The thing about 9/11 is that its strongest and most pervasive effects were psychological. This is going to be the same. And a new psychological outlook colors everything we do as humans.
I was looking at dates and figured out that my grandparents, who died in their 90s, were the only generation in yonks to live a full life without enduring a pandemic on this scale. Their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-greats are all going to remember this forever (well, unless they're babies), and make life decisions partly based on it. For instance, I doubt that my son (or me, or my parents) will ever be able to treat health care and health insurance as no big deal. (And won't it be interesting to see how this affects the ongoing effort to destroy Obamacare!)
It does take skill to bathe an elderly man, actually, for all sorts of reasons. You can learn to stock a supermarket shelf in a morning. It takes quite a bit longer to complete the essential training to be a home carer, and quite a bit of experience to be a good one. I’ve had ten years of working alongside home carers and they’re really, really undervalued.
It takes skill (and patience) to wash and dress any adult, and the degree of difficulty increases with the age of the person; physical frailty, injury or inability to control limbs adds to the problem. And washing and dressing someone who can't easily follow instructions, for example someone with dementia, the difficulty is increased.
Why this vital work, and the people who do it, isn't properly valued is beyond comprehension. Perhaps those who write it, and the people doing it, off as "unskilled" should be made to do it for a week - I suspect attitudes would change.
The thing about 9/11 is that its strongest and most pervasive effects were psychological. This is going to be the same. And a new psychological outlook colors everything we do as humans.
I was looking at dates and figured out that my grandparents, who died in their 90s, were the only generation in yonks to live a full life without enduring a pandemic on this scale. Their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-greats are all going to remember this forever (well, unless they're babies), and make life decisions partly based on it. For instance, I doubt that my son (or me, or my parents) will ever be able to treat health care and health insurance as no big deal. (And won't it be interesting to see how this affects the ongoing effort to destroy Obamacare!)
I'm the first generation in 4 of my father's family to not lose half or more of the family to war and related slaughter. It forms the collected and collective unconscious I've inherited.
When the devil whispers in your ear "you'll never survive this one", the only reasonable response is "get back 6 feet sh*t head!"
It wasn't until my Dad went into care that I realised how skilled the carers at the home were. Absolutely amazing people.
Back when I was a student, several of my friends has temp work in a care home, helping people bathe, change, clipping toenails, and so on. I'm certain they got the easy people to deal with, and there were more trained staff in command, but this particular home made frequent use of unskilled minimum wage labour for personal care.
Perhaps those who write it, and the people doing it, off as "unskilled" should be made to do it for a week - I suspect attitudes would change.
The very fact that you can suggest that people should do it for a week indicates that it's unskilled. That's not at all the same as saying that it's easy, or that it's not valuable or important. Just that it doesn't require years of training to be able to do.
There are skills and skills, aren't there? Putting up with dementia-related anger, abuse, etc. and still being able to get shit done for the person, over anything but the shortest of terms, is a rare skill set indeed. The trouble is, I'm not sure it's classroom trainable. It's rather like being a parent, which is another wholly devalued "unskilled" (or highly skilled) occupation.
For those pondering pre-plague and post-plague life, I received this piece from a friend a few days ago. I don't share Gwynne Dyer's* optimism. I take a darker view - not apocalyptic in the least, just darker. I rather suspect that once this has passed, as every plague in history has, people generally will want to return to the before-days, and there will be an orgy of normality rather than learning lessons and applying them, or seeing alternate paths. There's a lot for you folk to chew on, though I expect that it'll be politely ignored.
Will things be different after? Yeah, probably. How, and how much? None of us knows. Speculation is pointless, especially if you're looking for comfort. "We shall bear patiently the burdens that fate imposes on us." Whatever follows, our choices are simple: persevere; or, not.
*Given that Dyer has appeared in a global array of newspapers, I'm surprised that this colun seems to have been carried by only a couple of small regional papers.
