thoughtful"A rock has no moral status: we may crush it, pulverize it, or subject it to any treatment
we like without any concern for the rock itself. A human person, on the other hand,
must be treated not only as a means but also as an end."
It's such a very wašíču way of perceiving the world, as something without moral value, something to used and destroyed at whim. Which is exactly what they are doing, and the results of this include a great deal of harm along with the things that people like.
There are whole other ethical systems out there, one of which is framed as mitakuye oyasin. In this philosophy, everything is alive and everything is connected. What we do to the world around us, we also do to ourselves. This is factual in two ways: 1) We are all made out of the same elements: stars, planets, rocks, plants, animals, humans, came from the same source. 2) We all share the same biosphere here on Earth, and unbalanced destruction spreads whether you realize it or not. And so the tribal philosophy reminds us that we are part of a very large, very tight-knit family; that we must not do things on a whim, but think first whether it is needed, because other beings and things have a right to their own existence. The hunter would look for an animal ready to die, not a mother with young. The knapper would look for the knife within the stone, not a rock that was busy being something else.
To see the world as full of life and meaning and rights is to walk through a very different world indeed. But at least that one does not lead to lighting the biosphere on fire because driving cars seems like fun.
Times like this, it becomes obvious that I may have fair skin, but I'm not really white. I don't think like they do. The best description of my ethnicity, I got from a black friend in college: "Yeah, you can pass for white ... until you open your mouth."
What are some of your ethical principles or observations?
Re: Yes...
July 6 2016, 02:52:30 UTC 4 years ago
*Confusion*
Wow, I had no idea dentists were so bad. But it makes sense. People in this country only go to the doctor when there's an emergency, I'm thinking it's at least as bad for dentists, and at that point most people are probably in too much pain to argue.
Re: Yes...
July 6 2016, 02:58:46 UTC 4 years ago
A further problem with dentists is that many of them refuse to take emergencies, or if they do, demand non-emergency care before treating the emergency. For anyone who is unable to afford, or has contraindications for, the various types of non-emergency care then this can make care of any kind completely unavailable. They don't have to help you, and many times they just won't.
Re: Yes...
July 6 2016, 03:16:01 UTC 4 years ago
O_O Seriously???
OMG, I mean hospitals are legally required to take in emergency cases, and are even given the means to write off the costs of helping poor people in such a way that they get paid by the government for it. The same should be true of dentists.
Did you know that on Medicare, at least on the basic level of Medicare (not one of the paid extra modules), that dental work isn't covered at all? I was surprised to find that out.
Re: Yes...
July 6 2016, 03:23:31 UTC 4 years ago
If only. Dentists often cater to people with money, which makes sense given that few health plans cover it and dental care is very expensive. So they try to filter out "undesirable" customers. Places that take people who aren't at least middle-class? They tend to deliver shitty care, because anyone who can get a job somewhere better does so.
>>Did you know that on Medicare, at least on the basic level of Medicare (not one of the paid extra modules), that dental work isn't covered at all? I was surprised to find that out.<<
Many, many plans omit dental and vision care. Because apparently some body parts are more important than others, and taking care of a whole person is a nuisance.