On 7 Jul 98 at 17:37, bjs wrote: > ... this is not a FDA or AMA oriented newsgroup. Quite the > opposite. Most people are here for a variety of reasons, but one > common denominator for most being here is a general disenchantment > with the mainstream medical monopoly to begin with. In other words, > mainstream medical worship and the urge to forgive them for their > faults is not deeply entrenched here.
First of all, I'd like to compliment everyone who's taken part in this discussion of doctors and doctor bashing. There's been some heat but no nastiness to speak of. I started the thread by responding to Dameon's remarks, but only because it's an issue that's going to keep coming up. I wanted some air and light on the subject. Thank you all. We can't defend the medical monopoly, government policies, and mainstream arrogance that marks conventional health care (or disease management) today. I'm probably ready to go farther than *any* of you to change the system and let doctors and patients earn back their freedom. The fact that some alternative treatments have high success rates and continue to be "alternative" is damning. The horrendous abuse of power by some bureaucratic agencies and their insistance on trying to run our lives in every possible way are symptoms of far broader and deeper problems than just those affecting medical care. Understanding that, we all know what it's like to talk to people who have never considered alternatives. Everything we know and do is strange, suspect, and frightening for them. All their familiar ideas come from sound bites on the news, articles in the Reader's Digest, and those little pamphlets in the Doctor's waiting room. We've all gone off the deep end, already. They're just sticking a toe in the shallows! Given the dual mission of this list, to help people get started and to further study CS, we're going to always have an audience of people who are not yet convinced that this stuff is real. If we build a good reputation, we'll eventually be one of the first stops people make in exploring "this new thing they heard about." So, what about doctor bashing? How do we handle this without hobbling ourselves? I strongly suggest that each of you consider your role that of educator. You may safely recount your experiences and how they made you feel, and let the *facts* speak for themselves. But do *not* generalize to include others in your condemnation, especially someone else on the list. Anyone hearing such things for the first time has enough to overcome without adding personal affront to their shock and denial. > Speaking of that, mainstream medicence sure ain't got nothing kind > to say about alternative methods. So I don't know how lovey dovey > this can all be. We may *never* attract another medical professional or scientist to our group. If so, there'll be no more problem! But the door needs to be open, if for no other reason than their participation can speed things along for us. I don't propose to protect these people from the harsh truth, but I ask the highest level of restraint and understanding from you all. Let's help these people to face the reality of what they're involved in, hoping that at least some will be enlightened enough to stay. > > And as to arrogance, arrogance is playing at scientist in your kitchen > > lab in your spare time for six months then proposing to tell men and > > women who've dedicated their lives to the field that they don't have a > > clue what they're talking about. > > I would like to remind you that this one covers more than me > here. Both of you are correct, here. Much of modern science and medicine has arisen from just such "cranks" as you and me. People whose ideas were new at one time or another. Some folks have devoted years to study of alternative treatments and logged dozens or hundreds of successful interventions. To tell them what they're doing doesn't work is quite the act of arrogance. But the bulk of medical and scientific knowledge is valid, period. Anyone who has mastered a significan portion of it *is* to be respected for that, at least. Where we are stuggling is at the vast boundaries with the unknown. It is in how they approach new and different ideas and question established thought that we will be able to measure their character. There is much of politics and personalities and power in the practice of science and medicine today. Access to information, the media, and funding are controlled to the point that those on the outside are at a perpetual disadvantage. To overcome that we must make what friends we can, and use all the advantages we posess to influence as many people as possible. This internet technology is a forceful weapon, one over which the powerful have yet to gain control. It is here that many people on the "inside" are going to come face to face with "outsiders" for the first time. Let's help make their experience a fruitful one. Be well, my friends. Mike Devour list-owner [Mike Devour, Citizen, Patriot, Libertarian] [[email protected] ] [Speaking only for myself... ] -- The silver-list is a moderated forum for discussion of colloidal silver. To join or quit silver-list or silver-digest send an e-mail message to: [email protected] -or- [email protected] with the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the subject: line. To post, address your message to: [email protected] List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]>
