Bill - of course the Lamed Vavniks exist. What is more surprising is that, of the 36 worldwide, I believe we have three or four
here on the Sphere. Just look around.
Brian - the three questions you raise are both valid and scary. The fact is that there are an appreciable number of U.S. legislators - particularly on the individual State level - and a lesser but still significant number of citizens who might answer:
1) Yup!
2) Not exactly, but we should focus on diseases that are more prevalent among those who can pay for the treatment.
3) Absolutely not. America has by far the highest incarceration rate in the world, and that - and the guns so many of us own - are what keeps this great nation safe. Furthermore, since so many of our prisons are privately owned - are profit making ventures - it provides a real boost to the economy.
Getting anything done about global warming - or anything else that doesn't involve the military (what is it that we spend - more than the next ten countries combined?) or anything more complicated than a game of checkers - is extraordinarily difficult. It didn't used to be. I was around for WWII and the aftermath, and saw what a nation could do when its leaders - all of its leaders, on both sides of the aisle - were men of vision and courage. It is, unfortunately, a very different world today.
Last edited by Michael Cantor; 04-02-2015 at 01:30 PM.
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