Death and Stuff

I've been thinking. I know, you're surprised. Anyway, I've been thinking about life and death and what it all means. If scientists are right, and they usually are, the known universe will cease to exist in one form or another at some point in the future. And I can't help but ask about the meaning of it all. Why all the killing, the back-stabbing, the lying? Why? What's the point if the sun is going to swallow us whole in about 5 billion years?

I was playing online the other day when I joined a group of three kids who were playing in their own "party". When I joined them and didn't conform to what they wanted to do, the proceeded to try to sabotage my game. They even went as far as to tell me to leave, that they didn't want me there. It reminded me a lot of how Monty, the gerbil, acted when we introduced the other gerbil, Oliver. Monty reacted violently to the prospect of another gerbil in his midst. We're not that much different from animals, no matter how much we want to deny it to ourselves.

That's why we kill each other, because we're animals. Because, in some weird way, we're all just trying to survive. All across history, money and power have meant survival, even when they really don't. (You've never seen a homeless person assassinated for their power or murdered for their wealth, have you?) And that's what has us at this juncture in history... again... and again... and again.

All human and scientific explanation aside, my Faith promises that there is something bigger out there to look forward to. There is life after death. There is a grander, better purpose. When we realize that, we will cease to be animals and become more than human. Then, not even the confines of this or any other universe will be enough to contain us.

Biased Opinions

There is this blog called "Effect Measure" which claims that it "is a forum for progressive public health discussion and argument as well as a source of public health information from around the web that interests the editor(s)." While I like some of the topics that they cover and their posts, the title and description of the blog can be very deceiving. Rather than "progressive", I would call the blog editors "liberal". And they are liberal to the point of fanatic some times. During the elections, they devoted post after post to the Republican ticket... Well, to denigrating and insulting the candidates, anyway. When I tried to comment and offer a "devil's advocate" point of view, I was ridiculed in just the same way. To them, anyone who supported the McCain-Palin ticket in 2008 was an anti-science, religious nut-job who wanted nothing more than the re-enslavement of African Americans.

Biased much?

This is not to say that I am not biased. It's part of human nature. But I will never tell you that I think one way and write another. I won't say that I'm progressive and then go on a liberal or conservative rant. (Yes, yes, you'll say that I don't know what progressive is. I know what it is, and the definition is not the point.) I am a strong believer that politics should be left out of public health, but even the new administration, with all its promises of change, has not managed to achieve that long-awaited divorce of what the few want with what the many need. We are still without a Secretary of Health, a Surgeon General, and all 50 states are cutting public health infrastructure to save a few bucks.

Even when I am red-hot with anger over the situation, I try to keep a clear head about the issues. I don't antagonize those who have a different point of view on the off chance that they might be right. Because, in my line of work, you have to be open to the possibilities and be careful of whom you call "wrong" or "right".

Job Security For Us In Health and Healthcare

Note the cigarettes and Mountain Dew (r)... Not to mention their size.

A Higher Standard

The Baltimore Sun is reporting today about Michael Phelps and his reaction to a published photo of him using marijuana at a party. Many people are disappointed that such a public figure and role model would tarnish his reputation like that. He is disappointed in himself because it brought back feelings of foolishness he felt when he was arrested in 2004 for drunk driving. His coach, Bob Bowman, tried to explain Michael's actions by saying that Michael has a stressful existence which leads to mistakes.

So do we hold him to a higher standard because he can swim faster than most human beings?

I'm holding him to a higher standard, personally, because thousands of people in my native Mexico are getting killed each year because of drug trafficking. When someone on the radio or television, or in print, or on the Internet, says that marijuana is not a "hard drug", I want to show them the pictures of all those decapitated by drug traffickers in Mexico. I want them to justify the drug trade and all the lives affected by it.

At the same time, i would not be too tough on him because he's, from my point of view, a kid. He didn't have a tough existence growing up, so his maturity level is not that of a 23 year-old who, for example, grew up working day in and day out to support a family of 12. Even the most mature 23 year-olds I know have made HUGE mistakes. We all do.

I'll give him a pass this time... But, if he does it again, he's off my list of role models for my (future) kids.

Our Heroes

I've always been impressed with our ability to raise people to the status of being heroes because of one or two traits that make them stand out. See, I don't believe that the ability to stand out is what makes a hero. There are plenty of people who work behind the scenes in all aspects of daily life who would be considered heroes if we found them. Last night, during the Super Bowl, I got to analyze this phenomenon a little further.

There is no doubt that all of the people in the stands saw one athlete or another as a hero, but I was impressed to see how many cheered on "Sully", the pilot who successfully landed a plane on the Hudson River, saving the passengers from a crash. There was also General Petraeus, who has turned around the war in Iraq. He received a lot of cheers. But then it was the athletes' turn.

And that's when I get uncomfortable. Sure, it's a great show, entertainment at its finest... But are those athletes really worthy of that much praise?

Of course, some of you will think I'm just jealous and maybe even go so far as saying that I would like to be worshipped like that. I would. Who wouldn't? But I would like to be worshipped like that right after everyone pays praise to all the men and women all over the world who get up in the morning and do some pretty awesome things so that the rest of us can have a good life. I would like us to buy the tee shirt of the trash collection men who clean up after us, or the medical volunteer who is buried in a mountain of sick people in Zimbabwe.

Those are the real heroes, not the rarities that just happen to be good athletes, good looking, or rich.