Accident Aftermath Update

Well it has been going on 2 months since the accident with Miss Uninsured Motorist and I thought I'd update people on my physical status, work status, and the court case with the lady who failed to yield.

As of now, I would have to say I'm probably 75-80%, depending on the day and what I try to do. Considering the level of dispalcement my ribs were in, I'm healing quite well. I went back to teach for the last 3 weeks of the school year which wraps up tomorrow. I'll then be heading headlong into working at my part-time gig-full-time passion as Social Media Administrator for HigherEdJobs in July and early August. HigherEdJobs has been very understanding about my limited capacity for work and I am looking forward to getting some projects wrapped up during the teaching off season.

My work status is that UNO is keeping me on for a second teaching year and that's great since I feel we had many success the year and most of the students not only maintained their pace of learning but increased it (pre-accident). I look forward to returning but my happiness/relief is marred by the loss of several co-workers to the budget cuts and other changes to the teaching profession that lead to lay-offs.

Last month, Miss Uninsured motorist decided to plead not-guilty and ask for a continuance. Monday, the 28th is our next court date and I am cutting my Washington DC trip short to be back for that hearing in the afternoon.

I thank everyone for their continued support as I heal and transition back to regular life. I have my ups and downs but you all (and you know who you are) help me through this. Now off to enjoy some of this summer.

Through the Anger I'm Trying to Keep Focus on What is Important in Life...

Recently I have been doing a lot of thinking while laying around attempting to heal from the accident that led to the equal destruction of the right side of my body (namely 5 broken ribs, severely altered shoulder, and a now no longer collapsed lung) and my purple Harley.

I seem to be going through the grieving process well and am at the stage of ANGER, hence the blog post.  Twitter's measly 140 characters cannot allow for appropriate venting without annoying all my followers.  Now this will only annoy my dozen or so casual readers.

I am really angry and upset at all that the careless mistake a motorist made (see I already don't refer to her as "that bitch" any more) taken away by her "failure to yield" as I attempted to travel through the intersection of Jackson (does not have stop sign) and Kilbourn (has stop sign).

I have lost my vocation, my ability to educate my students effectively.  I tried to return to work yesterday, one month after the accident and failed to make it to noon without writhing in pain and crumpling into a heap of muscle spasms. I am wrought with guilt as I feel I owe it to my students and fellow staff members to be there and be effective, but I just physically, even with the aid of chemicals, do it. I worry about how this impacts my future retention as a teacher in these tight economic times, even though there is no real replacement for me, teachers are currently viewed as dispensable.

I have lost my bike. Sure, some say that good riddance, but frankly it was not just a passing hobby for me. I was a daily commuter and used the bike every day above 40 rain or shine. It was a source of relaxation and amusement, I was a responsible rider who wore full helmet and gear even in 90 degree heat, I did not split lanes or ride down I-55 with filp-flops on and chick barely hanging on for dear life. My wife as just getting into riding with me and we enjoyed some nice scenic rides through forest preserves and seeing the city at night on a Harley is an amazing experience. I am not replacing the bike...the fear of other drivers won't let me.

I have lost my mobility. This has been hard. I can't lift, twist, turn, sit, or lay down without help, accommodation, or lots of drugs that make me sick. Life hurts, a lot, as I try to balance taking enough medicine to cut the pain and discomfort yet not take too much that the side effects make life equally miserable.

I missed my nephew's graduation from Michigan University and his becoming an officer in the Navy. I missed a friend's fundraiser for his new not-for-profit, 12 State Inc, that I am the CFO for! I have missed countless lunch and dinner dates with friends and family.

As I cope with my loses I am now trying to focus on what I do have...
As the text message from my master teacher read last night when I told him I was not able to come back today, "At least you are not dead."

My doctors have all remarked how lucky I am. That usually they don't get to talk to motorcycle accident patients. I have an awesome wife, fantastic family, and really great friends who even though I keep cancelling lunch on them because of the pain, keep writing and calling.

I also have Blackhawks hockey...which brings me to the main point of my post (other than venting) which victory/we scored song do you prefer?

The current ballad of hooray-ness, The Fratellis - Chelsea Dagger

or the former yay go us song, Blur - Song 2

Vote in the comments...

Go Hawks...I need something awesome to watch while I heal.

Basenji Rescue and Transport

Today, Nicole and I took our first trip along the Basenji Underground Rail Road (BURR) transporting this girl from Country Club Hills, IL to Swanton, OH. She originated with other drivers in Iowa yesterday and we passed her off to her final wheel man who was taking her on to Pennsylvania. We had a good time on the day trip and even squeezed in a wonderful lunch with my mother, brother, and some cousins that live in northern Ohio that I almost never see in real life.

If you are interested in supporting such rescue efforts, a very simple yet meaningful way to help out is by voting for BRAT on the Animal Rescue Site. Vote for "Basenji Rescue and Transport" in TX. http://bit.ly/6UddUP. You can vote once a day until April 18th.

Fun with Dry Ice

Thank you to that special someone who wishes to go unmentioned for surprising me with dry ice which enabled 30 mins of geeky fun.

