Out Out Damn Spot
Doctor:
What is it she does now? Look how she rubs her hands.
Gentlewoman:
It is an accustom'd action with her, to seem thus
washing her hands. I have known her continue in this a quarter of
an hour.
Lady Macbeth:
Yet here's a spot.
Doctor:
Hark, she speaks. I will set down what comes from her, to
satisfy my remembrance the more strongly.
Lady Macbeth:
Out, damn'd spot! out, I say!—One; two: why, then
'tis time to do't.—Hell is murky.—Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier, and
afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our
pow'r to accompt?—Yet who would have thought the old man to
have had so much blood in him?
Macbeth Act 5, scene 1, 26–40
“Lady Macbeth, as has become her wont, sleepwalks through the royal castle. As her waiting-woman and her doctor listen in, she mutters fragments of an imaginary conversation that recalls the night she and her husband conspired to murder King Duncan [see A SORRY SIGHT]. The hour is two o'clock; she upbraids her husband for his bad conscience; she insists that there will be nothing to fear once they've grabbed the crown; she marvels at how much blood Duncan had to shed. As Lady Macbeth replays this scene for the eavesdroppers, she not only incriminates herself, but also reveals the pangs of conscience she had ridiculed in her husband.” (Enotes.com/Shakespeare quotes)
This morning I was reading yet another article about the terrible shortcomings or the complete failure of the Affordable Care Act, otherwise referred to as Obamacare. This particular article was decrying the burden the rules of this program has put on many employers who have, for example, been forced to pay for health insurance, reduce the hours of employees to less than 30 per week or reduce the number of employees to less than 50. The intent of the author of the article seems to me to be to convince the reader that the employer is one who only wants to do good by earning a living and providing jobs. Yet, it seems as if this author and the authors of many similar articles I have read offer no viable alternatives to the Affordable Care Act.
No, I personally, think that the Affordable Care Act has many flaws, primarily the failure of to establish a national health insurance plan (a single payer plan) into which everyone pays. This would, of course, have to include provisions for regulating the profit of pharmaceutical companies, as well as provisions for covering the cost of medical school, which would reduce some of the argument for why many physicians need such high incomes (generally this means specialists and not primary care doctors.)
Actually the real problem, as with King Duncan, is that the poor exist. Well, perhaps, it is not that they exist, but that they are not as robotic as we would like them to be. I am now living in Florida where there are a great many of we old people living in condos or villa which are part of associations which hire lawn care service. Not having to worry about outside maintenance is, of course, one of the advantages of condo living. It is one of the luxuries, which will allow many of us to live in our own home well into our dotage. I recall years ago visiting a friend in Florida who lived in a private home and was thrilled that she could pay a relatively low amount for lawn and pool maintenance. It seems then and it seems now as if many of the individuals who perform these functions are immigrants, refugees or undocumented from other countries. The average pay for a lawn care worked varies a lot. Those working for a government entity seem to fare the best. Those working for a company who provide very intensive lawn and landscaping service also seem to have more skilled and better-paid employees. It was interesting that when I was researching average wage of law care workers I ran across some blogs or other sites where perspective employers could ask questions. One of the questions that seem to be of concern was, “How do you locate dependable, good workers for $300.00 a week.” (See my blog of May 27, 2015)
The point is that it seems as if many of we humans have an appreciation for the service which poor people can provide. We all benefit from the fact that farm workers have historically made a relatively low income and, thus, have done their part in keeping the cost of farm products affordable for many of us. Although a good, highly trained butler in this country may make an average of over $100,000.00, the average house cleaner does not make nearly that. Also, most house cleaners do not get paid health insurance, paid vacation, a retirement plan or other benefits. They may get our discarded garments or other things we no longer need, but then only if they are appropriately grateful.
It seems as if our relationship with “poor” people is a very complicated one. We want and need poor people to take care of us and do the jobs we do not want to do or for which we do not have time. On the other hand, we would, it seems, prefer that like the blood to which Lady Macbeth is referring, we they disappear when they have needs such as health care. We are full of contradictions. We love giving to the victims of a “disaster” but find it very disturbing and a nuisance to worry about those “lazy” people who have the nerve to have children that they cannot afford, televisions when they could be saving for health care, smart phones when they could be getting an education so that they are no longer poor. But then, if there were no poor people, who would take care of us while we do the important work?
