ecosophia | Open (More or Less) Post on Covid 176

We are now in the fourth year of these open posts. When I first posted a tentative hypothesis on the course of the Covid phenomenon, I had no idea that discussion on the subject would still be necessary more than three years later, much less that it would turn into so lively, complex, and troubling a conversation. Still, here we are. Crude death rates and other measures of collapsing public health are anomalously high in many countries, but nobody in authority wants to talk about the inadequately tested experimental Covid injections that are the most likely cause; ~~public health authorities~~ government shills for the pharmaceutical industry are still trying to push through laws that will allow them to force vaccinations on anyone they want; public trust in science is collapsing; and the story continues to unfold.

So it's time for another open post. I have added a new rule (see below, #6):

1. If you plan on parroting the party line of the medical industry and its paid shills, please go away. This is a place for people to talk openly, honestly, and freely about their concerns that the party line in question is dangerously flawed and that actions being pushed by the medical industry and its government enablers are causing injury and death on a massive scale. It is not a place for you to dismiss those concerns. Anyone who wants to hear the official story and the arguments in favor of it can find those on hundreds of thousands of websites.

2. If you plan on insisting that the current situation is the result of a deliberate plot by some villainous group of people or other, please go away. There are tens of thousands of websites currently rehashing various conspiracy theories about the Covid-19 outbreak and the vaccines. This is not one of them. What we're exploring is the likelihood that what's going on is the product of the same arrogance, incompetence, and corruption that the medical industry and its wholly owned politicians have displayed so abundantly in recent decades. That possibility deserves a space of its own for discussion, and that's what we're doing here.

3. If you plan on using rent-a-troll derailing or disruption tactics, please go away. I'm quite familiar with the standard tactics used by troll farms to disrupt online forums, and am ready, willing, and able -- and in fact quite eager -- to ban people permanently for engaging in them here. Oh, and I also lurk on other Covid-19 vaccine skeptic blogs, so I'm likely to notice when the same posts are showing up on more than one venue.

4. If you plan on making off topic comments, please go away. This is an open post for discussion of the Covid epidemic, the vaccines, drugs, policies, and other measures that supposedly treat it, and other topics directly relevant to those things. It is not a place for general discussion of unrelated topics. Nor is it a place to ask for medical advice; giving such advice, unless you're a licensed health care provider, legally counts as practicing medicine without a license and is a crime in the US. Don't even go there.

5. If you don't believe in treating people with common courtesy, please go away. I have, and enforce, a strict courtesy policy on my blogs and online forums, and this is no exception. The sort of schoolyard bullying that takes place on so many other internet forums will get you deleted and banned here. Also, please don't drag in current quarrels about sex, race, religions, etc. No, I don't care if you disagree with that: my journal, my rules.

6. Please don't just post bare links without explanation. A sentence or two telling readers what's on the other side of the link is a reasonable courtesy, and if you don't include it, your attempted post will be deleted.

Please also note that nothing posted here should be construed as medical advice, which neither I nor the commentariat (excepting those who are licensed medical providers) are qualified to give. Please take your medical questions to the licensed professional provider of your choice.

With that said, the floor is open for discussion.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Liability insurance makes sense - your interests and their interests are mostly aligned. Although even there, you need to be wary of how slippery insurance can be.

All other insurance is a scam, always has been, always will be. In any case, don't throw all the baby out with the bathwater.

I always thought that the old "catastrophic" health insurance system made more sense, and from what I've heard, it used to work. People paid out of pocket for their routine health care, which was therefore responsive to market demands, and doctors even made house calls. Those who could afford it bought "catastrophic" insurance (sometimes called "hospitalization policies" if I remember correctly) that was relatively affordable, and which kicked in only in the event of a serious accident or major illness. The system seemed to work because not everyone needed to use their health insurance policies, since they were only for emergencies. Enough people who didn't wind up needing them bought them as a hedge against catastrophe, but if something really bad did happen, you had insurance to pay for it. But that's not how "health insurance" works anymore.

I'd cynically argue that even that sort of insurance is prone not to be there when you need it the most. It's their money and they don't want to give it back. Or if they can find an excuse not to pay, they'll take it.

My response to that is that yes, that can happen, but in a system where you actually have a competitive market, there is an incentive for insurance companies to pay out benefits, or else they won't stay in business. Unlike with modern health insurance that people are basically forced to have, the old "in case of a big emergency only" policies weren't required. If the company didn't have a reputation for paying out on policies when needed, people just didn't buy them. And, the insurance companies mainly made their profit off of not paying out at all for the majority of people who never made a claim, rather than off of rejecting legitimate claims.

Although, to be fair, these policies may no longer be workable in today's environment of chronic disease. They seemed better designed to serve a baseline healthier population.

"...in a system where you actually have a competitive market..."

I've often wondered if this mythical beast has ever been spotted in the wild.

Open (More or Less) Post on Covid 176

Re: Vaccines, Autism, and the Future

Re: Vaccines, Autism, and the Future

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