70% of nursing homes are now corporate operations run by absentee executives who have no experience in nursing homes and who’re guided by maximizing investor profits.
A social conscience, human kindness, and compassion do not a profit make. When you enter the corporate world, you have to leave all that at the door, as well as the ability to feel shame. Power over life and death is literally in the hands of the wealthy, whose relatives are well taken care of. The rest of us may have to settle for what has been called "God's waiting room". Sound cynical? Yes, but sadly, it's true. When will enough be enough?
The purer capitalism becomes, the more of your soul you have to sell to continue being a part of it. Not that I condemn capitalism outright. It's driven innovation and progress that has improved the human condition. But if left to its own devices, unregulated, it's vicious, and you end up with elderly people neglected in short-staffed nursing homes, among a host of other evils. When will enough be enough, indeed?
Corpracats have a hunger in their hearts for more, More! The unregulated corporate economic system wreaks death and destruction of the planet as long as the GNP is a number value, placed by whomever on the harvested natural resources of a living ecosystem. The government sanctioned paperwork for permits to do , be ,do and miners say, drill baby drill.
The economic system we're all suffering under was concocted by a couple of ingenious economists named Friedmann and Laffer who decided that corporate profits were the answer to _________ ( fill in the blank - they thought it was the answer to everything). The economists we have these days that followed in their footsteps formulate all kinds of models and equations to show how profits can be maxed out. They use a guy they call homo economicus (I'm not making this stuff up) to lead the way. Homo economicus is an imaginary human who is totally selfish, completely rational, and relentless in pursuit of his own desires. Economists created homo economicus so that he could find and lead them through pathways that would end in the most profitable outcomes. Who better to find and lead the way to profits than someone who’s perfectly selfish, rational, and relentless? That’s the concept. So economists put homo economicus into different scenarios and then use elegant, complicated mathematics to figure out what he could do and where it would lead. Then the economists write policies to clear the way for the most profitable path that homo economicus has shown them. The belief behind it all is that the more profits corporations make, the more wealth there is, and that wealth will trickle down to ordinary Americans.
Nearly half a century's gone by since this has been going on and it hasn't worked out the way it was supposed to. Instead of wealth trickling down to ordinary Americans, the rich have gotten richer, the middle class has had to work harder and harder to make ends meet, and the poor have gotten poorer.
If trickle-down was going to happen, the mathematical formulas the economists use would have had to include a variable that’s missing. For all of their complicated elegance, the economist’s equations don't include a fundamental variable, a variable that most people would agree should not only be included, but should also be the most heavily weighted. That is to say, this missing variable should reflect not only what's the most important thing, but how much more important it is than everything else.
The mathematics in the models mostly use variables that express productivity, efficiency, and profit. So what's the all-important variable that economists have left out of their equations? It's human well-being. Human well-being is disregarded. It doesn't have any place in calculations that're only interested in maxing out profits.
It turns out that homo economicus has led us astray. He’s led us to believe that human happiness and well-being depend on profits. Only profits. Of course, in the real world, it’s a lot more complicated than that. Human beings are naturally cooperative, emotional, and moral. They’re not relentlessly selfish and perfectly rational like homo economicus. What makes a human being happy and what makes homo economicus happy are two very different things.
We're suffering under an economic system that's designed to make corporations and their greedy owners happy instead of ordinary Americans.
Excellent researching and thank you for sharing this with us! I think that the well being of life on planet Earth is the most important thing and humans are the species that have the language to develop theories like Homo Economics. Watching'Time Machine' with Guy Pearce
Thanks, Linda. I watched the 1960 version of 'The Time Machine with my older brother. Every day after that for the rest of the week we played a game we called Time Machine (of course). We'd pretend we were travelling through time and having all kinds of adventures. It was a blast. I haven't seen the 2002 version of 'The Time Machine'. I hope it's good!
Exactly. The vicious pursuit of the almighty dollar is the sole focus of the conscienceless corporate fascists. Their so-called credo is basically "How much can I get, and how little will they accept?"
Very true! There is one thing you said that has hidden meaning in the context of assisted living places, skilled nursing facilities, and nursing homes. It's related to your "God's waiting room" phrase, and it boils down to this: Beware the PROSELYTIZERS! My family was never religious, but I can tell you that there are people who hang around these places to, you know, "spread the good word." But you know what some of them do? They convince soft targets (meaning elderly, approaching or at death's door), to put THEM into their wills! I learned recently that one of my client's mom was in one of these places. When she died, they were shocked to discover that the nursing home staff GOT EVERYTHING! My client was lamenting that one of the things he totally treasured was a WW2 watch, one that his long past enlisted relative actually owned during the war. That, along with every other tangible asset, GONE, absorbed by the nursing home staffers. On top of the degraded and degrading health care these places do--profits over people--WATCH OUT for the "God's grifters"!!!
