One of these days it's going to be for real and I wonder how many of his fans will be enraged when someone says something like "I'm not glad he's dead, but I'm glad he's gone".
All of them. It's been my experience that Stallman fans refuse to deal with even fair criticism of him. That aside, I hope no one says that about him or anyone else ever. I have a lot of problems with Stallman and his ideology but when he dies I hope we can all take the high road. We may think it's the man we don't like but it's really his actions and beliefs we have a problem with and when a well respected public fi…
We may think it's the man we don't like but it's really his actions and beliefs
(Shrug) I am my actions and beliefs. There's nothing else to me. I don't know about Stallman, though.
> It's a service that can be provided and bought on the free market like all other services. Maybe in a hypothetical world where you can find this hypothetical free market. In the real world, health care can be treated as a fundamental right because there are enough doctors available.
Try making those doctors work for free, and see how long there are "enough doctors available."
Wow, if only he were in the United States where you don't have to rely on the Government for medical care...
I live in Boston, Massachusetts, where we have universal health care and some of the best doctors and hospitals in the world. They don't have to be mutually exclusive.
Why doesn't the rest of the US use Boston's approach?
I wasn't going to respond to this to avoid prolonging this burgeoning off-topic health care flamewar, but I figured that in the name of cross-cultural understanding, I'd correct you: Hospitals in the US are obligated to treat any emergency patient regardless of whether they can pay.
They then charge those people least able to pay a higher rate, add interest, and turn it over to a collection agency. http://www.democracynow.org/2012/2/15/new_york_hospitals_sad... http://www.democracynow.org/2004/1/7/state_secret_why_are_un... [somehow Democracy Now seems appropriate for a Stallman discussion]
This isn't entirely true and varies from state to state and hospital to hospital. We had a trip to the hospital last year (non-ambulance, but was an actual emergency). Prior to checking out, we refused to sign anything from the hospital itself until checkout time. (quick sidebar, I've never seen anything as sleazy as an administrator trying to get someone who's heavily sedated and mediated but hasn't been fully diagnosed yet (triage and stabilization only) to sign paperwork related to billing and insurance, and then to authorize a room change to long term and the to an overnight room...all before they even knew what was going on). At checkout time, they had no insurance info...if we had no insurance, they would consolidate the fees from all groups (contracted doctors, anasthesiologists, equipment use, medications, etc.) and waive 2/3 of it and set up a payment plan (non-loan style, so no interest, or fees). This total was lower than if we used insurance and paid what was remaining on the deductible for the year and happened late enough that we wouldn't have benefited from using the insurance. I have no idea if it was attitude, handling it like business, persistence or just how they do business, but it greatly impressed me.
All of them. It's been my experience that Stallman fans refuse to deal with even fair criticism of him. That aside, I hope no one says that about him or anyone else ever. I have a lot of problems with Stallman and his ideology but when he dies I hope we can all take the high road. We may think it's the man we don't like but it's really his actions and beliefs we have a problem with and when a well respected public fi…
It amazes me that Stallman is viewed in this way. Steve Jobs was undeniably an asshole to many .. and Steve Jobs' fans refuse to deal with even fair criticism of him . There's a strange warped perspective at play.
You're missing the point and rushing to defend someone I'm not trying to insult. I never said or implied Jobs fans aren't the same. The point is that when someone dies or has something bad happen to them saying something like "I'm not glad he's dead but I'm glad he's gone" is like spitting on their grave and in such times we should remember that they were human like you or me and forget our petty grievances out of respect. When someone like Stallman dies it reminds us of our own mortality as would anyone's death. I'd hope no one was a dick about it "because Stallman said this and that about Jobs after he died" or "because he promoted some awful ideology" or something like that. I don't even like Stallman but when someone has a health crisis or dies you don't celebrate it no matter who they are. It's just common decency. Don't make this a Stallmam V. Whoever comparison.
I'm nervous about moving to the states because of just that. Here in New Zealand it's easy because we're all guaranteed access to a great public health system, no matter what. You can buy private insurance and expedite certain things if you want, but the public system is always there and available to everyone. Moving to the US and having to deal with health insurance makes me nervous.
> Moving to the US and having to deal with health insurance makes me nervous. Don't worry, your nervousness will be replaced by anger soon enough.
That's hardly fair. You might feel anger, or you might feel despair. If you're a misanthrope, you'll feel pleasure in watching who can't afford their medical bills fall into complete financial ruin.
As much as I appreciate all that Stallman's done over the years (though I don't always agree with him), that just strikes me as a remarkably dickish comment to make. To my mind, 20 minutes is hardly an unreasonable delay when you're not an emergency. To make a snide remark about it when you're a guest in the country and getting the advantages of their free health services is just poor taste and bad manners.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Stallman well-regarded for his incredibly tactless, dickish and knuckleheaded assertions?
All of them. It's been my experience that Stallman fans refuse to deal with even fair criticism of him. That aside, I hope no one says that about him or anyone else ever. I have a lot of problems with Stallman and his ideology but when he dies I hope we can all take the high road. We may think it's the man we don't like but it's really his actions and beliefs we have a problem with and when a well respected public fi…
We may think it's the man we don't like but it's really his actions and beliefs (Shrug) I am my actions and beliefs. There's nothing else to me. I don't know about Stallman, though.
Come on man. You know what I mean. What we know about Stallman isn't all he was. If you judge him by his work with the FSF alone then you're not even close to being able to judge who he was as a person and that's what I'm getting at. Don't be pedantic.