I think there are 2 issues. One is that we systematically undervalue work traditionally seen as "women's work", the second that in the (perfectly reasonable) race to fair recruitment practices we've tended to inadvertently emphasise those things that can be relatively easily measured, while undervaluing those that can't.
I would laugh dryly at the way I've been told for decades what a stupid idealistic clueless lefty twat I am for questioning how it is that people with shitty jobs get the shittiest pay, followed by a careful explanation, using word of one syllable to emphasise what a moron I must be for not accepting the inevitability of the situation, of why the chairman of a company needs to be paid as much for one day as half his workforce sees in a year. Suddenly, it seems, people actually fucking see what I've been saying.
When Tony Blair became Prime Minister he had no Cabinet experience. At all. My guess is that the same could be said of several American Presidents, but I don't know enough to be sure. They had to learn the job by doing it. Does that make them "unskilled labour"?
Why this vital work, and the people who do it, isn't properly valued is beyond comprehension. Perhaps those who write it, and the people doing it, off as "unskilled" should be made to do it for a week - I suspect attitudes would change.
It’s not beyond comprehension, it’s because it’s (traditionally, there are always exceptions) seen as women’s work, which has always been undervalued.
Consider Marvin’s situation. That his boss thinks it’s kindness and flexibility to allow him to catch up on his day job overnight shows something is squiffy with the way the work he’s doing during the day, caring for a small, wriggling thing which sleeps a bit during the day but wakes up when he’s trying to do the day job, is valued.
When Tony Blair became Prime Minister he had no Cabinet experience. At all. My guess is that the same could be said of several American Presidents, but I don't know enough to be sure. They had to learn the job by doing it. Does that make them "unskilled labour"?
If you are thinking of trump, then it must be possible to define not only unskilled, but negatively skilled labour; people who do negative work and learn nothing while doing it. (OK - off topic, but with two daughters who are suffering from this trumpery, it doesn't take much to set me off).
Why this vital work, and the people who do it, isn't properly valued is beyond comprehension. Perhaps those who write it, and the people doing it, off as "unskilled" should be made to do it for a week - I suspect attitudes would change.
It’s not beyond comprehension, it’s because it’s (traditionally, there are always exceptions) seen as women’s work, which has always been undervalued.
Consider Marvin’s situation. That his boss thinks it’s kindness and flexibility to allow him to catch up on his day job overnight shows something is squiffy with the way the work he’s doing during the day, caring for a small, wriggling thing which sleeps a bit during the day but wakes up when he’s trying to do the day job, is valued.
I hope that makes sense. I am mid migraine.
It makes sense. That pissed me off myself. Though I'm well used to it, having worked under an abuser in the past, for seven years.
It’s not beyond comprehension, it’s because it’s (traditionally, there are always exceptions) seen as women’s work, which has always been undervalued.
Consider Marvin’s situation. That his boss thinks it’s kindness and flexibility to allow him to catch up on his day job overnight shows something is squiffy with the way the work he’s doing during the day, caring for a small, wriggling thing which sleeps a bit during the day but wakes up when he’s trying to do the day job, is valued.
I hope that makes sense. I am mid migraine.
It totally makes sense. When your migraine is past, and if your lockdown situation allows of serious reading, try and get hold of "Counting for Nothing; What Men Value and What Women are Worth"*, by Marilyn Waring, which was first published in 1988 as "If Women Counted". It is an extraordinary book which had a profound impact on me when I read it while at uni.
From Wikipedia: "[Waring] has outspokenly criticised the concept of GDP, the economic measure that became a foundation of the United Nations System of National Accounts (UNSNA) following World War II. She criticises a system which counts oil spills and wars as contributors to economic growth, while child-rearing and housekeeping are deemed valueless."
*Seems to be available in paper and electronic form via Amazon.
When Tony Blair became Prime Minister he had no Cabinet experience. At all. My guess is that the same could be said of several American Presidents, but I don't know enough to be sure. They had to learn the job by doing it. Does that make them "unskilled labour"?
