heres that time again. midsems from tomorrow so the usual stupidity has taken over each of us. will try to write in something more substantial sometime later.well thats all folks.

theres no free lunch
well, this is basically my point of view in an argument or debate that i had recently. it was with a friend, krishanu. it was about the social structure as we have and appreciate today and the way it might be improved.

well lets start from the beginning. well krishanu is a "capitalist converted to socialist", either that or we are both completely confused individuals with no knowledge about either of the two terms and yet masquerading as two intellectuals. my knowledge of capitalism/ socialism, at least the historical part of it is completely second hand. the source being krishanu....well since his knowledge comes from prof. das, well er....my knowledge is to be honest actually third hand.

lets go to the one single aspect that we were arguing mostly about. that of the medical insurance policies that are an absolute must in the u.s. . well krishanu thinks that the whole idea sucks. according to him certain essential stuff like health must be free and compulsorily provided for each and everyone. well and he did provide legitimate examples of countries like canada, cuba and the saddam era iraq as following the "compulsory free medical treatment for all" regime. and he also pointed out that the medical insurance was for people who were with a job or although he didn't say it, i assume to people who could cough up cash some other way.

all i am going to say is that my ideas are completely different from those stated above. i guess that if the medical insurance companies are honest and perform legal trade, then i guess that is as close as we will get to low cost medication for the maximum number of people, without anyone having to lose out along the line.

to support my views i would like to point out some facts, that i think are important for the argument. free medical treatment means that the government pays for it. well the government is not a money churning machine. so it has to generate the money from somewhere. this somewhere being the tax pool of that government. wel tax or revenue collected might have lots of sources like import, export cess or income tax or fuel cess etc. however it ultimately comes down to our own money. which means in the larger picture the treatment is not free at all. well if you look at it closely the insurance companies are basically doing the same thing. they are collecting money from a lot of people so that at any time if some individual needs a large amount of money for medical treatment he has it ready for him.well then whats the difference between the "tax" and the "premium" for insurance? well, its simply that in one case it is compulsory (tax) and in the other case it is optional (premium). if you want the support you pay for it, if you think you can do without it or you think you need support in a different way you are free to choose your path. none of us are going to argue with the freedom of choice bit i guess.

well next comes the question of insurance cover is available only for somebody being able to afford it. while the government is responsible for all of its citizens whether they are rich or poor, or earning or just squatting about. well you might say that health is a basic requirement. all i say is that by the same argument, we must have free food, free shelter, free set of clothes and lots of other amenities. lets look around and my argument will start making sense. look at our attitude towards everything that is free. water-----we waste it like its not really the most essential thing around, electricity------at places where we are charged for it we will never keep our lights and fans switched on when we are not around...make it free and we are going to keep them on even when we dont need to. so ultimately we need to pay in someway for whatever we get.

well i cant give examples of how the medical system is great in other countries because its free, i can surely say in india at least the sustem might be free or of nominal cost but it sucks big time. which of us would wilfully step inside one of the many govt hospitals. the conditions as we all know are dismal to say the least. lets face it medical system out here is in shambles. yet not every one who falls sick out here will die. thats because of the treatment in the paid hospitals, there are lots of them who will be able to compete with the best services provided in any other place.

so at least in my view theres no better alternative to the paid medical system.

the words of a loser???????
well i dont know what comes over me sometimes, i just feel so inadequate and useless. i feel as if all the efforts that i put in are for making a big large coccon thats going to keep me safely ensconced away from all the truth out there. well i was writing this story in the nuclear physics. above the whirring of the prehistoric fans, above the buzz of the students whispers even above the monotonous voice of the prof trying her best to drum into 43 impervoious heads the mysteries of what goes on inside the nucleus, all that i could hear was my inner voice shouting out..." loser, loser". trust me , its not a great feeling to feel that way.

i tried to block of the voice by putting my hands to my ears, all it did was to amplify it by getting locked inside my head.

well what is it that we are trying to do?

at times, well very nearly always, it seems that all our efforts are directed towards those few extra marks, landing that deal thats going to make my employer another million and push me higher up in the rungs of the corporate ladder or that few extra hours on the job thats going to get me another fatcat of a client. all these efforts for what. to make our already opaque glasses even more so. that extra hour will surely let us escape from the knowledge of the existence of beggars on our streets (as we will not be here ...we'll be in the land of plenty), or that there are thousands of people having to travel in a tin can every day that might topple any moment (hey buddy whats the big deal... i have got a new merc) or that there exists kids in the streets who are abused every second of there existence (guess what the fees in my son's school are atrociously high... so what he needs a good education), or there exists people out there who work their ass off and still dont know that they have the right of a voice( ooooffff to go out in the summer sun to vote is so difficult...i might as well sit inside and enjoy a movie in my ac lounge)........

i honestly am feeling like i am truly and tirelessly walking the path which is going to make me another cog in the wheel. another nameless, faceless being on the earth who will vanish off without a trace when his body says that its enough. hey why is it so difficult to walk away from all this, why after all this moral upheaval all i can do is go back to the same existence that has been the cause of such feeling of inferiority in me......

somebody tell me, somebody give me an answer........

told you i would miss it
hello managed to make no entry on the second day itself. well slept off at 12 in the night and just woke up. also need to get some studies done now. nothing much done as of now.

yesterdays member of hall of fame: saurish (for winning a tt match)

the first entry
Topic: just general cribs
Well I have never been one who has been too systematic with things. So most probably this blog is going to end up like a diary with just the first few pages filled.
well i had a hectic class day. had class at 830 to 1230 with one period off. after lunch, which was the same insipid food from the mess, had to go back to class. classes till 3 and then the lab from yesterday. at least i could finish it off today. thought of going to the yahoo ppt, due to a goof up missed it. well then came back started building my site, while chatting with Shradha. Resolved to get some studies done. Resolution failed as of now.
will try to inform you of my experiences tomorrow.
bye