Health Care for All: A Philosophical Argument For and Against Open Access to Publicly Funded Health Care

One can make an assertion that health care and in this question, specifically health care insurance which our society has chosen as the means in which one receives care, is not a public (government) responsibility but rather an individual responsibility.  The responsibility for the health of the individual should fall upon the shoulders of that individual.  They control their own diet, exercise, and other activities that impact the quality of health they will experience.  Additionally, neither the individual, nor society-at-large is responsible for health issues that arise out of genetic make up and therefore those costs should not be shouldered by the public, and be left as simply bad luck for the individual.  However, this philosophy, while arguably sound, is not appropriate for Modern American society.  The size of our population, the distribution of wealth, and previously established norms make health care the responsibility of both the individual and the public.  This is the situation our nation finds itself in and therefore one must conclude that publicly funded access to health care is a philosophical and moral imperative.     

John Locke, one of the more influential philosophers on the founders of this nation, placed much value in the individual exercising his/her individual responsibility; includes responsibility for their own food, property, and welfare.  People are given free opportunity to become educated, gainfully employed, and through education and employment, either earn enough to procure health care insurance individually or have it supplied by the employer.  People are free to make lifestyle choices that impact their health in both positive and negative ways.  The government does not have the responsibility to protect people from themselves if they choose to make destructive health choices. 

Classic Liberals such as Locke and modern conservative thinker Irving Kristol would state that the "basic premise of a liberal-capitalist society that a fair distribution of income is determined by the productive input of...individuals" based on each individuals own talents, and luck of circumstance.   It is not in the best interest of society to provide for each needy person's health and welfare because diversion of such resources would negatively impact the economic stability of society and eventually even society's ability to help the needy.  Rather resources should be put towards improving the economic well-being and the needy would benefit as a by-product of positive economic growth.  This would be a more sustainable way of supporting society's needy.  Since the uninsured are a relative minority, 45.7 million people   and of that likely an even smaller number actually need coverage due to current health issues, paying for those people on a as-needed basis using the by-products of economic gains would be the most beneficial to society-at-large.                  

The role of the government in a representative democracy is not to provide every service to the polis but rather to protect personal property, protect the state, establish rule of law, and when two parties have a disagreement about the breech of one of the established laws, to engage in law enforcement.   Nowhere in our founding philosophy does it provide for claiming that our government's responsibility is to provide and care for the needs of all.  Conservative and classical liberal philosophies state that government does not create rights, such as right to free-speech or a right to health care.  Government can only merely protect rights that existed in a pre-government state also called the natural state.  Does health care exist in the natural state?  Certainly one would say you had a right to medicate and heal yourself or seek the talents of a doctor to do it with you in the state of nature.  However, in the state of nature you did not have a right to expect someone else to provide the knowledge or services of a doctor.  It is not therefore the role of government to protect such a right by providing it at the expense of others.   

By trying to create an egalitarian society, something American has never pretended to be, we would be creating a greater injustice than we would be repairing, thus creating more harm than good.  It would be irresponsible for our representative government to sacrifice the economic stability of 250 million  for the sake of 40 million.  

Why such a philosophy is no longer prudent or economically feasible for our Modern American society is because of several factors.  First and foremost, we have through past actions, established a social contract that includes an expectation of public support for many services.  Secondly, we are no longer the nation of a few million living scattered independently in the wilderness.  Thirdly, we can, through the capitalist system, afford to do so without causing harm to the majority. 

The social contract is not a fix and unmoving entity.  Social contracts evolve with the needs of polis and in a liberal or representative democracy that is determined by elections, legislation, and the judiciary.   For a considerable length of time we have created, through legal and sound processes, various systems where the government has provided for the well-being of the people, and in particular the needy.  This has included health care coverage for the elderly and disabled. States, on an individual basis, provide some coverage for the lowest rungs on the social ladder.  With this the majority of people currently living in the country, have been born and lived here during this era of government support and therefore have tacitly agreed to this revised social contract.  It is morally bankrupt for a social contract to be altered in a abrupt fashion without the consent of the governed.                      

Most proponents of the "self-made" man classic liberal philosophy believe that one should enter the wilderness with their families and perhaps a few others and provide for themselves life's necessaries.  We are no longer live in that society.  We are larger and much more interdependent than those early philosophies could support.  There are therefore no more "self-made" men.  No one individual can achieve greatness unless their environment provides the necessary resources, and thus no achievement is “self-made.”  As a result, we ought to look to each other for support and determine what we can do to provide the best environment possible for the vast majority.  Good health care improves the productivity and well-being of society and therefore would be for the public good.  People have the right to health care but also an balancing duty to work if possible to help support the public programs.    

 

We have a very wealthy and productive society.  Some may argue that 47.7 million uninsured people is a small number, especially if you subtract those who would refuse any such care and those who are extremely healthy and would not need health care.  However, if you assume the United States has about 300 million people, and nearly 50 million do not have open access to health care, that is 1 in 6 Americans.  Statistically, that is a significant minority.  For us to ignore the potential suffering of fellow humans, is a moral shame.  We have the ability to fund access to health care, even access to a high standard as enjoyed by members of congress and federal employees, without causing an undue burden on the rest of our society's members.  There is no excuse for allowing unnecessary suffering to come to someone due to a lack of food, water, or medical attention.  

For these reasons, preventing the public access to health care is no longer a sound social philosophy.  There is a greater harm than good done when people are either prevented from accessing health care or are bankrupted by a health care system that does not account for ones ability to pay for service.  If we are to continue to grow and maintain our dominate role in the world, we need the healthiest, strongest population possible so they can become better educated and productive members of society.  

Version with Footnotes can be viewed in Google Docs at: http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0Ad4c-kaBHiqLZGY1bjlrdjdfMzFkZ2g0eHdobQ&hl=en