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Friday, March 31, 2017

The Smell of Estrangement

Two phrases with similar function--each stresses the importance of the individual.
  • Individual responsibility (accountability) is essential.
  • It is important for each individual to first and foremost meet his own needs.

The structural implications are decisively different, however.
  • In the first instance paradoxically the end result is highly social in character--a thriving society is founded upon individuals assuming personal responsibility.
  • In the second instance the end result is blatantly anti-social--when every one is out for themselves society fragments and is characterized by estrangement.

As this relates to health and medical issues:

Today Connie will go to Saint Anthony’s for day surgery services in which she will receive anesthesia. The procedures altogether will take four hours.  Because anesthesia can involve some risk, I plan to be on site for the duration.  This I do from a sense of individual responsibility--I know I will feel better about myself for being there should unfortunate complications arise in which staff would need to talk to family members.

Operating under an “every man out for himself” stance toward medical care, I would drop Connie off and head off to the beach for a half-day of diversions in the sun.                                                                                  




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