I just started reading The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival, by John Vaillant. It is a wonderfully written true story of an Amur tiger who stalks and kills two men in Siberia, doing what tigers do, in other words. Disparate as it may seem, it took me to the pharmacy which wanted $219 for two shingles vaccinations (that the d?**?#!) insurance company would not cover.Then, I read a post by a high school chum on the dirt bag pharmacology and insurance industries.
Taking all these together, in this the most political of all seasons, and that we tend to vilify government (guilty), industry and others without considering that these are not evil people nor even bad people. They are just doing what people do--aggregating power, making money, etc.
When we stoop to ad hominem (or ad industrial???) attacks, we make the profit motive and the desire for power a simplistic morality play rather than understanding that these instincts are basic to human nature. Then, we compound our mistake by trying to legislate every conceivable permutation of "the problem" only to find there are very smart lawyers who spin the laws to their clients' benefits. So, pass more law, tighten things up, constrict more.
Who loses in this race? We all do. The more legislation society passes, the less control it has over its populace.
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