Book download

Here is the link.. FB wouldn't let me post..

http://www.4shared.com/document/OlR4lKYZ/NO_GOD_BUT_LOVE_print.html

Interesting healthcare reform video

I found this, figured you might enjoy it.

-Logan

The Health Care problem..

Many people have been concerned about the unavailability of health care to many Americans. Bringing into question why is it so expensive? Why isn't it available to everybody? Aren't we the best?

The reason it isn't affordable in America is because it is very much a for profit industry, with thousands of different providers, each with their own administration and marketing costs that remove billions of dollars from paying for actual healthcare. This drives up premiums and co-pays to the point in which many Americans can not afford it. Mainly those who make between $15,000 and $30,000 per year. Another issue is if one is not insured the medical providers can charge whatever they want, which is much higher than the fees charged to the insured. If one centralized insurance was available (as many developed nations have) then it would eliminate billions in wasted expenses and allow healthcare to everybody. The health insurance spent around $5 million in the first month of the healthcare bill being passed lobbying to keep this from happening.

Sure its expensive but we are the best...Right? No, actually our healthcare system is ranked 37 in the world in terms of productivity, availability, and effectiveness (France is ranked #1). So we are paying ridiculous costs for services, and it isn't the best. Another problem is with the cost of prescription medications, the claim made by the industry is that research costs so much that they have to charge more. However in reality they spend more on marketing then research; interesting. The result is we pay more than double in most cases for the same medications that other nations do..

..Just some food for thought..

-Logan

Wal-Mart

Well Wal-mart has made it to the top of the income charts once again.. It's sad but true, it appears that Americans just love the Wal-Mart. Making money is the main goal of every business but they take it to the next level, forcing their employees to work harder, suppliers to produce cheaper, and giving no regard to the environment... Think before you shop next time. :)

New welfare system?

I was recently sent an article from the New York times by one of my professors that proposes quite an interesting new way of dealing with the poor and filling in the gap between the super poor and super rich. Read it for yourself and let me know what you think.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/03/to-beat-back-poverty-pay-the-poor/

-Logan

The Economy..

I think that we all can agree that the economy is suffering many changes right now but how is this effecting society as a whole? Well with the downfall of the economy we see more and more separation of classes and a shrinking middle class. This is because most of the individuals who were once middle class management, factory workers, etc are now unemployed or working low-wage jobs. This is due to the transition of our society from an industrial society to a service based one.

As you take a look around you can see the effects everywhere or you can take the numbers approach, either way you look at it we are amidst the biggest social change my generation has seen. The elimination of the middle class is talked about so much in the news but most people don't realize what the real effect of this is. The reality is that with no middle class we have the super rich (usually around 1% of the population) and the poor (the other 99%) in which are at the mercy of the elite rich. I'm sure everybody but the rich can see a problem with this.

-Cool fact: The top 1% in the united states has nearly 52% of the money..scary huh?-

So, now that we look at this.. how do we fix it? Well the answer is not a simple one as so many struggle to hold onto what they need and lose the rest. But simply put we need to follow the direction in which our economy is headed. First let me explain what a "service based industry" is, because it's used so often in the news (a post about the news is coming soon I can feel it) that it seems nobody knows what it is.

Service Based Industry what the heck is that?

Well my friends it is pretty much what the name says, based on the last data that I read our nation's jobs are broken down as follows 3% Agriculture, 17% Manufacturing (declining at 1%/year) and 80% service. This means that currently MOST of the jobs are already in service, and by this I don't mean just "would you like fries with that?" kind of service. Here are examples of people who provide services..

• Doctors
• Lawyers
• Teachers
• Mechanics
• Groundskeepers
• Police
• Fire Fighters
• Nurses
• Sales Agents

I'm sure you can think of more after reading that list because there is a lot of options within this "new" economy. So what does it take to get these jobs? EDUCATION! So simply put, if you want to succeed in this new economy it is important that you find something your interested in and go get a degree (or certification) in it. It doesn't really matter what it is, because there is a great need for qualified people out there, and the jobs you'll be filling don't even exist yet!

So give that some thought, and leave me your comments..

-Logan