Thanks, Jaime, that is an eye opener. We feel for your client and all the other victims out there. Isn't it amazing what kind of evil people are capable of when greed drives them? Using religion/faith to rob people is beyond despicable!
You're welcome! And... I couldn't agree more. I see greed as one of humanity's greatest--if not THE greatest--Achilles heels. It drives so much destruction and suffering. And for what? So someone can add another yacht to their collection? Maybe a bigger mansion? But just to reiterate our point... using religion as a vehicle for carrying out greed motives--that is, praying upon, or rather, preying upon!--really does constitute the lowest of the low.
Wow! Well, that bespeaks of the natural trajectory of the human brain--for many of us, at least--once we get up into those golden years. It's interesting that she retained and could access those decades-past Hoover-related memories. I'll give your aunt credit for getting the party right, at least!!!
Just to clarify one thing I said, in my client's case where the family was basically swindled out of their inheritance, I'm not clear whether it was the actual facility staff, or regular "guests" who basically ran informal and/or formal religious programs at the facility, or there was cooperation between the two groups. I wouldn't be surprised if combos of people run grift all the time at those places. I was on the phone with my mom when one of the "floaters" came around to her room; I could hear him asking her, once he saw that she was on the phone, if "now" was a good time for him to have a sit down with her, or later. Without skipping a beat, my mom replied "Later would be better!" I couldn't hep but grin at that; my mom's still a pretty sharp cookie for her age. I'm just glad she didn't spend any time at those places than she did, mainly for the poor healthcare quality issues that spawned Hightower's article, but also due to rogue people and the "extracurricular" threats some of them pose. As a final suggestion here, for anyone who must leave a loved one in a care facility where targeting is a risk, consider getting a TRUST set up in your loved one's name, and have his / her assets safeguarded there. It's much, MUCH harder for grifters to penetrate assets in a trust.
I'm pretty sure I get your meaning. To expand and and verify... I admire good-natured, mutually respective people, regardless of their religiosity level, PROVIDED that they are respectful towards me and operate in good faith (and by "faith" in this context, I don't mean the religious form). To meld our sentiments together here, I, like I think you, recognize that (at least many organized) religions tend to push its adherents to disrespect others--in particular to the extent that the "others' " religious views don't alight with their own. In other words, conflicts are more likely to be arise from members of organized religions versus people who are more of the"spiritual but not religious" variety. Maybe I just took 10 times the words to convey what you did in 14 words or so?! (LOL!)
No, your clarification is just fine, and we like people who keep an open mind. Fanaticism is the worst kind of "religion". We are lifelong Lutherans. Ours is a living, working religion. We are inclusive and tolerant, and we don't proselytize. Our faith tells us to "go and do" where we see need, instead of talking about how you can get rich and powerful - and save your soul at the same time. That is the spirit of greed corrupting the teachings of Christ until they are unrecognizable. On this point, we might agree on what religion has become.
Good deal! I was the tech manager of a small tech company decades ago. My boss and his wife were Lutherans. They were just as you describe: inclusive and tolerant. And they didn't proselytize. I learned a lot from him. He had good ethics, and was a really smart and well-rounded guy. Sounds like we're on the same page in terms of what religion has become.
I'm an engineer, former tech teacher and now private math and science tutor. So I VERY MUCH appreciate the concept reducing an equation to it's simplest terms! (...and today, I literally will be helping a student do exactly that: Algebraic simplifications!). But as you allude to, when it comes to human beings, there's room for "embellishments"! Glad you picked up some value from my wordy post!
I was 14 my first Ouija Board connection, my sister's birthday present and we asked it what our husband's initials would be. It hit mine and my sister's husband's initials exactly as the all spirit is also all eternity. I've only done it two times and the second time l asked if my husband had gone to heaven or hell and it went round and round the board, not stopping on any answer. I met my late husband when l was 35.
I find religious writing to be an attempt at social order for the masses of people to follow, it's like an ancient history and each civilization has its own stories and way of teaching them to the next generation. I find most churches and evangelical proponents to be clueless followers of a writing that is in response to a past moment of eternity. The present moment is always the center of eternity and is all that we really have.
I look at God as all spirit and no thing. If it is written l see it as the Lord. To have life is to be a part of the universal all spirit and that is why telepathy and the Ouija Board work, as some things have to be believed to be seen. I like the greeting 'Namaste' as it translates to me to "l greet the God spirit within you.". It is all inclusive as l try to be, as l believe that all names are the name of God and that Jesus and Lucifer are duking it out for your soul, but God put both of them up to it!
