Cooperatives And Other Thoughts
1) For all the talk of a public plan for health care, the myriad lies and distortions that have been brought to bear against health care reform, and the talk of health co-ops, I have to say that co-ops are not without merit as a system of administering needs and utilities and services. Co-ops can take many forms, such as utility co-ops and credit unions.
Working for a credit union, I can say that they work as a viable alternative to banks, depending on what you are looking for and how the community of the credit union operates, what sort of offerings are used, and what sort of costs and expenditures are at play.
My credit union charges very few fees and offers many perks to members. Revenue is mostly earned from interest on loans to members. If people participate and buy into the notion of their own responsibility to the credit union as a whole, the relationship is beneficial to all.
The trouble, of course, with this idea is that there is this misconception of what public or communal options would be. There is a notion of cooperation and community that gets lost behind notions of 'communism', as if that is an inherent evil.
Part of the problem, I think, is that the general public often doesn't research the implications of efforts to change the status quo. The people who do the research are naturally the ones who have an economic stake in the status quo, and they are then in position to pick and choose what items the media should focus on.
Are there flaws with the notions of a public or community-based option? Yes, but it has to be better than a capitalist-based system, where the benefit of the patient is not necessarily the benefit of the provider. In a public health care system, if a member is healthy and taken care of, that would seem to benefit the system as a whole.
2) On a related note, it is interesting how a subtle change in work routine can re-energize you. I am on a temporary assignment away from the call center, yet doing substantially the same sort of work, contacting members, being contacted by members, helping them with their needs, concerns, and questions, maintaining the relationship between the member and the credit union. Nevertheless, I am feeling more engaged with work than I have in a while.
Of course, it helps that I also won two more tickets to a Giants game for next Thursday; once again, work was directly responsible for the preservation of my one game a month program.
To be satisfied with the place where you work, and to be able to live a rich life outside of work, that's quite enough to be getting on with.
Working for a credit union, I can say that they work as a viable alternative to banks, depending on what you are looking for and how the community of the credit union operates, what sort of offerings are used, and what sort of costs and expenditures are at play.
My credit union charges very few fees and offers many perks to members. Revenue is mostly earned from interest on loans to members. If people participate and buy into the notion of their own responsibility to the credit union as a whole, the relationship is beneficial to all.
The trouble, of course, with this idea is that there is this misconception of what public or communal options would be. There is a notion of cooperation and community that gets lost behind notions of 'communism', as if that is an inherent evil.
Part of the problem, I think, is that the general public often doesn't research the implications of efforts to change the status quo. The people who do the research are naturally the ones who have an economic stake in the status quo, and they are then in position to pick and choose what items the media should focus on.
Are there flaws with the notions of a public or community-based option? Yes, but it has to be better than a capitalist-based system, where the benefit of the patient is not necessarily the benefit of the provider. In a public health care system, if a member is healthy and taken care of, that would seem to benefit the system as a whole.
2) On a related note, it is interesting how a subtle change in work routine can re-energize you. I am on a temporary assignment away from the call center, yet doing substantially the same sort of work, contacting members, being contacted by members, helping them with their needs, concerns, and questions, maintaining the relationship between the member and the credit union. Nevertheless, I am feeling more engaged with work than I have in a while.
Of course, it helps that I also won two more tickets to a Giants game for next Thursday; once again, work was directly responsible for the preservation of my one game a month program.
To be satisfied with the place where you work, and to be able to live a rich life outside of work, that's quite enough to be getting on with.
Labels: co-operatives, credit unions, health care reform, heath care, what is enough
posted by Devin at 5:07 PM
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