Monthly Archives: May 2010

THING

Simple Solutions #3: How to Fix Public Healthcare

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In this series I posit some unconventional/ will-never-be-tried solutions to problems of our times.

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Like many public healthcare agencies worldwide, Ireland has a crumbling healthcare system. Waiting lists to even be seen by a specialist through the public system are unacceptably long, let alone for anything to actually be done about the ailment.

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Many The majority of people are forced to pay for private healthcare.
“And why shouldn’t they?” I hear you cry. Well, that’s fair enough (I have private healthcare myself) but in this country there is supposed to be a public healthcare system on par with anything available privately. But that is clearly one basic lie the government refuse to admit to.

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THE PROBLEM: How could the Public Healthcare System (in Ireland or anywhere else) be given the best chance of success?

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THE SOLUTION: Make it a term of employment to everyone working in that system to forego private healthcare for themselves and their dependants.

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Obviously, this ensures that all doctors, nurses, managers, administrators, cleaners, janitors, cooks and bottle washers have a personal vested interest in ensuring the public healthcare system is as optimal as can possibly be within the allotted budget.

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Of course this won’t be adopted because: There is no real reason for a government to have a perfect public healthcare system. If there was nobody would buy private healthcare and the government would have to pay for everybody, which would mean higher taxes.

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Reason #2: Vested interests. The single block to all true progress. Too many people and groups slurp the cream off the trough in Healthcare. They simply wouldn’t abide it. It’s OK to screw everybody because “everybody” doesn’t have a legitimate voice or access to the right ears. “Everybody” is an ill-defined group even if it includes everybody.

However, a single large group who make the right nods and pay the right people follow the correct channels can hold an enormous sway over, and often to the detriment of, the majority.

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The only hope it will ever be done: Dictatorship.
Or the right kind of authoritarian leader at least who has the balls to stick them out in public for a couple of years while it rights itself from the bottom-up.

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I believe something like this has been done in some part of China, with great success.

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Externals

Just watch it

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Some things are too funny not to share…

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..My favourite part is when he picks up the blue soap.

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Banks, Finance, Ireland, Simple Solution

Simple Solutions #2: The Greece Issue

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In this series I posit some unconventional/ will-never-be-tried solutions to problems of our times.

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THE PROBLEM: Greece is going bankrupt and needs money.

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THE SOLUTION: Have a holiday!

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Instead of giving/loaning Greece billions of euros, European governments should commit a certain percentage of their populations to take a holiday in Greece each year for the next X number of years.

eg. 10% of the Irish population will holiday in Greece over the next 3 years.
2% of Germans will holiday in Greece over the next 3 years.
3% of French people will holiday in Greece over the next 3 years.
etc.

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This brings money to the people of Greece themselves, who then spend it and it filters up the chain to banks and governments.

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EU countries can offer incentives to their own people to go to Greece, thus ensuring the numbers -eg. “Buy a holiday in Greece and we won’t charge you VAT on the purchase!” …this can also boost businesses in their home countries, by encouraging ‘local’ travel agent holiday purchases rather than internet sales so as to verify the deal.

Also, it lends confidence to the financial market as it is a verifiable income to the country of Greece for the next number of years.

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Greek people get money and goodwill. Other Europeans get a holiday in a lovely part of the world.How bad? It sure as hell beats forking out a fortune and praying it comes back some day.

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If the Greek infrastructure isn’t up to the influx of travellers well they’ll just have to build more infrastructure -and how bad will that be?

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Of course this won’t be adopted because: It’s unconventional. It doesn’t directly involve single vested interest groups (eg. “The banks”, “The government”), but instead relies on individuals throughout the EU.

It seems obvious to me that the banks and the governments are the last ones to fix these problems (on their own at least), but who the hell listens to me?

Huh?

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