My late husband asked me what l thought spirit is and l replied some kind of energy force. He said that spirit is neither matter or energy, it is something completely different but it affects matter and energy. What is missing when the physical body dies? I saw my father's spirit leave his body when he died. Some things have to be seen to be believed and some things have to be believed to be seen.
My 93 yo father-in-law was in an assisted living facility with several locations. In the entry vestibule was hung a large poster of the founder, with the quote, "When we make every decision based on what's in the best interest of the resident the rest will take care of itself." Too bad they didn't observe it in practice. It should have said, "when we make every decision based on what's in the best interest of maximizing profits . . ."
We've moved him to a much better and even less expensive place.
My mom-in-law was in an assisted living facility for 6 years. It was a fairly decent place, with good food & activities, but the staff was constantly changing. Whenever we’d get a relationship going with a manager to make sure her needs were met, that manager would be gone within a few months. When she passed away from pneumonia after paying all those years, the only thing we heard from the company was a terse letter telling us we had two weeks to clear out her room; no word of sympathy whatsoever!
I'm 90 years old, living alone in a "55 or better" mobile home park and am aware of a number of residents who have one or two nurses taking care of them full-time on a rotation basis. It's full-time help...expensive but works beautifully. I don't have that choice unless I ask my children for financial back-up...I'm grateful that they can afford to help me make that choice when I realize the possible neglect of assisted living. We'll see.
It seems as though more and more aspects of life are coming under the control of corporations whose only goal is to maximize their profits, regardless of the effects on the well-being of those they presumably serve. Is it any wonder that the gap between the rich and the rest of us is continually widening?
Thanks for the link. I gave to Consumer Voice. I'm 90 and live at home, but who knows? I might need them in the next few years. Already I've seen what Wall Street did to our vet's practice. Evil.
I took my mom, now 92, into my care 5 years ago. She had two hip surgeries since then, and each time, the surgeon prescribed a few weeks for "rehab" at so-called skilled nursing facilities ("SNF"). The results? HORRIBLE! After a "honeymoon" period wore off (a few days), where the staff seemed completely attentive and welcoming, bad things happened. They ranged form neglect, apathy and incompetence, to outright fraud--the latter of where one of the places caused a pressure ulcer to form on my mom's heel, then, near the end of the 20 day Medicare-covered period, tried to get her to 1) sign over medical power of attorney (MPOA) to THEM, and 2) also tried to keep her down with an antibiotic drip for 10 (more) days, which, BTW, would make things even worse for her (one of the things I discovered is that, since their PT / Physical Therapy staff doesn't work on the weekends, the staff essentially "warehouses" the residents, meaning that they stay in bed from Friday evening, until the following Monday morning, not getting up at all; unless they can on their own accord.) I had noticed multiple SNFs following the (greater profits) trend of dumping their land-line phone systems, placing the burden on their patients, requiring them to bring their own cell phones; not practical for a 92 y.o., or patients with any degree of dementia). They cut prune juice from their menus. They foist 3 kinds of laxatives upon the patients every day (last two sentences -> follow the money). I could go on, but suffice it say that I won't let my mom come ANYWHERE NEAR one of those places again!
Life expectancy in the US is declining, along with quality of life. There are a number of reasons, most of them having to do with corporate earnings. When Friedmann and Laffer concocted trickle-down economics back in the 80s, it freed up corporations to do things like short-staff nursing homes. Trickle-down let them off the hook for any social responsibility. It was all about the profits, the whole profits, and nothing but the profits.
Now, while I see corporate greed as villainous, I don't see it as entirely to blame for America's decline. The glorification of wealth has a thing or two to do with it as well. Chasing after money is what it’s all about in America now. Rich people hoarding mountains of wealth are idolized. And then the ad industry seduces people into wanting things, and buying things. It glorifies their power to buy. It drives people to make and hoard as much money and buy as many things as they can. The consumers are the consumed.
Sounds like fun, right? Wrong. It's a tragedy. It's dog-eat-dog. It’s a glorification of selfishness, self-absorption, and self-importance. And where does it get people? It hardens their hearts to others. It makes them envious. It makes them unhappy with themselves because they’re never able to get enough. They always want more. It makes them fearful of losing everything they’ve hoarded. People caught up in the glorification of wealth care more about their money and their things than their fellow human beings.
Just like corporations.
So yeah, corporations need regulation, but so does society. Tax the pants off corporations and billionaires, and use the money for things like nursing homes.
I don't see much difference between corporate greed and the glorification of wealth. I"m for a progressive tax structure where you pay more % wehen you make more. If you're already rich, your new money that year should be taxed higher.