If you are thinking of trump, then it must be possible to define not only unskilled, but negatively skilled labour; people who do negative work and learn nothing while doing it. (OK - off topic, but with two daughters who are suffering from this trumpery, it doesn't take much to set me off).
Trump certainly crossed my mind, and I agree with your assessment of him. However, it is possible there have been other Presidents who came to the post without experience of government; I have no idea if any such exist.
When Tony Blair became Prime Minister he had no Cabinet experience. At all. My guess is that the same could be said of several American Presidents, but I don't know enough to be sure. They had to learn the job by doing it. Does that make them "unskilled labour"?
If you are thinking of trump, then it must be possible to define not only unskilled, but negatively skilled labour; people who do negative work and learn nothing while doing it. (OK - off topic, but with two daughters who are suffering from this trumpery, it doesn't take much to set me off).
Trump certainly crossed my mind, and I agree with your assessment of him. However, it is possible there have been other Presidents who came to the post without experience of government; I have no idea if any such exist.
It’s not beyond comprehension, it’s because it’s (traditionally, there are always exceptions) seen as women’s work, which has always been undervalued.
Consider Marvin’s situation. That his boss thinks it’s kindness and flexibility to allow him to catch up on his day job overnight shows something is squiffy with the way the work he’s doing during the day, caring for a small, wriggling thing which sleeps a bit during the day but wakes up when he’s trying to do the day job, is valued.
I hope that makes sense. I am mid migraine.
It totally makes sense. When your migraine is past, and if your lockdown situation allows of serious reading, try and get hold of "Counting for Nothing; What Men Value and What Women are Worth"*, by Marilyn Waring, which was first published in 1988 as "If Women Counted". It is an extraordinary book which had a profound impact on me when I read it while at uni.
From Wikipedia: "[Waring] has outspokenly criticised the concept of GDP, the economic measure that became a foundation of the United Nations System of National Accounts (UNSNA) following World War II. She criticises a system which counts oil spills and wars as contributors to economic growth, while child-rearing and housekeeping are deemed valueless."
*Seems to be available in paper and electronic form via Amazon.
The way GDP is calculated makes no sense to me. Selling someone a new radio adds to GDP, but fixing their old radio does not. No wonder we live in a disposable society.
It’s not beyond comprehension, it’s because it’s (traditionally, there are always exceptions) seen as women’s work, which has always been undervalued.
Consider Marvin’s situation. That his boss thinks it’s kindness and flexibility to allow him to catch up on his day job overnight shows something is squiffy with the way the work he’s doing during the day, caring for a small, wriggling thing which sleeps a bit during the day but wakes up when he’s trying to do the day job, is valued.
I hope that makes sense. I am mid migraine.
It totally makes sense. When your migraine is past, and if your lockdown situation allows of serious reading, try and get hold of "Counting for Nothing; What Men Value and What Women are Worth"*, by Marilyn Waring, which was first published in 1988 as "If Women Counted". It is an extraordinary book which had a profound impact on me when I read it while at uni.
From Wikipedia: "[Waring] has outspokenly criticised the concept of GDP, the economic measure that became a foundation of the United Nations System of National Accounts (UNSNA) following World War II. She criticises a system which counts oil spills and wars as contributors to economic growth, while child-rearing and housekeeping are deemed valueless."
*Seems to be available in paper and electronic form via Amazon.
The way GDP is calculated makes no sense to me. Selling someone a new radio adds to GDP, but fixing their old radio does not. No wonder we live in a disposable society.
Sure it does - if you charge them for it. Radio repair for money (if such a thing still existed) would count as a service.
No, you can’t just become a carer for a week. Or you can’t see a large number of the people on the average carer’s rota, anyway. I’ve spent a substantial amount of time this week on plans for how the local council can redeploy volunteers into carer roles (mainly looking at how we deliver a condensed form of the manual handling training, without the training itself becoming an infection control nightmare).
We are not still in the days where carers made a cup of tea, washed a few dishes and had a nice chat. That stopped many years ago.
