PRIMARY PURPOSE OF INSTITUTIONS IS LOST

A tendency in modern society seems to be a diversion from the primary purpose of our institutions. People organize into religious, educational, social organizations. Although we may not agree with the purpose of this or that organization, in a general sense we recognize the primary purpose of the organizations we form. Until recently, I have been critical of what is taking place in many of the organization but have not stopped to think of what is happening as trend or tendency. Now, knowing what I now know from a long life dealing with human behavior, I think perhaps the tendency is inevitable or innate. For examples, what is the primary purpose of a church, a university, a public school, or out of the medical profession, or what the purpose is of a political party? No one stumbles on that question. However, when we examine what is happening within these “organizations” we see something entirely different from what we all know is the primary purpose. I could go to some widely different organizations; however, I will start with medical care as an example. My hearing started to wane, so as a first step to resolving my problem, I went to a Physical to check out my ears before going to a hearing aid specialist. I know that the cost of hearing aids is ridiculously exorbitant so want to be sure I need that kind of device. At the doctor’s office, a nurse asked me step on a scale and then took by blood pressure. The doctor, a female, entered the room. She introduced herself as the wife of the physician, but asked no questions, took an otoscope and glanced at my ears for less than 10 seconds per ear. Her pronouncement was that there is nothing wrong with my ears. She next turned to the nurse and said; “Set him up for a follow-up appointment in two months.” She was moving toward the door of the room when I stopped her by asking if she was an MD. She seemed insulted but emphatically responded, “Yes.” Then I asked her, “Follow up for what?” She shrugged her shoulders. I angrily said to them to cancel all future visits and remove my name from their client list. Similar nonsense is what had happened on previous visits; one for a visit for taking a blood sample and the next to tell me everything was normal in my blood. In addition to the several hundred dollars cost of the laboratory, the cost for each visit was $30 co-pay and $126 for the visit. The follow-up was to be in six months. I should have asked why a follow-up visit if everything was normal but didn’t. The pattern of visits just did not make sense if the primary purpose of the medical profession is to deliver health care, but it made much sense in terms of making money for the practice. What is the primary purpose of a university? The answer is obvious. Of course, it is education. I worked for years as a professor at two different universities. Over a period of thirty plus year, I watched these universities deteriorate from being teaching institution to research institutions. They grew buildings and faculty to the point where they have many more professors than students and many more laboratories than they have classrooms. I could go into a discussion of politics and political parties as a further example. It should be obvious that the purpose of government is to govern. In stark contrast, the platform of the Republican Party is simple and straight forward, get rid of government; get rid of regulations; and get rid of taxes. I could go on with the purpose of the religion of love and respect, as another example, but run into the Muslim-Christian conflict; kill, kill, kill, and hate, hate, hate. URL: firetreepub.blogspot.com Comments Invited and not moderated