Corporate greed and the glorification of wealth... Same s**t, different dog. I couldn't agree with you more about a progressive tax structure. I'd take it a step further and suggest that there should be limits on wealth, like say, off the top of my head, nobody should have more than fifty million dollars. Not when there are sick people who can't afford healthcare, and homeless people who can't afford housing, and hungry people who can't afford food. Hoarding more than $__________ (go ahead and fill in the blank off the top of your head) doesn't do anybody any good.
“I never intend to adjust myself to economic conditions that will take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few and leave millions of God’s children smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society.”
- Martin Luther King Jr.
And there's another thing about the accumulation and concentration of wealth: It's corrupted the democracy. When you're a billionaire and you can make unlimited political "donations", you're not living in a democracy. You're living in a rich f****rocracy.
And if your heirs can inherit your wealth and make the same kind of unlimited political "donations", it's a monarchy, just without all the titles like king and lord and duke.
Sorry about all the asterisks. This stuff gets my dander up.
Very well put indeed. But change has to start at ground level, don't you think? As long as Americans are setting their values aside in order to pursue wealth and buy stuff, they will remain tied to this consumer-driven economy. What we need is something like the "Great Awakening", but without the religious control of the original movement. (Not that we are against religion per se.) Simply reclaiming our humanity - it would be a start.
Thanks, and yes, I think it has to start from the ground level up. I like your thoughts about reclaiming our humanity. Instead of the "Great Awakening", how about the "Great Reclamation"?
I just hope to hell we can tear our government and ourselves away from the obscene and blatant corruption that has taken over our republic. Profit over people is the norm these days. I have four Grandchildren and four Greats. I can't imagine what their lives will be like. This industry is just one of many. I'm losing hope.
Symptoms of econopathy--the neoclassical (neolib) econ system both major parties support. Among its assertions the only real human motivation is the utility function, personal gain, profit. A corollary is The Market (their de facto deity) knows best. Since corporations are based on Market principles (their holy writ) whereas government is not, they should be in charge.
If functions like health care and education were run totally on Market assumptions, then unprofitable losers like the very sick or genetically problematic should be dropped. Especially if not wealthy. Same for schools; anything very much below the top of the IQ Bell curve, learning disabilities, cultural differences, poor areas. Anywhere rife with Social Darwinist losers.
The Market is assumed to be where individuals who have equal access and perfect information make exchanges. The successful are such because they are talented, work hard, and understand Market reality. Failure is due to innate inability or insufficient personal effort. A subtle version is the Dem party elite's talk of "meritocracy." The shortcomings of this mind set well described in David Halberstam's book about the Vietnam war titled //The Best and the Brightest.//
Knowing that the profit motive subverts senior care means that we need to create a new paradigm where the care of the individual is paramount.If the will is there the solution will be found.
Charleston Gazette 2/3/2026 front page story about the W.V. State Legislature voted yesterday to allow the plans being made for creating data base centers to be hidden from the Public to avoid local opposition.
The W.V. State Police escorted the Mountain Valley Pipeline monster corporate machines over these country roads, drivers all jacked up on Monster Energy drinks, going so fast, l was run off the road onto the shoulder by one zooming along on a blind curve one lane two way road. Yup, the W.V. State Police front and back of the oversized load tractor trailers on the two lane.. I didn't donate when they called me asking for my support.
My 101 year old mother spent 13 years in senior, then assisted living in Fresno, CA, and we watched as a very good place was bought and sold 5 times by the profiteers and the staffing, food, services and activities declined until they were so terrible that we left for a short, but much better stay in a family run place. The elevator was past its inspection date, the back door lock was broken and there was no one on duty at the nurses station night after night. Mom fell, pressed her alarm button and no one came. She had to crawl out to the hallway, where a resident found and helped her get to a hospital stay. The place, to save money, hired the bus driver as its manager, so ran for a year with no competent management. The pool was too dirty to even think about using, in a climate that got up to 105 degrees in summer. Where was the state or federal oversight? None of these crimes should be happening as Hightower points out, but our loved seniors are being robbed of real care by the profit-is-everything criminals, as big money destroys our country.
A social conscience, human kindness, and compassion do not a profit make. When you enter the corporate world, you have to leave all that at the door, as well as the ability to feel shame. Power over life and death is literally in the hands of the wealthy, whose relatives are well taken care of. The rest of us may have to settle for what has been called "God's waiting room". Sound cynical? Yes, but sadly, it's true. When will enough be enough?
