week five Soc490

The question of whether we have control over our health is a very contradicting question. Anyone could make an argument to make it seem like we do have control, or that we don’t have control. I personally think that it goes both ways; in my eyes one argument isn’t stronger than the other.  Sure if you exercise regularly and eat healthy you will be healthier. Just because you do these things doesn’t mean you can’t catch a cold, have a genetic disorder, suffer from cancer, or even have some sort of mental disorder. 

There are just some things you can’t control, and that is how life works. One thing we can control though is the availability of health care to everyone; so if someone gets sick they can receive the health care they need. Gladwell asks, “Do you think that people whose genes predispose them to depression or cancer, or whose poverty complicates asthma or diabetes, or who get hit by a drunk driver, or who have to keep their mouths closed because their teeth are rotting ought to bear the greater share of the costs of their health care than those of us who are lucky enough to escape such misfortunes?”.

It seems a bit cruel to make healthcare unaffordable to these people, who could have received preventive care if everyone had healthcare and in return have less costs for health care. Helms exclaims, “what we all seem to want from health reform is a better system that will provide us with higher quality care and greater economic value”.  He also claims that an open-ended payment system will not accomplish this, because it would encourage abuse of the health care system.  This abuse is often referred to as moral hazard. 

Gladwell brings up a good point though, “people who are very well insured, who are very rich, do you see them check into the hospital because it’s free? Do people like to go to the doctor?”.  My answer to this question is no, I go to the doctor only if I feel it is very necessary because every time I go to the doctor I get a shot and that is not fun for me. I have also been in the hospital before and had to stay the night; that is an experience I’ll never forget and never want to experience again if I don’t have to.

week five GL350

According to Barzini the English saying “Never kick a man when he is down” is nonsense, why not kick a man when he’s down? I’m sure many people believe that you shouldn’t, but there are plenty of people that believe a man being down is an advantage for them to kick him. It seems as though the Italians all have an ulterior motive when they see someone who seems weakened, and they take advantage any way they see fit.

A good example of this is when Barzini talks about the Venetians. Barzini sates, that they “rented their ships on charter for the crossing of the Mediterranean to the knights from Germany, England and France, and often craftily routed military operations to where they would do most good to the interests of the Venetian Republic”. Italians in this way take advantage of many men who make themselves vulnerable and open to help from others.

They have a really good strategy going, but to me this seems to be an non-honorable way to win, it’s almost as though they cheat. Everyone that cheats eventually gets caught in their little game, but if it makes you so advantageous then why not? In my opinion cheating is not acceptable not matter how great the gain. 

Anyways on a lighter note, this week and weekend was awesome! I really enjoyed spending Thanksgiving with my new family, and I feel as though we are all getting closer as the weeks go on. Not trying to be a Debbie downer but we only have three weeks left in Italy…WOW have the weeks flown by or what? No matter what though I know everyone is with me in making these last three weeks amazing and full of fun, adventures, and knowledge!

week four Soc490

Over the past two weeks we have visited two museums oriented towards healthcare. The first was the Museum of the Mind, and the second was the National History Museum of the Medical Arts. I was amazed by both museums and felt they were very educational. Although both museums were quite different there were some similarities. 

I noticed that the museums had similar glassware for storing medicines. Both were very old and also both were very unique. I’d say that my favorite out of the two was the National History of the Medical Arts. I think that this museum appealed to me because I will be going into a medical career and I have learned a lot about the human body and all the aspects dealing with the human body. 

Seeing all of the old molds for teaching was very interesting, I had never really considered how people learned about the body back then and the molds were a very good idea in my eyes. Also I loved seeing all of the instruments they used back then; my favorite was probably the microscopes. My second favorite would have to be the little room which used to be a laboratory for making chemicals. 

Experiencing this museum was an incredible experience and helps put into perspective how far we have come in medical technologies. After seeing this museum I’d have to say that I think we are pretty capable for controlling our health with the many technologies we have. In addition to the technologies we also have the ability to control or health in other ways. 

