#348 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Wednesday May 11)
Good morning,
THE ORDER OF MALTA
I have on more than one occasion noted that religion need not be about worship and, in fact, largely is about something quite different—the passing on of traditions, values, and wisdom, as well as creating community. It also performs another valuable source, as one of the organizing ways in which people gather together to try to improve the world. In Judaism, this is tikkun olam, or “repairing the world.” It explains my involvement, and the involvement of many of my friends, in the work of Stephen Wise Temple, the Jewish Federation and other organizations that Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback says are about “making meaning and changing the world.” But this concept is not the exclusive property of the Jews, as other religions have their own versions of repairing the world.
Dan Brown and his silly DaVinci Code notwithstanding, there are mysterious orders within the Catholic Church that are active in world affairs. But it’s not the multi-generational world domination envisioned by Mr. Brown. They aren’t covers for vast international conspiracies. Rather, they are trans-national organizations that provide humanitarian aid to those in need. While they don’t engage in the manipulations of Brown’s stories, their history is no less interesting. More importantly, a dear friend is a member of the Order, as you will learn below.
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, commonly known as the Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, works anywhere there exists disease, displacement, or the ravages of war. It is noble Catholic religious order dating back to 1099. Its original raison d’etre was to work helping the chronically ill, including serving the invalids at Lourdes (“les malades”). They also perform humanitarian work around the world.
The Order maintains diplomatic relations with 112 countries. Many of the diplomatic missions are ceremonial. Others are important to the Order’s humanitarian efforts within that country. Still others are in politically challenged areas with broad humanitarian and refugee crises. An example of the latter is Belarus. My friend, Dennis Mulhaupt, recently was named the Order’s Ambassador to Belarus. Needless to say, his portfolio has taken on increased importance, as the Order addresses the humanitarian crisis boiling over from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
My father was a pediatrician. One of his many aphorisms was that all kids need at least one good friend. I’ve been blessed with more than my fair share. One of the great things about friends of quality and compassion is to witness the great things they do in the world and celebrate their accomplishments. The only negative thing about Dennis’s elevation to the Ambassadorial level is his insistence on being referred to as “Your Eminence.”
LET’S WORRY LESS
We worry about a lot of things. Many of these things aren’t worth the worry. I’ve been suggesting for years the short book (an attribute in a world of unconscionably long books) Culture of Fear, by Barry Glassner, which tackles these issues head-on, with data and logic.
Barry’s basic message is we all worry about the wrong things, there is a lack of understanding of statistics and numbers prevalent in our reporting and interpretation of data. The times are not more precarious these days than are our perceptions of them. In fact, we are safer today than at any prior time in human history. Among the many statistics he shares are that the odds of an air disaster or a child being abducted by a non-family-member are essentially zero, yet we worry about them disproportionately. Then we get behind the wheel of a car and we don’t think twice about it.
DOES ANYONE UNDERSTAND THEIR EXPLANATION OF BENEFITS?
It’s a mess but fear not. For those eligible for medicare, you can see how a far more functional system works. It’s complicated but with supplemental coverage, it is far better than any insurance we’ve had to date. Here’s another example of the absurdity of the current system:
Leaked SoCal hospital records reveal huge, automated markups for healthcare
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-12-10/column-healthcare-billing-markups
A RECENT STATISTIC
Only 2% of our national healthcare expenses are doctors’ salaries. The rest of the cost is eaten up by hospitals, surgery centers, insurance companies, pharmaceuticals, nursing, and other aspects of our system. The “middlemen” who decide what care is justified and that which is not is eating the system alive. THOUGHT EXPERIMENT: If you were creating a healthcare system from scratch, would you ever base its level of coverage, cost, and availability on who one’s employer is? There, you have your answer.
Have a great day,
Glenn
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