The purer capitalism becomes, the more of your soul you have to sell to continue being a part of it. Not that I condemn capitalism outright. It's driven innovation and progress that has improved the human condition. But if left to its own devices, unregulated, it's vicious, and you end up with elderly people neglected in short-staffed nursing homes, among a host of other evils. When will enough be enough, indeed?
Corpracats have a hunger in their hearts for more, More! The unregulated corporate economic system wreaks death and destruction of the planet as long as the GNP is a number value, placed by whomever on the harvested natural resources of a living ecosystem. The government sanctioned paperwork for permits to do , be ,do and miners say, drill baby drill.
The economic system we're all suffering under was concocted by a couple of ingenious economists named Friedmann and Laffer who decided that corporate profits were the answer to _________ ( fill in the blank - they thought it was the answer to everything). The economists we have these days that followed in their footsteps formulate all kinds of models and equations to show how profits can be maxed out. They use a guy they call homo economicus (I'm not making this stuff up) to lead the way. Homo economicus is an imaginary human who is totally selfish, completely rational, and relentless in pursuit of his own desires. Economists created homo economicus so that he could find and lead them through pathways that would end in the most profitable outcomes. Who better to find and lead the way to profits than someone who’s perfectly selfish, rational, and relentless? That’s the concept. So economists put homo economicus into different scenarios and then use elegant, complicated mathematics to figure out what he could do and where it would lead. Then the economists write policies to clear the way for the most profitable path that homo economicus has shown them. The belief behind it all is that the more profits corporations make, the more wealth there is, and that wealth will trickle down to ordinary Americans.
Nearly half a century's gone by since this has been going on and it hasn't worked out the way it was supposed to. Instead of wealth trickling down to ordinary Americans, the rich have gotten richer, the middle class has had to work harder and harder to make ends meet, and the poor have gotten poorer.
If trickle-down was going to happen, the mathematical formulas the economists use would have had to include a variable that’s missing. For all of their complicated elegance, the economist’s equations don't include a fundamental variable, a variable that most people would agree should not only be included, but should also be the most heavily weighted. That is to say, this missing variable should reflect not only what's the most important thing, but how much more important it is than everything else.
The mathematics in the models mostly use variables that express productivity, efficiency, and profit. So what's the all-important variable that economists have left out of their equations? It's human well-being. Human well-being is disregarded. It doesn't have any place in calculations that're only interested in maxing out profits.
It turns out that homo economicus has led us astray. He’s led us to believe that human happiness and well-being depend on profits. Only profits. Of course, in the real world, it’s a lot more complicated than that. Human beings are naturally cooperative, emotional, and moral. They’re not relentlessly selfish and perfectly rational like homo economicus. What makes a human being happy and what makes homo economicus happy are two very different things.
We're suffering under an economic system that's designed to make corporations and their greedy owners happy instead of ordinary Americans.
Excellent researching and thank you for sharing this with us! I think that the well being of life on planet Earth is the most important thing and humans are the species that have the language to develop theories like Homo Economics. Watching'Time Machine' with Guy Pearce
Thanks, Linda. I watched the 1960 version of 'The Time Machine with my older brother. Every day after that for the rest of the week we played a game we called Time Machine (of course). We'd pretend we were travelling through time and having all kinds of adventures. It was a blast. I haven't seen the 2002 version of 'The Time Machine'. I hope it's good!
Adam Smith was incomplete. Watching" A Beautiful Mind" with Russell Crowe
Exactly. The vicious pursuit of the almighty dollar is the sole focus of the conscienceless corporate fascists. Their so-called credo is basically "How much can I get, and how little will they accept?"
And get your volunteer groups to clean up the mess we left their communities in.
Very true! There is one thing you said that has hidden meaning in the context of assisted living places, skilled nursing facilities, and nursing homes. It's related to your "God's waiting room" phrase, and it boils down to this: Beware the PROSELYTIZERS! My family was never religious, but I can tell you that there are people who hang around these places to, you know, "spread the good word." But you know what some of them do? They convince soft targets (meaning elderly, approaching or at death's door), to put THEM into their wills! I learned recently that one of my client's mom was in one of these places. When she died, they were shocked to discover that the nursing home staff GOT EVERYTHING! My client was lamenting that one of the things he totally treasured was a WW2 watch, one that his long past enlisted relative actually owned during the war. That, along with every other tangible asset, GONE, absorbed by the nursing home staffers. On top of the degraded and degrading health care these places do--profits over people--WATCH OUT for the "God's grifters"!!!
Thanks, Jaime, that is an eye opener. We feel for your client and all the other victims out there. Isn't it amazing what kind of evil people are capable of when greed drives them? Using religion/faith to rob people is beyond despicable!
