The Giant Wheel of Technological Advancement
I think there are many things in life once it started leaning heavily towards one direction, there's no stopping and there's no turning back, no matter who or how many of us do not want it to happen.
Take digital camera for an example. I am sure camera making companies aren't too happy with their initial arrivals. But the first few generations were probably too crappy to compete with a real camera. Then each generation that comes out becomes more sophisticated, and the lower end ones also continue to drop in prices. Can camera companies stop the trend of techncial advancement? No! If they want a piece of the pie, they'll have to jump in themselves also -- manufacturing digital cameras, photo printing paper? And digital prints and CDrom copies are now offered at film developing places. That's evolution.
Another example -- outsourcing. It's pretty ironic really. Us Americans have always wanted to telecommunte for work, when that dream is finally starting to come true, employers also realize that "if we are not going to have our employees come to work and sit here eight hours a day, why not hire someone in a different country for A LOT CHEAPER." I don't like outsourcing, most of the work I can do can and probably will be outsourced. So what? The government can try higher taxes for companies that outsource, or lower tax brackets for those who don't. I doubt that is going to deter a lot of outsourcing. Bottomline: Money is evil. Ultimately, companies want to make more money and consumers are reluctant to pay higher prices for work/end products done in US.
Embyronic stem cell research is another one of those things. I don't personally care for it. Though not religious, I still believe that life began when an egg is fertilized. (Religious folks will probably argue about "at which point does the soul enters blah blah blah.") Us Americans can dig our heels in; the government can ban stem cell researches, but the rest of the world are doing it. Is our society willing to lose our #1 place in the bioscience field? I think not. Stem cell research is doomed to happen in the US, it's just a matter of time.
Buying (pharmaceutical) drugs from the internet will also fall into this category. We can impose a lot of rules for pharmacists and doctors within the US, but it's going to be tough to tell other countries to NOT sell drugs to US. Once again, it's money we are talking about here. If a pharmacy/doctor can make money selling drugs to US, they will. I am sorry we lost the 18 year old boy who was taking Vicodin along with other strong drugs he obtained from the internet, but he was 18 years old, not 13. I'm sure he was well aware that he probably shouldn't be getting Vicodin off the internet with an online questionaire. We can try imposing tighter regulations, but I think the ultimate responsibilities lie within the users -- if you are going to bypass going to a doctor or even a pharmacists in real life, then you better do your own research of drug interactions online also. Or at the very minimum, call up a pharmacist anonymously to obtain more information about mixing drugs. Unless we shut down internet commerce, there's always going to be a way for people to buy prescription drugs online, with or without a prescription. Alternatively, we can have "Freedom Operation (fill in the blank)" until there are no longer other countries to sell prescription drugs to our citizens illegally. Why not? We have bigger guns, don't we? That's what we do, right?
Take digital camera for an example. I am sure camera making companies aren't too happy with their initial arrivals. But the first few generations were probably too crappy to compete with a real camera. Then each generation that comes out becomes more sophisticated, and the lower end ones also continue to drop in prices. Can camera companies stop the trend of techncial advancement? No! If they want a piece of the pie, they'll have to jump in themselves also -- manufacturing digital cameras, photo printing paper? And digital prints and CDrom copies are now offered at film developing places. That's evolution.
Another example -- outsourcing. It's pretty ironic really. Us Americans have always wanted to telecommunte for work, when that dream is finally starting to come true, employers also realize that "if we are not going to have our employees come to work and sit here eight hours a day, why not hire someone in a different country for A LOT CHEAPER." I don't like outsourcing, most of the work I can do can and probably will be outsourced. So what? The government can try higher taxes for companies that outsource, or lower tax brackets for those who don't. I doubt that is going to deter a lot of outsourcing. Bottomline: Money is evil. Ultimately, companies want to make more money and consumers are reluctant to pay higher prices for work/end products done in US.
Embyronic stem cell research is another one of those things. I don't personally care for it. Though not religious, I still believe that life began when an egg is fertilized. (Religious folks will probably argue about "at which point does the soul enters blah blah blah.") Us Americans can dig our heels in; the government can ban stem cell researches, but the rest of the world are doing it. Is our society willing to lose our #1 place in the bioscience field? I think not. Stem cell research is doomed to happen in the US, it's just a matter of time.
Buying (pharmaceutical) drugs from the internet will also fall into this category. We can impose a lot of rules for pharmacists and doctors within the US, but it's going to be tough to tell other countries to NOT sell drugs to US. Once again, it's money we are talking about here. If a pharmacy/doctor can make money selling drugs to US, they will. I am sorry we lost the 18 year old boy who was taking Vicodin along with other strong drugs he obtained from the internet, but he was 18 years old, not 13. I'm sure he was well aware that he probably shouldn't be getting Vicodin off the internet with an online questionaire. We can try imposing tighter regulations, but I think the ultimate responsibilities lie within the users -- if you are going to bypass going to a doctor or even a pharmacists in real life, then you better do your own research of drug interactions online also. Or at the very minimum, call up a pharmacist anonymously to obtain more information about mixing drugs. Unless we shut down internet commerce, there's always going to be a way for people to buy prescription drugs online, with or without a prescription. Alternatively, we can have "Freedom Operation (fill in the blank)" until there are no longer other countries to sell prescription drugs to our citizens illegally. Why not? We have bigger guns, don't we? That's what we do, right?
posted by cahalan @ 10:22
|
<< Home