Soc 490; week quatro

Healthcare across the world

            So this blog is considered a two for one because we are blogging for not only this week but last week. For sociology class these two weeks we were able to go to the museum of the mind and the museum of medical arts, probably two of the most interesting places I have been so far because the human mind is a very interesting topic for me and the being in the medical field, the medical history interreges me. This blog will contain a variety of of topics, like the two museums, our readings for the week and what caught my eye and, the Romans approach to health care and if health care is something we can control.

            First, I will start off with healthcare and if it is something we can control. In my opinion, yes and no for several reasons. Yes, you can control your health because of the personal choices you make through your life and the lifestyle you chose to live. If you exercise regularly and eat right then you can control a great amount of your health and if you eat poorly and do not exercise regularly just be prepared for the consequences. No, you cannot control your health because of several factors like, genetics, environmental, economic or illness factors. For example, if a person is diagnosed with cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer or even skin cancer, it is all not preventable and more than likely will lead to health problems, something that is out of your control. For example, my lifestyle ad health when I was younger was poor, my diet was unhealthy but I did get exercise and then now I am healthier now a days with the help of weight watchers, maturity, higher impact of sports, parents lifestyle changes and educating myself about the food I eat and what is around me. A person’s health is something they can control but at the same time they cannot control.

            Now, a person health in one country is different from another because of several reasons. Like comparing Rome’s lifestyle compared to the USA. In the United States, there are more wide spread smoking bands, like not in public places or only in certain areas outside but in Italy, I do not think they have such a thing. I have seen people smoke everywhere, blown in my face by a person walking by. If a person chooses to smoke then fine, it does not bother me because that is a person’s right to choose the habit but I do not like Italy’s way of not supporting the greater good against second hand smoke and this is one thing I think Romans need to take from our country. So on that note, the United States needs to take notice on some of the healthy habits of the Romans. Italians do eat healthier or should I say, the food that they eat is healthier. The Mediterranean diet is considered what most Italian people eat, healthy oils, breads pastas fish, nothing deep fried. American diets are filled with fast food or unhealthy food, lots of sugar or fat. Personally, I ate very healthy before coming here but one approach that I will take from the Roman lifestyle is using only olive oil and vinegar for salad dressing, a very healthy habit that I love. The Roman lifestyle is, in my opinion, healthier that of Americas lifestyle because of the options we Americans are given daily, the variety in our foods and ability to go get whatever is on our mind.

            For the readings that we did this week, well the reading in “Gaudium”, seemed to stick with me the most. “The economically more advanced countries and other countries is becoming more serious day by day, and the very peace of the world can be jeopardized thereby” or “Feed the man dying of hunger because if you have not fed him, you have killed him, and really to share and employ by supporting individuals or peoples with the aid by which they may be able to help and develop themselves”. These two quotes for the selected readings caught my attention because they swayed my opinion of healthcare being a right or privilege, go to being in the middle. The more of a gap there is between the poor and the better off people will lead to problems, whether it is in the country or the state that we live in. The more people we leave uninsured, not by choice, the more people unable to afford or get care and we need to take care of those who cannot take care of themselves. While it does make no sense to help those who can help themselves, I do not think it is possible to separate the people that really need help verses the people that don’t need help, you can either give insurance to both groups or do not give insurance to both groups. In Gaudium, it always talks about the “universal common good” or the common good”, this phrase is said a lot and I am thinking more and more toward the common good but it is difficult to change the way you think.

            In the other readings for this week it was all about other countries healthcare system verses ours. The biggest problem I have with the universal healthcare book, Is the fact that there are no citations or ways that I can look up the information or the fact that I have not found a single fact an author has given from any year past 2010. Data from 2009 and older serve as no evidence for today’s statistics and figures of the medical care given today or people uninsured and the lower economical class of the United States. Or the author, Michael Tanner, giving statements like “you could lose your current insurance, Are you happy with your insurance? Too bad.” Or “ no matter, the government know best”. And another “higher taxes…estamates of the new healthcare program run from $65 billion to $600 billion…..money ultimately coming out of the pockets of hard-working men and women.” Tanner is making all that “could” statements these things could happen but we will not know until it happens or doesn’t happen. The estimated cost he gives, well he does not give a source for this information and the fact that everything fro buying a car, fixing a car, student loans or building a new school has an estimate of what it would cost, something’s can go over a given estimate and somethings can be under estimated.

            Overall, I have learned that the Roman approach to healthcare is not exactly as healthy as it seems, like the way they approach food is healthy, like olive oil and vinegar for everything and fast food not as readily available, but for the more open smoking atmosphere, that is not. Or, that your health is something you can and cannot control no doubt about that. I am controlling my health to be better and I am in fact getting better, healthier over time, 60lbs gone and still losing. As for healthcare being a right or a privilege well, I am now on the fence, ideas inside my head are just swirling around and around, bouncing off the walls, so as of now I am undecided on which is the better choice. As for the best part of the past two weeks the museum of the mind was the best, absolutely exciting and it made me look forward to learn even more about the human mind through my upcoming years of nursing and psychology classes!