If anyone wants examples of the range of situations carers have to deal with, I’m happy to provide more detail. Just for starters, bear in mind that you can cause serious injury or even death by hoisting someone unsafely (it has happened).
It’s not beyond comprehension, it’s because it’s (traditionally, there are always exceptions) seen as women’s work, which has always been undervalued.
Consider Marvin’s situation. That his boss thinks it’s kindness and flexibility to allow him to catch up on his day job overnight shows something is squiffy with the way the work he’s doing during the day, caring for a small, wriggling thing which sleeps a bit during the day but wakes up when he’s trying to do the day job, is valued.
I hope that makes sense. I am mid migraine.
It totally makes sense. When your migraine is past, and if your lockdown situation allows of serious reading, try and get hold of "Counting for Nothing; What Men Value and What Women are Worth"*, by Marilyn Waring, which was first published in 1988 as "If Women Counted". It is an extraordinary book which had a profound impact on me when I read it while at uni.
From Wikipedia: "[Waring] has outspokenly criticised the concept of GDP, the economic measure that became a foundation of the United Nations System of National Accounts (UNSNA) following World War II. She criticises a system which counts oil spills and wars as contributors to economic growth, while child-rearing and housekeeping are deemed valueless."
*Seems to be available in paper and electronic form via Amazon.
Thanks for the recommendation, it sounds great. I’m currently reading Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez which I expect is coming from a similar angle.
I’m so sorry for your experience under the abusive boss, Lamb Chopped.
I'm now working from home, although I only have to fit 4.5 hours in, there are two of us (with connections into 2 different NHS trusts, just to confuse the router), and the Dragonlets are old enough to amuse themselves for a while, although they need keeping an eye on. This does make it easier, but I do have to split my working hours up into a chunk in the morning, one in the afternoon, which if today is anything to go by will focus on admin stuff I can pick up and put down, and a stint in the evening after they are in bed. This then gives me time when I can cook with assistance, try and get them to do some tidying, and do some schooling with Dragonlet 1. The complicated and engaging stuff is mostly being left for the evening, although I then have to actually make myself put the tortoise (laptop) down.
Ugh. Three days into this homeschooling caper, I'm increasingly discovering that not only do I suddenly have to be a teacher (and a bad cop, to get anything to actually happen), on top of the usual chief charlady stuff - but I need to be a freaking computer technician as well. I can't connect to the network! Why won't it (x)? The printer isn't working! My browser is frozen! (all on chrome books, which I have literally no experience with). The most frustrating thing is that our household comes ready-supplied with someone who knows the solutions to all these things, but he has a real, actual, important job that contributes to the economy and thus must be left undisturbed...
"If anyone wants examples of the range of situations carers have to deal with, I’m happy to provide more detail. Just for starters, bear in mind that you can cause serious injury or even death by hoisting someone unsafely (it has happened)."
I remember my mother trying to lift my 15-stone father by clasping his collarbone with her fingers and tugging. She had to get him onto and off the toilet. No-one gave her any training, you're just expected to do it. When he went into hospital they used a hoist.
He fell down one morning with a suddenly paralyzed leg, and wanted to get down the stairs. He decided he would walk down. My 8-stone mother, with osteoporosis of the spine, begged him not to. Then decided she would walk down the stairs backwards with her arms outstretched, so she could catch him when he fell. I cried and begged her not to. While this was going on, Dad launched himself and part-stumbled, part-fell down the stairs.
All day I dreaded coming home and finding my dad helpless at the bottom of the stairs and my mother under him with her neck bent at a 90-degree angle, blue lips, and sightless eyes. Fortunately he went into hospital before that could happen.
I would threaten to withhold coffee until he fixes said problems, or gives you advice on how to, as I imagine they'd take less than half an hour of his precious time.
Thanks for the sympathy, though the awful thing is I want to say that every woman I know has had this experience at some point. Certain kinds of work make the worker disappear.
