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elliemae
@
2011 Dec 25, 10:46am
Monopolies at funeral homes.
Funeral planning is the one area that frosts my ass! they talk about "tributes" and the quality of the caskets - they'll hold up for years! - and all that shit. They prey on the emotions of a person during their most vulnerable moments. I love the competition in the larger cities - it results in $300 cremations and less than $1000 burials.
My kids know to spend the very least amount possible; I'm not Irish, but I would like them to spend more on alcohol for the party than for the burial itself.
I've read a statistic in various places that 85% of the increase in longevity in the US during the twentieth century was due to public health measures, not due to allopathic care.
Public health measures would include trash collection, water treatment, sewer treatment, central heating, food inspection, refrigeration, food storage and shipping improvements, control of vermin and insects, and vaccinations, and perhaps even workplace safety measures, and perhaps some would even consider product safety improvements.
There are statisticians who say more lives were saved in the 20th century by plumbers than by doctors.
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I got to thinking about this, people in the mid 1950's had to health care that would be considered substandard today, but they didn't die like lemmings. In 1950 the Life expectancy: Women 71.1, men 65.6, today the number are not much better Life Expectancy: Male 73.1 Female 79.1(1997). I would suspect most of the numbers can be explained in improvements to traffic safety than any medical breakthrough. 35% of health care costs are spent on people 65 and older. So assuming you had no health insurance, How long do you think you would live? Other than going to the dentist every year, I have never been hospitalized and I do not take prescription drugs. I think most people could get along fine without any insurance until they are in there 60's. (Assuming a healthy diet, no smoking or other unhealthy activities)