You're welcome! And... I couldn't agree more. I see greed as one of humanity's greatest--if not THE greatest--Achilles heels. It drives so much destruction and suffering. And for what? So someone can add another yacht to their collection? Maybe a bigger mansion? But just to reiterate our point... using religion as a vehicle for carrying out greed motives--that is, praying upon, or rather, preying upon!--really does constitute the lowest of the low.
I remember in the 2000 election my Aunt was approached by Republicans Campaigning for Bush/Cheney and had her enthusiastic support for Herbert Hoover!
Wow! Well, that bespeaks of the natural trajectory of the human brain--for many of us, at least--once we get up into those golden years. It's interesting that she retained and could access those decades-past Hoover-related memories. I'll give your aunt credit for getting the party right, at least!!!
Just to clarify one thing I said, in my client's case where the family was basically swindled out of their inheritance, I'm not clear whether it was the actual facility staff, or regular "guests" who basically ran informal and/or formal religious programs at the facility, or there was cooperation between the two groups. I wouldn't be surprised if combos of people run grift all the time at those places. I was on the phone with my mom when one of the "floaters" came around to her room; I could hear him asking her, once he saw that she was on the phone, if "now" was a good time for him to have a sit down with her, or later. Without skipping a beat, my mom replied "Later would be better!" I couldn't hep but grin at that; my mom's still a pretty sharp cookie for her age. I'm just glad she didn't spend any time at those places than she did, mainly for the poor healthcare quality issues that spawned Hightower's article, but also due to rogue people and the "extracurricular" threats some of them pose. As a final suggestion here, for anyone who must leave a loved one in a care facility where targeting is a risk, consider getting a TRUST set up in your loved one's name, and have his / her assets safeguarded there. It's much, MUCH harder for grifters to penetrate assets in a trust.
I admire people with a spritual being. I despise religion - all of it.
I'm pretty sure I get your meaning. To expand and and verify... I admire good-natured, mutually respective people, regardless of their religiosity level, PROVIDED that they are respectful towards me and operate in good faith (and by "faith" in this context, I don't mean the religious form). To meld our sentiments together here, I, like I think you, recognize that (at least many organized) religions tend to push its adherents to disrespect others--in particular to the extent that the "others' " religious views don't alight with their own. In other words, conflicts are more likely to be arise from members of organized religions versus people who are more of the"spiritual but not religious" variety. Maybe I just took 10 times the words to convey what you did in 14 words or so?! (LOL!)
No, your clarification is just fine, and we like people who keep an open mind. Fanaticism is the worst kind of "religion". We are lifelong Lutherans. Ours is a living, working religion. We are inclusive and tolerant, and we don't proselytize. Our faith tells us to "go and do" where we see need, instead of talking about how you can get rich and powerful - and save your soul at the same time. That is the spirit of greed corrupting the teachings of Christ until they are unrecognizable. On this point, we might agree on what religion has become.
Good deal! I was the tech manager of a small tech company decades ago. My boss and his wife were Lutherans. They were just as you describe: inclusive and tolerant. And they didn't proselytize. I learned a lot from him. He had good ethics, and was a really smart and well-rounded guy. Sounds like we're on the same page in terms of what religion has become.
Jaime, as a statistician, I like to reduce an equation to its simplest terms. Your embellishment is quite nice though.
I'm an engineer, former tech teacher and now private math and science tutor. So I VERY MUCH appreciate the concept reducing an equation to it's simplest terms! (...and today, I literally will be helping a student do exactly that: Algebraic simplifications!). But as you allude to, when it comes to human beings, there's room for "embellishments"! Glad you picked up some value from my wordy post!
I'm thankful God gave me a scientific mind so I'can understand that religion is 96.2% BS.
I was 14 my first Ouija Board connection, my sister's birthday present and we asked it what our husband's initials would be. It hit mine and my sister's husband's initials exactly as the all spirit is also all eternity. I've only done it two times and the second time l asked if my husband had gone to heaven or hell and it went round and round the board, not stopping on any answer. I met my late husband when l was 35.
I find religious writing to be an attempt at social order for the masses of people to follow, it's like an ancient history and each civilization has its own stories and way of teaching them to the next generation. I find most churches and evangelical proponents to be clueless followers of a writing that is in response to a past moment of eternity. The present moment is always the center of eternity and is all that we really have.
Please change clueless to hierarchy
I look at God as all spirit and no thing. If it is written l see it as the Lord. To have life is to be a part of the universal all spirit and that is why telepathy and the Ouija Board work, as some things have to be believed to be seen. I like the greeting 'Namaste' as it translates to me to "l greet the God spirit within you.". It is all inclusive as l try to be, as l believe that all names are the name of God and that Jesus and Lucifer are duking it out for your soul, but God put both of them up to it!