I do think that if there's an IT person in the house he/she ought to be prepared to be interrupted at least occasionally, because we've all got to make adjustments during this time. The only exception I suppose would be if said IT person had an abusive boss like mine, who would simply make it grounds for dismissal.
It wasn't until my Dad went into care that I realised how skilled the carers at the home were. Absolutely amazing people.
Back when I was a student, several of my friends has temp work in a care home, helping people bathe, change, clipping toenails, and so on. I'm certain they got the easy people to deal with, and there were more trained staff in command, but this particular home made frequent use of unskilled minimum wage labour for personal care.
Yes, we have had crap "Care" homes like that, fortunately neither my parents or my brother were or are in them. There is now training in place for carers and it isn't considered casual work any more and now paid beyond the minimum wage.
OK, so there are aspects of the job, that many people can do, but for most of the job the question remains whether they can do it safely, both for the carer and the cared for.
The way GDP is calculated makes no sense to me. Selling someone a new radio adds to GDP, but fixing their old radio does not. No wonder we live in a disposable society.
Sure it does - if you charge them for it. Radio repair for money (if such a thing still existed) would count as a service.
A better - or worse, depending on how you look at it - example is a car crash. A car crash generates all kinds of domestic production: health care, auto repairs, insurance functionaries, lawyers and court costs ...
I do think that if there's an IT person in the house he/she ought to be prepared to be interrupted at least occasionally, because we've all got to make adjustments during this time. The only exception I suppose would be if said IT person had an abusive boss like mine, who would simply make it grounds for dismissal.
It wasn't entirely his fault - he was on a series of conference calls for three hours straight this morning. However, seeing as I've chosen* the worst possible time to fuck up my back (physiotherapists apparently not being an essential business), he'll be hanging quite a lot of laundry and washing quite a few dishes in the next little while, because I can't really move my left arm, and it's surprising how many tasks seem to require the involvement of even your lesser arm.
*Not that I would have chosen to do this to myself at any time...
I got a text message from the physio practice I use offering a free distance consultation for any ongoing problems. It might be worth trying to contact them if you haven't already.
I guess with physios it's the "hands on" that's a problem. Vets on the other hand are considered an essential service, but you have to wait in the carpark while your animal is treated.
Hospital physios are very much part of essential workers.
Oh, absolutely. But I'd have to get admitted to hospital to get access to one, and I think that's unlikely, at least at this stage. Neither a night's sleep nor a heavy-duty painkiller has done anything to help, but I have had back issues spontaneously resolve after two or three days before, so here's hoping...
Telepath's story! I can picture the whole thing. My husband once nearly pulled my arm out of it's socket when I was down on the floor with a broken leg. He's a huge 6'4" 240 lbs but couldn't seem to handle me when I was in the leg brace. On the other hand, while I was in the rehab home the little 5 foot 100 pound physical therapist girls had not trouble moving me about.
Getting in close for leverage was their main thing and they can't really do that now. What a world.
When I started nurse training in 1987 we still lifted people without hoists - I was a 4 foot 11 waif in those days. The ones who hurt their backs the most were the tall nurses; an ex-boyfriend of mine working in orthopaedics sustained a permanent back injury. In the early 1990s hoists came in and now you wouldn’t be allowed to move anyone on a ward without proper equipment.
As for training health care assistants, I teach a degree course in health and social care and almost all my students are health care assistants. The foundation level module covers theoretical basics such as respecting identity, promoting independence and safe working practice. Later modules include options such as health promotion, dementia care and care of the dying. As we are a distance learning institution my students get their practice in their day time jobs. Most of my students already have national vocational qualifications in health care before studying for their degree.
We even provide distance education for a conversion course from health care assistant to registered nurse, delivered in partnership with the NHS so that the care assistants stay in their jobs while training to be a nurse.
Hospital physios are very much part of essential workers.
Physical therapy is cost effective at preventing tertiary care such as surgery. It was de-insured in the 1990s here such that unless in hospital you pay $70 to 90 for a 20 min treatment. If you've no insurance you don't get it unless you've got the cash.
