We have a primary care crisis, a healthcare cost crisis, and a chronic disease management crisis. We have brought multiple stakeholders together to dramatically improve all three. What are your thoughts?
I am beginning to realize that all our problems, across all our culture and all of its economic sectors and industries is the same problem. Hard to pin it down, but I'd say it's a combination of slavish reliance on the capitalistic, profit-seeking, and exploitative model and a lack of leadership. The political and economic systems, including healthcare, have been bought off by whomever has the most power and money. One of the inevitable results is greater and greater concentration of wealth and power, and greater and greater inequality.
Hi David. I am late responding to your comment because of exactly the phenomenon that you describe. It seems our service industries have forgotten how to serve and the purpose of it all is to extract as much money as possible from ordinary Americans. I have been traveling the last couple of days. There was a day when you could look up the price of a hotel room and that would be the price plus ten or fifteen percent tax. Those days are over. On the first day of our travel, we booked a room listed on the internet for $126. They pulled over $160 from my credit card account. They said it was an incidental charge and would be returned. I am a member with this chain. The internet wifi was impossible to access. They gave me the number of a tech company to call myself. The agent had an incomprehensible foreign accent. We never got the wifi fixed. I went to breakfast the next morning and there was no food on the hot bar. We had been told breakfast would end at nine thirty. It was 9am. The server said she was closing up. It was only when I objected that she drug out the items that should have been available.
The next day--the same thing--room rate on internet $126--only this time it became $200 with a $45 valet parking fee added to the mix. Once again no wifi. It was supposed to work with last name and room number. But it did not. We were told to call for a code. But it was impossible to get through on the phone-for $245 a night. Now if you have leverage, like a big company that buys lots of rooms, it is all different. It is a different day and much worse since Covid. I agree. The system greatly favors the very wealthy.
Bill: As you know, I am have recently become an Airbnb host, in part because I want to build a clientele interested in permacultural gardening and organic urban farming. But being a host is a joy in itself because it offers me the opportunity to be of service, good and dependable and kind service, to my guests. They will never have the kind of problems you describe here that are the result of the corporate lying that has become commonplace. They’ll meet me, and I will greet them, and I will have the opportunity to make sure they are comfortable and that everything works as advertised. I like that feeling very much. Also, I must say that Airbnb itself seems to be outstanding in their own service delivery. I’ve had several occasions when I needed help, and they’ve always responded right away and offered very practical help in a professional and friendly manner. Corporate, yes. Lying and misleading about their services, no.
I know anyone who visits you will love it. They will benefit from the poor experience in the legacy hotel industry. I will look at that option more carefully.
I am beginning to realize that all our problems, across all our culture and all of its economic sectors and industries is the same problem. Hard to pin it down, but I'd say it's a combination of slavish reliance on the capitalistic, profit-seeking, and exploitative model and a lack of leadership. The political and economic systems, including healthcare, have been bought off by whomever has the most power and money. One of the inevitable results is greater and greater concentration of wealth and power, and greater and greater inequality.
Hi David. I am late responding to your comment because of exactly the phenomenon that you describe. It seems our service industries have forgotten how to serve and the purpose of it all is to extract as much money as possible from ordinary Americans. I have been traveling the last couple of days. There was a day when you could look up the price of a hotel room and that would be the price plus ten or fifteen percent tax. Those days are over. On the first day of our travel, we booked a room listed on the internet for $126. They pulled over $160 from my credit card account. They said it was an incidental charge and would be returned. I am a member with this chain. The internet wifi was impossible to access. They gave me the number of a tech company to call myself. The agent had an incomprehensible foreign accent. We never got the wifi fixed. I went to breakfast the next morning and there was no food on the hot bar. We had been told breakfast would end at nine thirty. It was 9am. The server said she was closing up. It was only when I objected that she drug out the items that should have been available.
The next day--the same thing--room rate on internet $126--only this time it became $200 with a $45 valet parking fee added to the mix. Once again no wifi. It was supposed to work with last name and room number. But it did not. We were told to call for a code. But it was impossible to get through on the phone-for $245 a night. Now if you have leverage, like a big company that buys lots of rooms, it is all different. It is a different day and much worse since Covid. I agree. The system greatly favors the very wealthy.
Bill: As you know, I am have recently become an Airbnb host, in part because I want to build a clientele interested in permacultural gardening and organic urban farming. But being a host is a joy in itself because it offers me the opportunity to be of service, good and dependable and kind service, to my guests. They will never have the kind of problems you describe here that are the result of the corporate lying that has become commonplace. They’ll meet me, and I will greet them, and I will have the opportunity to make sure they are comfortable and that everything works as advertised. I like that feeling very much. Also, I must say that Airbnb itself seems to be outstanding in their own service delivery. I’ve had several occasions when I needed help, and they’ve always responded right away and offered very practical help in a professional and friendly manner. Corporate, yes. Lying and misleading about their services, no.
I know anyone who visits you will love it. They will benefit from the poor experience in the legacy hotel industry. I will look at that option more carefully.
In other words, the "system" is behaving exactly the way it is designed to behave.