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Donate to help a MySQler

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Re: Donate to help a MySQler

#61

Post by rantandalive »

run4yourlives wrote: post #52
Tichy wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I admit I had the same thought. I would imagine if I was the CEO, I would maybe just pay the bill. But who knows what other things there are, maybe that kind of approach is not feasible.

The biggest issue with that is that if you pay this bill, when someone else wife gets cancer, do you pay that bill too? I do agree though that they should be doing something other than asking everyone else to fork over cash.

But MySQL/SUN is willing to host a donation page at their official site. Does this mean they have this same ask-everyone-else-to-fork-over-cash strategy in place for all contributors? With billions in hand, if they are willing to host a page, shouldn't they pay the bill atleast to look 'non evil'?

Re: Donate to help a MySQler

#62

Post by codeLullaby »

Its possible to do bone marrow transplantation for approx. $10000 here in Kerala(South India). The service is world class. Can someone close to MySQL/SUN pass this information?

Here is a press report : http://www.hindu.com/2005/08/04/stories/2005080411550300.htm

The hospital: http://lakeshorehospital.com

Re: Donate to help a MySQler

#63

Post by anamax »

giardini wrote: post #56
newt0311 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"medicine for medicine's sake." Point 1: What do you think doctors are? Saints? They are human like the rest of us and would rather work for cash. They would probably also do better work if they were doing so for their own good. Case in point: Who had more food during the 1950-1980s. The US or the USSR? Point 2: What makes you think that national health care will make doctors magnanimous? Just switching the payer fro…

Let's talk about the US only for argument's sake. Point 1: Today's doctors are for the most part motivated by $. This was not so even as early as 50 years ago. We need more doctors and need to pay them less. Part of the solution: increased specialization, reduced time in medical school and a different form of health care system. This is a complex problem. The best short summary I have found is available at http://www…

> Today's doctors are for the most part motivated by $.

Not any more so than any other field. Me - I want a doctor who is smart enough to have done something else and smart enough to say "pay me what I'm worth".

> We need more doctors and need to pay them less.

Unless you're going to break the monopoly on services that can only be performed by doctors or the medical school monopoly, you're not going to reduce income without introducing more scarcity (they'll do something else and won't be replaced).

The "universal health care" advocates never mention that the federal, state, and local govts directly control about half of the US healthcare spending and cover about half of the covered people. If you're going to argue that govt healthcare can be better/cheaper, that can be done today with those resources.

As it is, they're arguing that they'll be able to cover more than twice as many people for about 50% more money. How about demonstrating that and opening up the govt system to outsiders for cost? If you're right, the private system will either become as good or die.

Re: Donate to help a MySQler

#64

Post by dmoney »

sophist wrote: post #26
dgabriel wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The child we are being asked to help is on immuno-suppressants, and is, of course, required to be shielded from germs as much as possible. You're just not going to get a stock photo of baby hugging a goat.

So you're saying they didn't intentionally compose this picture in such a way as to increase the likelihood that people will donate? This is not hacker news. There are lots of kids out there who are in just as much need of help. This one just happens to have a father who works on an open source product.

> So you're saying they didn't intentionally compose this picture in such a way as to increase the likelihood that people will donate?

If it was your kid, wouldn't you?

Re: Donate to help a MySQler

#65

Post by giardini »

anamax wrote: post #63
giardini wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's talk about the US only for argument's sake. Point 1: Today's doctors are for the most part motivated by $. This was not so even as early as 50 years ago. We need more doctors and need to pay them less. Part of the solution: increased specialization, reduced time in medical school and a different form of health care system. This is a complex problem. The best short summary I have found is available at http://www…

> Today's doctors are for the most part motivated by $. Not any more so than any other field. Me - I want a doctor who is smart enough to have done something else and smart enough to say "pay me what I'm worth". > We need more doctors and need to pay them less. Unless you're going to break the monopoly on services that can only be performed by doctors or the medical school monopoly, you're not going to reduce income…

I cannot address complaints about your imagined concept of universal health care. Perhaps next time you'll respond to my post, rather than your imagination.

Such methods as training doctors less and allowing specialization earlier, eliminating situations where doctors are currently required, tracking and publishing doctors' success rates, allowing pharmacists to write prescriptions, etc. all would reduce doctors' income and weaken the medical school monopoly. Many more students would enter medicine since, while it wouldn't pay as much, it would pay well, and the requirements and time needed to enter the field would be significantly reduced.

And please read http://www.strategy-business.com/press/article/07110?gko=564...

Scroll down and read especially "Redefining Competition" about Porter and Teisberg's ideas.

Re: Donate to help a MySQler

#66

Post by sophist »

dmoney wrote: post #64
sophist wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you're saying they didn't intentionally compose this picture in such a way as to increase the likelihood that people will donate? This is not hacker news. There are lots of kids out there who are in just as much need of help. This one just happens to have a father who works on an open source product.

> So you're saying they didn't intentionally compose this picture in such a way as to increase the likelihood that people will donate? If it was your kid, wouldn't you?

Of course. I was merely making the point that it's manipulative. Not that it shouldn't be.

Re: Donate to help a MySQler

#67

Post by Kaizyn »

anewaccountname wrote: post #38

Serious question: why should I donate for this cause when I can donate for vaccines or famine relief and literally save orders of magnitude more people?

Dollar for dollar, such donations do more good for more people than a donation to help save the one life. However, it's easier for people to relate to individual tragedies than it is to the faceless masses who collectively are in greater need.
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