Same as for all non-psychiatry mental health. You can get a prescription from the psychiatrist but pay for it yourself. Psychological therapy is user pay with most employer insurance covering 2 to 6 sessions.
Dentistry is also totally private since the early 1990s.
Here if you have an accident and need to see a physio The Accident Compensation Corporation* may pay part of the cost of physio. Last time I hurt myself I paid $20 a session after the initial session. It was so low for me because I am over 65 and have a Community Services Card (for those on a low income).
* to simplify - ACC was set up under an Act of Parliament. Employers pay a levy for workers who are injured at work, when a motor vehicle is registered a levy is made on the registration, and the Government covers the levy for people not in work (students, children, retired, people whose accident was neither at work nor a motor vehicle accident. and unemployed people).
Nice gesture: design a new ventilator. But, we don't need a new design of ventilator at this time (even if, on paper, it's marginally better than existing designs): we don't have the time to test it to make sure it works properly, we don't have time to train staff in how to use it. What we need are thousands of copies of existing designs that we know work and that health service staff know how to use.
I hope he doesn't make Dyson ventilators which suck.
I can think of a non-self-promotion reason for not copying existing designs: they may be overcomplicated for most patients of this virus by less well-trained staff.
Nice gesture: design a new ventilator. But, we don't need a new design of ventilator at this time (even if, on paper, it's marginally better than existing designs): we don't have the time to test it to make sure it works properly, we don't have time to train staff in how to use it. What we need are thousands of copies of existing designs that we know work and that health service staff know how to use.
Isn't the idea that it uses a lot of existing parts so production can be ramped up faster using dyson's stockpile? Presumably there's also time and effort saved by creating a basic model that works for the specific situation rather than a general model with more bells and whistles. Dyson is certainly an egotist, a poundshop Elon Musk, if you will, but that doesn't make his solution the wrong one.
I think a British company were licensing an existing model - but companies need to retool to produce it ? If they’ve ordered something from scratch from Dyson maybe so it doesn’t need imported opponents and can be built quicker ?
US's number one retail employer allows its people to take unpaid leave for the duration, but they must, "call in" every morning of their leave. The call-in is done online and is so complicated, or overloaded, that we've been working on it for the last three hours and not succeeding. Many of these minimum wage employees don't have computers at all. One of the things the complicated program asks for is a three week schedule provided online or at the store. * Many pages of online small print reveal (#27,) that health insurance will stop if premiums (normally deducted from paycheck) are not paid by the employee and submitted by Friday of the pay week.* No address given.
* Employees are not allowed to enter the store while on leave.
All across America grocery clerks and fast food drive thru workers are being asked to risk their lives for minimum wage and/or health insurance.
Comments
I was looking at dates and figured out that my grandparents, who died in their 90s, were the only generation in yonks to live a full life without enduring a pandemic on this scale. Their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-greats are all going to remember this forever (well, unless they're babies), and make life decisions partly based on it. For instance, I doubt that my son (or me, or my parents) will ever be able to treat health care and health insurance as no big deal. (And won't it be interesting to see how this affects the ongoing effort to destroy Obamacare!)
It takes skill (and patience) to wash and dress any adult, and the degree of difficulty increases with the age of the person; physical frailty, injury or inability to control limbs adds to the problem. And washing and dressing someone who can't easily follow instructions, for example someone with dementia, the difficulty is increased.
Why this vital work, and the people who do it, isn't properly valued is beyond comprehension. Perhaps those who write it, and the people doing it, off as "unskilled" should be made to do it for a week - I suspect attitudes would change.
When the devil whispers in your ear "you'll never survive this one", the only reasonable response is "get back 6 feet sh*t head!"
Back when I was a student, several of my friends has temp work in a care home, helping people bathe, change, clipping toenails, and so on. I'm certain they got the easy people to deal with, and there were more trained staff in command, but this particular home made frequent use of unskilled minimum wage labour for personal care.