Jesus is purported to have said, “The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.” (The books of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark and John all have a version of his quote which is attributed to Jesus.” ) Unfortunately this statement is often taken out of context and used also as an excuse for keeping people poor or justifying having the poor among us. One must read the entire sentence to understand what Jesus is trying to communicate.
I suspect that another “problem” we have with the poor is the knowledge that, for many of us, it would not take much to put us in that group who is dependent on the Affordable Care Act and/or other government (local, state or federal) “assistance” We are just a job loss or “crisis” away from needing help.
Of course, there are those who those who find it relatively easy to hold on to the illusion that they could never be one of “those” poor people. Just this morning I was reading about some of the salaries of the top paid “media moguls”. (St. Petersburg Tribune, Business section, May 27, 2015) For example, David Saslav, head of Discovery Communications, was compensated in 2014 $156.1 million! The average salary of the CEO of for profit hospitals is between $400,000.00 and $600, 000.00. Presidents of 36 of the most prestigious colleges made over one millions dollars while others averaged around $400,000.00. Of course I will not even list the salaries of coaches for major college sports teams. The national average income for the top one percent is a mere $380,000.00 (I goggled each of these categories. One must be careful with these figures, but the point is that there are those who seem relatively immune from worrying about become one the poor who is always among us.)
The bottom line is that we seems to need to find a way to insure that we have poor people who do the low paying jobs and quietly go off to die when they are no longer useful while holding on to our hope or belief that, with few exceptions, people choose to be poor, We want to be the seem as the most democratic and generous nation without having to give up any of our privileges.
We convince ourselves that any other system then the one which creates such disparity between the haves and have not’s would just insure that everyone would be a have not which would not help anyone.
Perhaps we will one day build affordable robots that do all the tasks we now consider menial. When they break down we can press the “decompose” button and the robot will dissolve into reusable residue. We will, in effect, be able to say “Out, out, damn spot” and produce more effective results than Lady Macbeth was able to produce.
Doctor:
What is it she does now? Look how she rubs her hands.
Gentlewoman:
It is an accustom'd action with her, to seem thus
washing her hands. I have known her continue in this a quarter of
an hour.
Lady Macbeth:
Yet here's a spot.
Doctor:
Hark, she speaks. I will set down what comes from her, to
satisfy my remembrance the more strongly.
Lady Macbeth:
Out, damn'd spot! out, I say!—One; two: why, then
'tis time to do't.—Hell is murky.—Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier, and
afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our
pow'r to accompt?—Yet who would have thought the old man to
have had so much blood in him?
Macbeth Act 5, scene 1, 26–40
“Lady Macbeth, as has become her wont, sleepwalks through the royal castle. As her waiting-woman and her doctor listen in, she mutters fragments of an imaginary conversation that recalls the night she and her husband conspired to murder King Duncan [see A SORRY SIGHT]. The hour is two o'clock; she upbraids her husband for his bad conscience; she insists that there will be nothing to fear once they've grabbed the crown; she marvels at how much blood Duncan had to shed. As Lady Macbeth replays this scene for the eavesdroppers, she not only incriminates herself, but also reveals the pangs of conscience she had ridiculed in her husband.” (Enotes.com/Shakespeare quotes)
This morning I was reading yet another article about the terrible shortcomings or the complete failure of the Affordable Care Act, otherwise referred to as Obamacare. This particular article was decrying the burden the rules of this program has put on many employers who have, for example, been forced to pay for health insurance, reduce the hours of employees to less than 30 per week or reduce the number of employees to less than 50. The intent of the author of the article seems to me to be to convince the reader that the employer is one who only wants to do good by earning a living and providing jobs. Yet, it seems as if this author and the authors of many similar articles I have read offer no viable alternatives to the Affordable Care Act.
No, I personally, think that the Affordable Care Act has many flaws, primarily the failure of to establish a national health insurance plan (a single payer plan) into which everyone pays. This would, of course, have to include provisions for regulating the profit of pharmaceutical companies, as well as provisions for covering the cost of medical school, which would reduce some of the argument for why many physicians need such high incomes (generally this means specialists and not primary care doctors.)
