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The Writing on the Wall: Sci-Fi’s Empty Techno-Optimism

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Re: The Writing on the Wall: Sci-Fi’s Empty Techno-Optimism

#71
Imagine sitting and complaining about “techno optimism”, when the very thing you write your screed on, is a product of it.

Instant access to a world wide fountain of knowledge, a super computer in your pocket, never having seen hunger and the ability to travel anywhere around the world cheaply and quickly.

No, we don’t have flying cars or bases on Mars, but if you look at the techno optimism of the 1960’ies and where we are today, we’ve done a pretty good job at turning it into a reality.

Kirk’s communicator or his tablet thingie? Those are actually a real and tangible reality today.

Re: The Writing on the Wall: Sci-Fi’s Empty Techno-Optimism

#72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to talk about extreme capitalism (US healthcare) vs. GDR Stazi communism, only, then sure the conclusion that you are lead to is obvious. And yet there better models than both, once you get past the emotional appeal to this false dichotomy. Any well-off European country with universal healthcare (usually socialised), well-regulated free markets in most other sectors, and relatively low income inequality w…

Nope. First of all, healthcare in many European countries is often insurance based. Yes, in some cases it’s socialized. And in those places the healthcare system is rapidly falling apart/getting worse, and everyone who can afford it goes private. Just look at the boom in private doctors/insurance in countries like the UK and Denmark. And of course you also ignore the price paid in the form of taxes, VAT, etc. (Nope,…

Nope.

The only reason why the UK NHS is "rapidly falling apart" is the ideology of the Conservative party that's been in power for a decade now. They don't want to have it, but can't say that outright as it would be electoral suicide. So it's the good old Chomskyan Privatisation technique: "defund, make sure things don’t work, people get angry, you hand it over to private capital." i.e. "everyone who can afford it goes private" is not the market triumph that you might think.

Those people who have gone private, _still_ maintain a NHS GP with access to affordable drugs, etc. It's quite unlike private US healthcare.

> If you wanted to nationalize healthcare in the US, you’re basically talking about adding trillions to an already bloated Federal budget.

Nope.

Where did I say that I wanted to do exactly that to the US? Funny thing to exclude "European insurance-based" systems explicitly now, when explicitly including them earlier. I observed that there are better models, which there is empirical evidence for (1), nothing beyond that.

Any change to USA healthcare would be about _moving_ money not _adding_, would impact an "already bloated" and grossly poor value-for-money private extractive healthcare system: The USA currently spends more and gets less (1). So "adding" is deceptive, and "bloated" is a emotional-noise word in this context.

1) Spot the outlier in Figure 1 https://www.oecd.org/economy/growth/46508904.pdf

Re: The Writing on the Wall: Sci-Fi’s Empty Techno-Optimism

#73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to talk about extreme capitalism (US healthcare) vs. GDR Stazi communism, only, then sure the conclusion that you are lead to is obvious. And yet there better models than both, once you get past the emotional appeal to this false dichotomy. Any well-off European country with universal healthcare (usually socialised), well-regulated free markets in most other sectors, and relatively low income inequality w…

Nope. First of all, healthcare in many European countries is often insurance based. Yes, in some cases it’s socialized. And in those places the healthcare system is rapidly falling apart/getting worse, and everyone who can afford it goes private. Just look at the boom in private doctors/insurance in countries like the UK and Denmark. And of course you also ignore the price paid in the form of taxes, VAT, etc. (Nope,…

> And of course you also ignore the price paid in the form of taxes, VAT, etc. (Nope, not corporate taxes, which in Europe tend to be lower than in the US.)

The US government pays more for healthcare than the UK government does, and the UK gets universal coverage.

This is fundamentally dishonest of US campaigners against universal coverage: they imply it's going to increase costs and decrease quality, when all the evidence is that it would decrease cost and increase both length and quality of life.