Interesting perspective and I like most of it. But Ouija boards? Really?
My late husband asked me what l thought spirit is and l replied some kind of energy force. He said that spirit is neither matter or energy, it is something completely different but it affects matter and energy. What is missing when the physical body dies? I saw my father's spirit leave his body when he died. Some things have to be seen to be believed and some things have to be believed to be seen.
As Popeye was known to say"Enough is enough and enough is too much!"
My 93 yo father-in-law was in an assisted living facility with several locations. In the entry vestibule was hung a large poster of the founder, with the quote, "When we make every decision based on what's in the best interest of the resident the rest will take care of itself." Too bad they didn't observe it in practice. It should have said, "when we make every decision based on what's in the best interest of maximizing profits . . ."
We've moved him to a much better and even less expensive place.
My mom-in-law was in an assisted living facility for 6 years. It was a fairly decent place, with good food & activities, but the staff was constantly changing. Whenever we’d get a relationship going with a manager to make sure her needs were met, that manager would be gone within a few months. When she passed away from pneumonia after paying all those years, the only thing we heard from the company was a terse letter telling us we had two weeks to clear out her room; no word of sympathy whatsoever!
I'm 90 years old, living alone in a "55 or better" mobile home park and am aware of a number of residents who have one or two nurses taking care of them full-time on a rotation basis. It's full-time help...expensive but works beautifully. I don't have that choice unless I ask my children for financial back-up...I'm grateful that they can afford to help me make that choice when I realize the possible neglect of assisted living. We'll see.
It seems as though more and more aspects of life are coming under the control of corporations whose only goal is to maximize their profits, regardless of the effects on the well-being of those they presumably serve. Is it any wonder that the gap between the rich and the rest of us is continually widening?
Thanks for the link. I gave to Consumer Voice. I'm 90 and live at home, but who knows? I might need them in the next few years. Already I've seen what Wall Street did to our vet's practice. Evil.
I took my mom, now 92, into my care 5 years ago. She had two hip surgeries since then, and each time, the surgeon prescribed a few weeks for "rehab" at so-called skilled nursing facilities ("SNF"). The results? HORRIBLE! After a "honeymoon" period wore off (a few days), where the staff seemed completely attentive and welcoming, bad things happened. They ranged form neglect, apathy and incompetence, to outright fraud--the latter of where one of the places caused a pressure ulcer to form on my mom's heel, then, near the end of the 20 day Medicare-covered period, tried to get her to 1) sign over medical power of attorney (MPOA) to THEM, and 2) also tried to keep her down with an antibiotic drip for 10 (more) days, which, BTW, would make things even worse for her (one of the things I discovered is that, since their PT / Physical Therapy staff doesn't work on the weekends, the staff essentially "warehouses" the residents, meaning that they stay in bed from Friday evening, until the following Monday morning, not getting up at all; unless they can on their own accord.) I had noticed multiple SNFs following the (greater profits) trend of dumping their land-line phone systems, placing the burden on their patients, requiring them to bring their own cell phones; not practical for a 92 y.o., or patients with any degree of dementia). They cut prune juice from their menus. They foist 3 kinds of laxatives upon the patients every day (last two sentences -> follow the money). I could go on, but suffice it say that I won't let my mom come ANYWHERE NEAR one of those places again!
Life expectancy in the US is declining, along with quality of life. There are a number of reasons, most of them having to do with corporate earnings. When Friedmann and Laffer concocted trickle-down economics back in the 80s, it freed up corporations to do things like short-staff nursing homes. Trickle-down let them off the hook for any social responsibility. It was all about the profits, the whole profits, and nothing but the profits.
Now, while I see corporate greed as villainous, I don't see it as entirely to blame for America's decline. The glorification of wealth has a thing or two to do with it as well. Chasing after money is what it’s all about in America now. Rich people hoarding mountains of wealth are idolized. And then the ad industry seduces people into wanting things, and buying things. It glorifies their power to buy. It drives people to make and hoard as much money and buy as many things as they can. The consumers are the consumed.
Sounds like fun, right? Wrong. It's a tragedy. It's dog-eat-dog. It’s a glorification of selfishness, self-absorption, and self-importance. And where does it get people? It hardens their hearts to others. It makes them envious. It makes them unhappy with themselves because they’re never able to get enough. They always want more. It makes them fearful of losing everything they’ve hoarded. People caught up in the glorification of wealth care more about their money and their things than their fellow human beings.
Just like corporations.
So yeah, corporations need regulation, but so does society. Tax the pants off corporations and billionaires, and use the money for things like nursing homes.