The very fact that you can suggest that people should do it for a week indicates that it's unskilled. That's not at all the same as saying that it's easy, or that it's not valuable or important. Just that it doesn't require years of training to be able to do.
There are skills and skills, aren't there? Putting up with dementia-related anger, abuse, etc. and still being able to get shit done for the person, over anything but the shortest of terms, is a rare skill set indeed. The trouble is, I'm not sure it's classroom trainable. It's rather like being a parent, which is another wholly devalued "unskilled" (or highly skilled) occupation.
Will things be different after? Yeah, probably. How, and how much? None of us knows. Speculation is pointless, especially if you're looking for comfort. "We shall bear patiently the burdens that fate imposes on us." Whatever follows, our choices are simple: persevere; or, not.
*Given that Dyer has appeared in a global array of newspapers, I'm surprised that this colun seems to have been carried by only a couple of small regional papers.
For those looking to be diverted from dark thoughts, I offer you 1,150 films for free:
http://www.openculture.com/freemoviesonline
She was in a hoist for moving from chair to loo or bed.
It was the hardest work I’ve ever done. And very skilled indeed.
I'm going to take this idea to Heaven. What new books from dead authors would we most like to see?
It’s not beyond comprehension, it’s because it’s (traditionally, there are always exceptions) seen as women’s work, which has always been undervalued.
Consider Marvin’s situation. That his boss thinks it’s kindness and flexibility to allow him to catch up on his day job overnight shows something is squiffy with the way the work he’s doing during the day, caring for a small, wriggling thing which sleeps a bit during the day but wakes up when he’s trying to do the day job, is valued.
I hope that makes sense. I am mid migraine.
If you are thinking of trump, then it must be possible to define not only unskilled, but negatively skilled labour; people who do negative work and learn nothing while doing it. (OK - off topic, but with two daughters who are suffering from this trumpery, it doesn't take much to set me off).
Daniel 5:27
Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
It makes sense. That pissed me off myself. Though I'm well used to it, having worked under an abuser in the past, for seven years.
It totally makes sense. When your migraine is past, and if your lockdown situation allows of serious reading, try and get hold of "Counting for Nothing; What Men Value and What Women are Worth"*, by Marilyn Waring, which was first published in 1988 as "If Women Counted". It is an extraordinary book which had a profound impact on me when I read it while at uni.
From Wikipedia: "[Waring] has outspokenly criticised the concept of GDP, the economic measure that became a foundation of the United Nations System of National Accounts (UNSNA) following World War II. She criticises a system which counts oil spills and wars as contributors to economic growth, while child-rearing and housekeeping are deemed valueless."
*Seems to be available in paper and electronic form via Amazon.
I'm not holding my breath - too many Old Men 'in charge' - but one lives in hope.
Trump certainly crossed my mind, and I agree with your assessment of him. However, it is possible there have been other Presidents who came to the post without experience of government; I have no idea if any such exist.
Wilson?
The way GDP is calculated makes no sense to me. Selling someone a new radio adds to GDP, but fixing their old radio does not. No wonder we live in a disposable society.
We are not still in the days where carers made a cup of tea, washed a few dishes and had a nice chat. That stopped many years ago.
If anyone wants examples of the range of situations carers have to deal with, I’m happy to provide more detail. Just for starters, bear in mind that you can cause serious injury or even death by hoisting someone unsafely (it has happened).
Thanks for the recommendation, it sounds great. I’m currently reading Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez which I expect is coming from a similar angle.
I’m so sorry for your experience under the abusive boss, Lamb Chopped.
I remember my mother trying to lift my 15-stone father by clasping his collarbone with her fingers and tugging. She had to get him onto and off the toilet. No-one gave her any training, you're just expected to do it. When he went into hospital they used a hoist.