Re: The Writing on the Wall: Sci-Fi’s Empty Techno-Optimism

#74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope. First of all, healthcare in many European countries is often insurance based. Yes, in some cases it’s socialized. And in those places the healthcare system is rapidly falling apart/getting worse, and everyone who can afford it goes private. Just look at the boom in private doctors/insurance in countries like the UK and Denmark. And of course you also ignore the price paid in the form of taxes, VAT, etc. (Nope,…

Nope. The only reason why the UK NHS is "rapidly falling apart" is the ideology of the Conservative party that's been in power for a decade now. They don't want to have it, but can't say that outright as it would be electoral suicide. So it's the good old Chomskyan Privatisation technique: "defund, make sure things don’t work, people get angry, you hand it over to private capital." i.e. "everyone who can afford it go…

Yeah, the US has a problem with spending more on healthcare than any other country, but it isn’t a “profit” or “administrative overhead” problem.

(Insurance companies have legally limited profit margins on health insurance.)

Does multiple private insurances add a little administrative overhead? Sure, but nowhere near as much as you see in the OECD figures.

There are many reasons why US healthcare is so expensive.

Some of them have to do with litigation: Skyhigh insurance premiums and a medical “Cover your ass”-culture with unneeded tests and MRIs done on a regular basis.

(In Canada, there is a legal ceiling on how much in damages you can sue a doctor/hospital for. This would be a good idea to implement in the US.)

Another added expense is free riders: All the people that show up in the ER, whether because of the flu or a gunshot, get treated/operated on, and never pay their bill.

Another issue is that the US has some of the best doctors in the world, and new, prohibitively expensive treatments are often introduced here first.

Many, very expensive treatments simply aren’t done (or done very rarely) in countries where the public (fully or in part) pay for treatments.

Waiting lists are another way of limiting costs in European countries. (Waiting lists that can be over a year long, but their healthcare systems are arguably cheaper to run.)

I could bring up some new medicines that in the US cost thousands of dollars per week (Crohns medication for example.) In European countries those medications simply aren’t available, or are only available on an exemption: Meaning that your doctor need to apply to have the cost covered, and is usually turned down.

Another example would be something like SRS surgeries.

These can be extremely expensive, and are covered by insurance, which of course increases the costs of coverage for everyone.

In European countries you’d either face a very long waiting list to get the operation covered, or you wouldn’t be eligible for it. Or only eligible after jumping through extensive hoops.

Re: The Writing on the Wall: Sci-Fi’s Empty Techno-Optimism

#75
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stargate SG-1 is holding up remarkably well as a long running series that documents the political climate of the day (collapse soviet union, rise of china as a power) as well technological advancements (the early computers in the series vs the final years with laptops and all) Notwithstanding the great chemistry of the actors and commentary on many aspects of society and interpersonal relationships.

I always liked SGA better, but you’re definitely right about SG 1. Which of course begs another question: SG1 was made in a time that we can call the Golden Age of TV Sci fi, along with the Trek shows, Farscape and many more. (Though granted: SG1 is probably more of an action adventure show at heart, if you want to get anal about classifications.) Despite productions that cost hundreds of millions of dollars, why don…

The whole series spans almost two decades. I think the quality of SG-1 is really the chemistry between the characters, and not a lot of plot drifting.

The Expanse is indeed the only character centered sci-fi at the moment, as I feel ST Discovery misses the mark on the chemistry bit.

I was pleasantly surprised with acting and scope in The Foundation (Apple TV), but it isn’t SciFi in the vein of SG-1 (action adventurish as you note)

Re: The Writing on the Wall: Sci-Fi’s Empty Techno-Optimism

#76
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Showing what life on Mars would REQUIRE is too narrow? Too local? Yes it's about one person surviving but it's also about what it required to survive on Mars, the political reality of what space exploration depends on. Did he miss the head of Nasa making decisions about how events effect funding? The PR department handling the news so that it plays well? How is this not about heroic scale space exploration?

Well yeah, but compare to Asimov or Banks and their super-advanced mega-civilizations of trillions of people. Martian is cool and IMHO it is a scifi, but there are significant differences.

Yep totally, one of the things I love about Sci-Fi is that there could be a mix of The Culture, The Belt, and Nasa based stories and it's all Sci-Fi. I happen to be a massive fan of near future Sci-Fi because I draw hope from it. I love Foundation and The Culture also but they are SO big that for me it's hard to tell the difference between fantasy and "High Tech Sci-Fi" often. The Expanse feels within reasonable reach, The Martian or For All Mankind much more so and given the events in the world that means a lot IMO.