Actually the real problem, as with King Duncan, is that the poor exist. Well, perhaps, it is not that they exist, but that they are not as robotic as we would like them to be. I am now living in Florida where there are a great many of we old people living in condos or villa which are part of associations which hire lawn care service. Not having to worry about outside maintenance is, of course, one of the advantages of condo living. It is one of the luxuries, which will allow many of us to live in our own home well into our dotage. I recall years ago visiting a friend in Florida who lived in a private home and was thrilled that she could pay a relatively low amount for lawn and pool maintenance. It seems then and it seems now as if many of the individuals who perform these functions are immigrants, refugees or undocumented from other countries. The average pay for a lawn care worked varies a lot. Those working for a government entity seem to fare the best. Those working for a company who provide very intensive lawn and landscaping service also seem to have more skilled and better-paid employees. It was interesting that when I was researching average wage of law care workers I ran across some blogs or other sites where perspective employers could ask questions. One of the questions that seem to be of concern was, “How do you locate dependable, good workers for $300.00 a week.” (See my blog of May 27, 2015)
The point is that it seems as if many of we humans have an appreciation for the service which poor people can provide. We all benefit from the fact that farm workers have historically made a relatively low income and, thus, have done their part in keeping the cost of farm products affordable for many of us. Although a good, highly trained butler in this country may make an average of over $100,000.00, the average house cleaner does not make nearly that. Also, most house cleaners do not get paid health insurance, paid vacation, a retirement plan or other benefits. They may get our discarded garments or other things we no longer need, but then only if they are appropriately grateful.
It seems as if our relationship with “poor” people is a very complicated one. We want and need poor people to take care of us and do the jobs we do not want to do or for which we do not have time. On the other hand, we would, it seems, prefer that like the blood to which Lady Macbeth is referring, we they disappear when they have needs such as health care. We are full of contradictions. We love giving to the victims of a “disaster” but find it very disturbing and a nuisance to worry about those “lazy” people who have the nerve to have children that they cannot afford, televisions when they could be saving for health care, smart phones when they could be getting an education so that they are no longer poor. But then, if there were no poor people, who would take care of us while we do the important work?
Jesus is purported to have said, “The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.” (The books of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark and John all have a version of his quote which is attributed to Jesus.” ) Unfortunately this statement is often taken out of context and used also as an excuse for keeping people poor or justifying having the poor among us. One must read the entire sentence to understand what Jesus is trying to communicate.
I suspect that another “problem” we have with the poor is the knowledge that, for many of us, it would not take much to put us in that group who is dependent on the Affordable Care Act and/or other government (local, state or federal) “assistance” We are just a job loss or “crisis” away from needing help.
Of course, there are those who those who find it relatively easy to hold on to the illusion that they could never be one of “those” poor people. Just this morning I was reading about some of the salaries of the top paid “media moguls”. (St. Petersburg Tribune, Business section, May 27, 2015) For example, David Saslav, head of Discovery Communications, was compensated in 2014 $156.1 million! The average salary of the CEO of for profit hospitals is between $400,000.00 and $600, 000.00. Presidents of 36 of the most prestigious colleges made over one millions dollars while others averaged around $400,000.00. Of course I will not even list the salaries of coaches for major college sports teams. The national average income for the top one percent is a mere $380,000.00 (I goggled each of these categories. One must be careful with these figures, but the point is that there are those who seem relatively immune from worrying about become one the poor who is always among us.)
The bottom line is that we seems to need to find a way to insure that we have poor people who do the low paying jobs and quietly go off to die when they are no longer useful while holding on to our hope or belief that, with few exceptions, people choose to be poor, We want to be the seem as the most democratic and generous nation without having to give up any of our privileges.
We convince ourselves that any other system then the one which creates such disparity between the haves and have not’s would just insure that everyone would be a have not which would not help anyone.
Perhaps we will one day build affordable robots that do all the tasks we now consider menial. When they break down we can press the “decompose” button and the robot will dissolve into reusable residue. We will, in effect, be able to say “Out, out, damn spot” and produce more effective results than Lady Macbeth was able to produce.
RSS Feed