some people abuse the system) is the lesser of the two evils (the other evil being the society where freedom of choice is limited/killed).

Don't the folks who choose luxuries over necessities have freedom of choice? They are choosing a high tech cell phone or fancy shoes or whatever over health care.

The difference is the government isn't offering everyone a Blackberry. I think that might be cheaper.

[mz.]

Originally Posted by Vegasdogg

You liberals feel this is all okie dokie don't ya.

Never ONCE said it was OK (reading comp), or goes along with my morals. I just said that it's inevitable and the lesser of two evils (no freedom).

Originally Posted by hiwaygal

Don't the folks who choose luxuries over necessities have freedom of choice? They are choosing a high tech cell phone or fancy shoes or whatever over health care.

Of course they do. That's my point. And, as such, in a society where we grant really stupid/immature/whatever people freedom, we have to expect that this sort of thing will happen. Again, doesn't make it right, just inevitable.

[Vegasdogg]

Originally Posted by mz.

Never ONCE said it was OK (reading comp), or goes along with my morals. I just said that it's inevitable and the lesser of two evils (no freedom)

It's your quick acceptance and brush aside attitude that scares me, much like the rest of the country. "Hey man just relax, there isn't much you or I can do about it and it isn't going to stop so why get all upset, dude."

Because I don't accept this kind of thing anymore, and people across America both Dems and Repubs are sick and tired of shitheads not contributing.

To say this is what Freedom means is a copout. Freedom does not mean getting to do whatever the fuck you want to do. Men and Women shed blood for this, lost their lives and limbs for this, and the least we can do as fucking citizens of this great country is make damn well sure WE EARN the Freedom that was given by them.

[hiwaygal]

Originally Posted by mz.

Of course they do. That's my point. And, as such, in a society where we grant really stupid/immature/whatever people freedom, we have to expect that this sort of thing will happen. Again, doesn't make it right, just inevitable.

On that we agree.

I guess where we start to diverge is what is considered a "right" and what is considered a "choice".

You believe healthcare is a right, is that correct?

[Crow]

I would be more interested in seeing statistics of system abuse than I would care about one anecdote.