A way to control your health that we could take from the Romans would be the example of the Baths. We visited the Caracalla baths a while ago but I’d like to think that the baths were just the beginning of being aware of our health. The baths were a place where the Romans could go to work out in the gyms, and also a place where they could cleanse their bodies in steam rooms and in the baths themselves. 

The Romans now have universal healthcare and everyone enjoys the benefits of having healthcare. Having universal health care is said to affect many things and one that really jumped out to me was the life expectancy of Italians and Americans. Americans life expectancy is 78.2 years old and Italians life expectancy is 81.7 years old.

 Although this does not seem like a huge difference I think it is something to comment on. Italians get health care when they need it and take advantage of that to be at their healthiest at all times. Furnas states, “The status quo of American health care is spending more money to cover fewer people, yielding disappointing out comes”. From statistics this quote seems to be very true. Maybe the status quo of American health care should be changed to spending money to cover all people, yielding surprising out comes?

week four GL350

 I would have to say that this week might have been one of the first weeks I felt a little home sick. Steinbach’s statement, “I remained a stranger, wandering through the city as indifferent to me as I was to it” really explains how I felt this last week. It’s not that I don’t love Rome but I feel detached from it. The city is magnificent and there is so much history; sometimes it is hard to comprehend the extravagance of it all. 

In Steinbach Without Reservations she quotes “The unexpectedness of life, waiting around every corner, catches even wise women unawares”. This is a perfect quote for explaining Roma and all its wonders and Steinbach goes on to explain that if you avoid corners, you refuse to live. Going back to my homesickness, after reading this and talking to my friend I realized there is no point in feeling down. 

I am in Roma, a city with over 2,000 years of history and I am so lucky to be here. My friend made a good point , he said, “everyone and everything will be here when you get back”. Who knows if I will ever make it back to Roma, so it makes no sense not to make the best of every moment here.  Our trip to Florence this weekend was one of my favorites. 

When we went to the Uffizi Gallery and then the Academy where many of Michelangelo’s works are, I found myself in complete amazement. Spark quotes, ““speak to me” Michelangelo is said to have challenged his Roman statue of Moses; and indeed, the sculptures of Rome do speak”. I found myself this weekend really trying to understand all the paintings and the statutes that I encountered. I found myself contemplating in my head what each piece of art meant to me and what it may have meant to others.

week three GL350

This week in Roma has probably been my most memorable and favorite. I got to spend the weekend with my parents, who came to visit Roma for the first time ever. I took them around Roma on Friday and showed them a few of the beautiful wonders that I have encountered on my trip so far. On Saturday we drove down the Amafi coast and saw Positano, Sorrento, and Pompeii; Positano was my favorite by far.

 It was a long but enjoyable drive and our driver was very interesting and told us many stories about Italy and the History. When we were headed back to Roma, He told us that Roma backwards was Amor. In Italian Amor means love, I really thought that was cool and it made me think about Barzini’s The Italians and how he says everyone falls in love with Italy. 

I would like to comment on San Giovanni in Laterno, an amazing Basilica that we took a tour of early this week. I was in aww the whole time in the church; it was magnificent and so big. Even when I took my parents to the church I was still amazed and so were they. In Smiles, Visser presents the church as a relative of the theatre. I can agree that many of the churches in Roma seem like a theatre and are very extravagant. 

The extravagant nature of the churches does not go with The First Letter of St. Peter, in Smiles though. St. Peter granted is talking about the dress of people, but he talks about how you should not dress up in fancy clothes with gold bracelets. He says that “The ornament of a sweet and gentle disposition-this is what is precious in the sight of God”. So in a way I find the huge extravagance of the churches a little over whelming. Sometimes I find the decorations in the churches too distracting, and I contemplate if it distracts others away from focusing on their prayers.