I don't see much difference between corporate greed and the glorification of wealth. I"m for a progressive tax structure where you pay more % wehen you make more. If you're already rich, your new money that year should be taxed higher.
Corporate greed and the glorification of wealth... Same s**t, different dog. I couldn't agree with you more about a progressive tax structure. I'd take it a step further and suggest that there should be limits on wealth, like say, off the top of my head, nobody should have more than fifty million dollars. Not when there are sick people who can't afford healthcare, and homeless people who can't afford housing, and hungry people who can't afford food. Hoarding more than $__________ (go ahead and fill in the blank off the top of your head) doesn't do anybody any good.
“I never intend to adjust myself to economic conditions that will take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few and leave millions of God’s children smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society.”
- Martin Luther King Jr.
And there's another thing about the accumulation and concentration of wealth: It's corrupted the democracy. When you're a billionaire and you can make unlimited political "donations", you're not living in a democracy. You're living in a rich f****rocracy.
And if your heirs can inherit your wealth and make the same kind of unlimited political "donations", it's a monarchy, just without all the titles like king and lord and duke.
Sorry about all the asterisks. This stuff gets my dander up.
Very well put indeed. But change has to start at ground level, don't you think? As long as Americans are setting their values aside in order to pursue wealth and buy stuff, they will remain tied to this consumer-driven economy. What we need is something like the "Great Awakening", but without the religious control of the original movement. (Not that we are against religion per se.) Simply reclaiming our humanity - it would be a start.
Thanks, and yes, I think it has to start from the ground level up. I like your thoughts about reclaiming our humanity. Instead of the "Great Awakening", how about the "Great Reclamation"?
I just hope to hell we can tear our government and ourselves away from the obscene and blatant corruption that has taken over our republic. Profit over people is the norm these days. I have four Grandchildren and four Greats. I can't imagine what their lives will be like. This industry is just one of many. I'm losing hope.
Symptoms of econopathy--the neoclassical (neolib) econ system both major parties support. Among its assertions the only real human motivation is the utility function, personal gain, profit. A corollary is The Market (their de facto deity) knows best. Since corporations are based on Market principles (their holy writ) whereas government is not, they should be in charge.
If functions like health care and education were run totally on Market assumptions, then unprofitable losers like the very sick or genetically problematic should be dropped. Especially if not wealthy. Same for schools; anything very much below the top of the IQ Bell curve, learning disabilities, cultural differences, poor areas. Anywhere rife with Social Darwinist losers.
The Market is assumed to be where individuals who have equal access and perfect information make exchanges. The successful are such because they are talented, work hard, and understand Market reality. Failure is due to innate inability or insufficient personal effort. A subtle version is the Dem party elite's talk of "meritocracy." The shortcomings of this mind set well described in David Halberstam's book about the Vietnam war titled //The Best and the Brightest.//
An educated consumer is also a wise voter.
Knowing that the profit motive subverts senior care means that we need to create a new paradigm where the care of the individual is paramount.If the will is there the solution will be found.
you can include funeral homes & services
Charleston Gazette 2/3/2026 front page story about the W.V. State Legislature voted yesterday to allow the plans being made for creating data base centers to be hidden from the Public to avoid local opposition.
Now that we know who the w.v. legislature is working for the public should not be paying for them
The W.V. State Police escorted the Mountain Valley Pipeline monster corporate machines over these country roads, drivers all jacked up on Monster Energy drinks, going so fast, l was run off the road onto the shoulder by one zooming along on a blind curve one lane two way road. Yup, the W.V. State Police front and back of the oversized load tractor trailers on the two lane.. I didn't donate when they called me asking for my support.
My 101 year old mother spent 13 years in senior, then assisted living in Fresno, CA, and we watched as a very good place was bought and sold 5 times by the profiteers and the staffing, food, services and activities declined until they were so terrible that we left for a short, but much better stay in a family run place. The elevator was past its inspection date, the back door lock was broken and there was no one on duty at the nurses station night after night. Mom fell, pressed her alarm button and no one came. She had to crawl out to the hallway, where a resident found and helped her get to a hospital stay. The place, to save money, hired the bus driver as its manager, so ran for a year with no competent management. The pool was too dirty to even think about using, in a climate that got up to 105 degrees in summer. Where was the state or federal oversight? None of these crimes should be happening as Hightower points out, but our loved seniors are being robbed of real care by the profit-is-everything criminals, as big money destroys our country.
Thank you, Jim, for bringing upfront this all important issue.
reading this I am filled with sadness and disgust.
made a small reoccurring donation
thank you, Jim, keep pissing into the wind, maybe the greed will stop
george