In a week or so the number of CV deaths will be more than all US wars except WW 1, WW2 and Civil war. And in just 3 months.
There’s a thought:
Maybe you guys could consider the rivers of spondule flowing into the the military-industrial complex and divert some of it into a first world healthcare system?
But it’s probably more likely that you’ll start another war.
We’ve been eying some beachfront property in Australia…
Its a fire sale!!
Rivers of people who crave sex?
Way more lobbyists for military contracts than healthcare.
Actually the US government does spend more on health care than the military - just Medicare + Medicaid spending is greater than the DoD budget.
Interesting that even with all that money they are still flying planes made in the 60s. B-52 and some C-130s. They do big upgrades but they are still from the 60s.
Not by dollars spent. Health industry lobbyists are the combined largest group of lobbying dollars.
In 2019, there were four health industry groups in the top 20 lobbyists by dollars spent: American Hospital Assn, American Medical Assn, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America. Those four combined spent $101,680,270.
There were four military industry groups in the top 20 by dollars spent: Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Gruman and United Technologies. Those four combined spent $53,246,608.
Source: Open.Secrets.org - Top Spenders
However, the healthcare lobby is about maintaining the status quo of a bloated an inefficient system for the consumer that allows private health insurance firms to take in huge profits year after year. So, the system works!
Moderator Note
Let’s keep the political jabs out of this forum. No warnings issued.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Not many people know but United Health Care is the 6th biggest company in the US by revenue. Only Walmart ,Exxon Mobil, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway and Amazon are bigger.
31,000 scientists believe that climate change is a hoax. That’s more than our fatalities in the Korean War, a big number!
Or…
a) Comparing global numbers to national numbers doesn’t work because the population counts are vastly different.
b) Likewise, comparing 2020 to 1945, 1918, or 1865 doesn’t work because the population counts are vastly different.
c) Absolute numbers largely exist for propagandic purposes and are much less meaningful than percentages. Likewise, 97% of scientists trust the science of climate change and 3% are (conceivably) nutballs.
If you just look at combat deaths, CV is already past Korea and Vietnam. Probably won’t pass WW I and it would be really bad if it passed WW 2 and the Civil War.
WW1 deaths include Military Spanish flu and those were about 50,000 if I recall.
Like sharks and cockroaches, they’re successfully lodged in evolutionary niches. Why change what works?
I predicted US 2020 excess deaths as in the close order of two million. I hope I’m wrong.
And every three months more than 160,000 people die of heart disease.
It’s a fact we now “just accept” which is much more than coronavirus. It’s not that I am trying to lessen the impact, but it’s important to put your statistics into a frame.
Look at it like this 21,000 people worldwide die of starvation every day, why isn’t this in the news every day? Especially when we (myself included) complain about having TOO MUCH to eat.
Sobering thoughts, but not unexpected
Heart disease isn’t contagious (that I’m aware of, I mean “catching” your parents’ unlucky heart disease genes doesn’t really count). Heart disease kills about 1800 per day. Yesterday (as of this writing) Covid-19 killed about 2000 people in the US, and that’s down from earlier this week. I really hope it is part of a downward trend, but at the moment Covid-19 is almost definitely the daily leading cause of death in the US.
Death from starvation is very, very rare in the US so that’s why we don’t hear much about it here.
I don’t “just accept” either one. We should get rid of tobacco and cut down on heart disease. Of course, others think those deaths are necessary for their “freedom.”
And for the record, I think dooming others to death for my personal freedom should be an absolute last resort, not something I think is justified because my hair is looking a little rough or I haven’t gotten a round of golf in for many months.