Why disrupt the status quo? Healthcare needs are the primary reason. Until greater skills capacity is tapped, it remains impossible to address other aspects of an out of balance system. While I have nothing against physicians - indeed there are many I hold in high regard - I remain convinced they can no longer be expected to carry out the work of healing by themselves. It's time to move past the limits of an outdated paradigm.
Of course, disruption is not something to take on lightly. This past week, Joshua Gans has been posting a series about disruption, which includes aspects of the decision making process involved, whether or not to do so. Clearly, some forms of disruption are more needed, than others. Of course, these can also be the most difficult to initiate, in that they are really about reform instead of more regulation and rules.
Often I have thought about the disruptive potential of knowledge use systems. While I have played down disruption potential in a number of posts, there are times when I'm reminded that knowledge use systems need to disrupt today's limited forms of knowledge use - in a big way. Not only do unnecessary limitations in knowledge and skills use continue to spread, they make it difficult to know where to begin the process of problem solving.
Today, skills potential - in aggregate - has less liquidity (market applicability) than I've ever observed: that's completely unnecessary. Let alone, it's bad enough when both government and business interests both claim they don't "need" the skills sets citizens have to offer. But they certainly need the citizen's money! When the prevailing system decides to punish people and take advantage of them for being unable to pay after needing medical assistance, I'm inclined to say... disrupt away! Not only has the right to heal been denied on the part of many who would, our very humanity has been denied in the process.
So what triggered today's outburst on my part? There is a discussion about the return of debtor's prisons: a problem which was already written about and observed in 2011. Three years later the problem has only grown worse, and it represents a throwback to a point in history which no one expected to see again. The same governments which insist they are "protecting" their citizens from every bogeyman imaginable, are now becoming the worst bogeyman of all. And once governments are "crossed", it can be difficult indeed, to get back into their good graces.
If only "crossing" government was a result of normal criminal activity, little of this would be such a big deal. But people are being treated as criminals, when the real criminal act has been the limitations of skills potential in numerous economic circumstance. Who with limited (or no) income is going to feel confident about seeking seek life preserving action, if that could eventually mean dealing with the collection agencies which come calling afterward? Once debt spirals land individuals in prison, governments don't hesitate to extract even more money from them.
There is another side of this story, as well. It's not just about one's own medical bills, or how careful and frugal one might be to avoid a worst case scenario. It's also about those we are related to, because it makes little difference to the collection agency, who actually receives the bill or phone call. Not only has this become a dangerous scenario for anyone with a small or non existent income, it has likely become the greatest deterrent to marriage that now exists for lower to middle income levels in the U.S. What's more, there is considerable shame involved for those who have family related medical debt, and these folk are understandably uncomfortable about bringing this into public dialogue.
If for no other reason, present day dangers of receiving healthcare are sufficient grounds for new knowledge based systems with healthcare as central. Sure, the political problems appear intractable, but that is no longer reason enough for inaction. To be sure, not every person who receives healthcare will be safe from bill collectors in the future. But at the very least, people need to begin devising knowledge use systems which include diverse healthcare options. The right to heal, is essential.
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