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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>An offlist commentary by a friend really has my wheels turning, compelling me to rephrase Dickens.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In all of human history, now is unique in many ways, but I thought of a pleasant one: if one is a pauper, especially a young one, it is definitely the best of times. I don’t know about other countries, but if one’s standards in housing are not too picky, we now have developed a society where a pauper can really have a decent life, especially if one’s favorite thing is devouring information in all its forms, and is a light eater. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Consider for instance the way it has always been. If you have a ton of money, you can of course get the best mates, the best home, the best food, the best wheels etc. We know that, and that hasn’t changed a bit, ever. But in the old days, if you had nothing, you couldn’t really even get training: you couldn’t learn to read, or if you could read, you couldn’t get reading materials readily. There were public libraries, but we all know that the books there were generally outdated. Certainly better than nothing, but compare a typical public library to Stanford bookstore and you know exactly what I mean: Stanford’s store is expensive, but highly selected with only the most wicked cool stuff in there. Of course it costs money.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>But now… it feels to me like we now have aaaaaalllll thiiiiis coooool stuff available online to the pauper, the free online training tools, the really meaty websites filled with skills that rich and poor alike need to struggle to master. There is still no royal road to trigonometry. In that sense it is the best of times for really poor people. You can pick up internet on a 200 dollar Kindle or equivalent, and there is free wifi over most of this town now. It isn’t the fastest and a Kindle isn’t the best interface, but for two days’ minimum wage, look at all the stuff you can get!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>This has all given me a vision of sorts, which ties in nicely with the current US government’s thrashing about, partially shut down, so they say. The fed was hoping someone would notice. So far we have learned we can do just fine without their expensive help.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>This shutdown is all about how we are going to do our healthcare. I would argue the proposed solution will be just as broken as the one before it, but I did think of a way that might help. In many countries in the world, people go to medical school right out of high school. I personally know two doctors who went to medical school, one in Iran, the other in China. Both practiced medicine for several years there. Neither has managed to get licensed here. I think we could set up a system where aspiring doctors could do much of their qualification for medical school online, starting at any time. Much of medical school could be done with online training as well. In this way we could generate many more doctors. Of course they would likely not be as competent as our current crop, but they would have far less investment in their education, so they could charge a lot less.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>spike<o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>