Re: The Writing on the Wall: Sci-Fi’s Empty Techno-Optimism

#77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope. The only reason why the UK NHS is "rapidly falling apart" is the ideology of the Conservative party that's been in power for a decade now. They don't want to have it, but can't say that outright as it would be electoral suicide. So it's the good old Chomskyan Privatisation technique: "defund, make sure things don’t work, people get angry, you hand it over to private capital." i.e. "everyone who can afford it go…

Yeah, the US has a problem with spending more on healthcare than any other country, but it isn’t a “profit” or “administrative overhead” problem. (Insurance companies have legally limited profit margins on health insurance.) Does multiple private insurances add a little administrative overhead? Sure, but nowhere near as much as you see in the OECD figures. There are many reasons why US healthcare is so expensive. Som…

As someone who lived both in USA and am from EU (can only speak about Slovenian and German system) and I have preexisting condition (asthma and ankylosing spondylitis )

Sure you can find problems in any healthcare system. Because there is no upper limit on spending. There is always something more that you can do.

If you are proper rich* (dozens of millions or more) USA has the best health care system.

Fore everyone else, EU health care is better.

For instance right now I was at my pulmonologist and he wants me to take CT of my chest. As it is not emergency I could wait for a week (and it will be free), or I can have it today in private clinic, where I copaid 40 EUR*. If it were serious I would have it done for free today.

I got yearly prescription for Berudual, fosters, spiriva and Singular for free.

Bottom line is yes, sometime there is waiting time, but outside few pathological cases they are quite reasonable.

In USA I had more than double of my current pay, but with rent and my preexisting condition the way that they are, I am actually left with slightly more each month.

And there is another big difference between our system and US. Everyone is insured (weather it's public or private). So there is no fear of ever going to the doctors or calling ambulances.

Private clinics are getting paid by my insurance (I could get free CT at the same clinic a week later), 40EUR fee is just convenience (I don't want to wait) fee. And normally It wouldn't take a week, but with covid and flu season in full swing it takes a bit.

Re: The Writing on the Wall: Sci-Fi’s Empty Techno-Optimism

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the US has a problem with spending more on healthcare than any other country, but it isn’t a “profit” or “administrative overhead” problem. (Insurance companies have legally limited profit margins on health insurance.) Does multiple private insurances add a little administrative overhead? Sure, but nowhere near as much as you see in the OECD figures. There are many reasons why US healthcare is so expensive. Som…

As someone who lived both in USA and am from EU (can only speak about Slovenian and German system) and I have preexisting condition (asthma and ankylosing spondylitis ) Sure you can find problems in any healthcare system. Because there is no upper limit on spending. There is always something more that you can do. If you are proper rich* (dozens of millions or more) USA has the best health care system. Fore everyone e…

> or I can have it today in private clinic, where I copaid 40 EUR

it seems to me that this is how public healthcare keeps private healthcare honest, by existing.

i.e. you have, and I have also, paid a double-digit sum for the privilege of being seen _today_. But that is not the same as paying for the privilege of being seen _at all_.

The BATNA is very different for the patient. A private doctor can get away with charging a fee for the convenience only, but since it's not the only game in town, they cant gouge to extremes, and charge a huge fee when you need to be seen by a doctor at all costs.

Re: The Writing on the Wall: Sci-Fi’s Empty Techno-Optimism

#79
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm at 50 years and I remember seeing live television pictures of East Berlin and wondering if what I was watching was black and white or color (black and white TV's were still pretty common) and it was always a shock when there was an unexpected splash of color in an otherwise gray and dystopian hellscape on the TV. Turns out the cameras and everything were color, there just wasn't much color from the environment fo…

Funny how the people always banging on about the evils of capitalism have never actually lived under a communist system. And also seem to believe there’s some sort of socialist Utopia in Europe/Scandinavia, despite the fact that social democracy has been dead there for decades. Then again, in general anti capitalists are a fairly ignorant bunch, who’ve never let reality get in the way of their dogmatic politics.

> Funny how the people always banging on about the evils of capitalism have never actually lived under a communist system.

Almost as funny as seeing any criticism of capitalism turned into strawman about supporting communism.

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