He fell down one morning with a suddenly paralyzed leg, and wanted to get down the stairs. He decided he would walk down. My 8-stone mother, with osteoporosis of the spine, begged him not to. Then decided she would walk down the stairs backwards with her arms outstretched, so she could catch him when he fell. I cried and begged her not to. While this was going on, Dad launched himself and part-stumbled, part-fell down the stairs.
All day I dreaded coming home and finding my dad helpless at the bottom of the stairs and my mother under him with her neck bent at a 90-degree angle, blue lips, and sightless eyes. Fortunately he went into hospital before that could happen.
I do think that if there's an IT person in the house he/she ought to be prepared to be interrupted at least occasionally, because we've all got to make adjustments during this time. The only exception I suppose would be if said IT person had an abusive boss like mine, who would simply make it grounds for dismissal.
Yes, we have had crap "Care" homes like that, fortunately neither my parents or my brother were or are in them. There is now training in place for carers and it isn't considered casual work any more and now paid beyond the minimum wage.
OK, so there are aspects of the job, that many people can do, but for most of the job the question remains whether they can do it safely, both for the carer and the cared for.
A better - or worse, depending on how you look at it - example is a car crash. A car crash generates all kinds of domestic production: health care, auto repairs, insurance functionaries, lawyers and court costs ...
*Not that I would have chosen to do this to myself at any time...
I guess with physios it's the "hands on" that's a problem. Vets on the other hand are considered an essential service, but you have to wait in the carpark while your animal is treated.
Oh, absolutely. But I'd have to get admitted to hospital to get access to one, and I think that's unlikely, at least at this stage. Neither a night's sleep nor a heavy-duty painkiller has done anything to help, but I have had back issues spontaneously resolve after two or three days before, so here's hoping...
Getting in close for leverage was their main thing and they can't really do that now. What a world.
As for training health care assistants, I teach a degree course in health and social care and almost all my students are health care assistants. The foundation level module covers theoretical basics such as respecting identity, promoting independence and safe working practice. Later modules include options such as health promotion, dementia care and care of the dying. As we are a distance learning institution my students get their practice in their day time jobs. Most of my students already have national vocational qualifications in health care before studying for their degree.
We even provide distance education for a conversion course from health care assistant to registered nurse, delivered in partnership with the NHS so that the care assistants stay in their jobs while training to be a nurse.
Physical therapy is cost effective at preventing tertiary care such as surgery. It was de-insured in the 1990s here such that unless in hospital you pay $70 to 90 for a 20 min treatment. If you've no insurance you don't get it unless you've got the cash.
Same as for all non-psychiatry mental health. You can get a prescription from the psychiatrist but pay for it yourself. Psychological therapy is user pay with most employer insurance covering 2 to 6 sessions.
Dentistry is also totally private since the early 1990s.
* to simplify - ACC was set up under an Act of Parliament. Employers pay a levy for workers who are injured at work, when a motor vehicle is registered a levy is made on the registration, and the Government covers the levy for people not in work (students, children, retired, people whose accident was neither at work nor a motor vehicle accident. and unemployed people).
Nice gesture: design a new ventilator. But, we don't need a new design of ventilator at this time (even if, on paper, it's marginally better than existing designs): we don't have the time to test it to make sure it works properly, we don't have time to train staff in how to use it. What we need are thousands of copies of existing designs that we know work and that health service staff know how to use.
I can think of a non-self-promotion reason for not copying existing designs: they may be overcomplicated for most patients of this virus by less well-trained staff.
He may find this useful. https://hackaday.com/2020/03/25/ventilators-101-what-they-do-and-how-they-work/
Isn't the idea that it uses a lot of existing parts so production can be ramped up faster using dyson's stockpile? Presumably there's also time and effort saved by creating a basic model that works for the specific situation rather than a general model with more bells and whistles. Dyson is certainly an egotist, a poundshop Elon Musk, if you will, but that doesn't make his solution the wrong one.
* Employees are not allowed to enter the store while on leave.
All across America grocery clerks and fast food drive thru workers are being asked to risk their lives for minimum wage and/or health insurance.