Social Media as a Tool for Patient Empowerment in Developing Countries

When I was in India recently, I spent time with one of my relatives. While I was there, he came down with a minor cold, and walked to the doctor’s office just down the road. I stayed at home until he came back. When he did return, he had with him a packet of various pills all mixed together. None of them were labeled, nor did they come with a set of instructions. He didn’t know what any of them were, just that his doctor gave them, so he took them.

A week later, I found myself talking to the servant that had come to clean our apartment. Her son had been ill for sometime, and I knew something about the condition from which he had been suffering, because someone had explained to me earlier. Yet when I talked to her soon after she had come back from meeting with her son’s physician, the way she tried to explain his condition to me struck me as completely inaccurate, given the condition in question.

In other instances, I have seen relatives sitting in the doctor’s office. Oftentimes they don’t say anything, and don’t ask anything, instead simply nodding in agreement. Yet when they were out of the office, the questions and doubts start flying. Usually the condition in question remained nebulous even after the appointment, or the procedures were not explained fully. Other times, they would take a decidedly cynical stance when it came to evaluating the doctor’s suggestions, believing that they were more interested in extorting as much money as possible instead of actually treating the condition.

To my eyes, at least in developed countries, patients seem to be more empowered in the context of the doctor-patient relationship. In the ideal scenario, the patient and doctor work together for a solution, with the patient actively engaging the doctor with questions and concerns, and the doctor giving the due attention and compassion. The patient may also have access to additional information through the internet.

Yet in developing countries, including India, many patients still to cling strongly to the doctor-patient hierarchy. What the doctor says, goes, in most cases. In areas with dense populations, few physicians, or a combination of the two, giving the patient the time they deserve can be a formidable task. Among those with less education, a lack of basic medical literacy can further complicate matters.

I recently attended NYMCSPAD (New York Medical College Student Physician Awareness Day). The theme for the day was Social Media in Medicine. All of the speakers–who are very active in social media applied in healthcare and medical education–discussed their personal experiences using social media, as well as advice on how to effectively use social media. One of the points that really stuck out is that patients who continue to ascribe to the “traditional” doctor-patient hierarchy are likely to be left behind. I thought back to my relatives and other people I know who are still content being passive, and not actively taking charge of their care.

There is no denying that social media has taken hold globally. Its value as a tool for patient education and empowerment is slowly being realized in the United States as well as in other countries. Patients, in many cases, vet their doctors by searching for them on social media sites to learn more about them and what they do. Social media is also being embraced in developing countries among physicians, medical students, and public health workers alike. However, I still believe there is still more work to be done to promote patient empowerment in those countries.

The doctor-patient hierarchy–though in many cases a cultural mainstay especially in developing countries–presents a very real barrier when it comes to tightening and improving the healthcare system. According to the World Health Organization, patient empowerment can allow for a more efficient use of resources. Poor medical literacy is another barrier that makes patient empowerment that much difficult among patients who are unsure about the particulars of their own health. While for many in developed countries, information is quite literally at one’s fingertips thanks to smart phones, the same is not necessarily true for the majority of people in developing nations.

While the knee-jerk reflex for many is to develop an app that can be used on smart phones, it doesn’t solve the whole problem, especially considering that smart phones aren’t as pervasive a presence in most of the world as they are here. In India, there are about 20 million smart phones available, but given that there are just over a billion people in India, it represents a very small percentage of the population. However, there are over 900 million cell phones in use. Similar trends are true for other developing nations, with cell phones being available to at least 50% of the population in many cases. Cheap cell phones are often readily available to the majority of the population. I have often observed the very poorest toting a cell phone.

Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms are all useful in their own right. Among social media tools, Twitter seems particularly well suited as a way to improve medical literacy and increase patient empowerment in developing countries. While most users use Twitter through Twitter apps and clients on their smart phones and computers, even those with cell phones can send and receive tweets. Before I got my first smart phone back in 2009, I used my regular cell phone to tweet.

So who would these patients tweet or follow? Doctors, medical organizations, medical schools, and other research institutions are just a few that come to mind. The issue with developing nations on the whole is elevating the patient so that they are on an equal playing field with their doctors. They need to feel like they can ask questions of their healthcare providers, that they can trust these providers, and be well-informed about their health and any prescribed treatment. While part of this can be solved by trying to impress upon the patient that the doctor is a partner in their healthcare, part of it can also be solved by improving the patient’s medical literacy.

Medical literacy has been of particular interest to me ever since I took a class on immigrant health for my public health program. A lack of medical literacy can contribute to a whole litany of problems, including early deaths. The issue in many developing countries is not only the lack of medical literacy but the lack of literacy in general. Combining this with the fact that many still cling to preconceived notions and superstitions can further complicate things. Here, the use of a non-written medium, such as Youtube, can be used to effectively transmit information about various aspects of healthcare. The use of video allows for not only circumventing text entirely, but easily adapting the content to the local languages and cultures. Given the likely poor access to technology in poorer communities, the onus is on physicians and public health officials to make this information available to them.

This is something I have thought about for a while, but revisited with renewed interest after attending NYMCSPAD. Do you know of programs currently utilizing these and other approaches that have been conducted to date? What are they? Do you have any other thoughts on how to promote patient empowerment in these regions? Comment away!

The Cost of The Flu

As the weather warms up, flowers start to bloom, and allergies kick in (sigh), it’s fair to say that the flu season is (pretty much) behind us. However, it’s important to understand the financial cost of each flu season.

I got an email from someone at FrugalDad (http://frugaldad.com) with a link to an infographic that very clearly lays out the costs of preventing/treating the flu. What stuck out to me was the pretty significant difference in cost between vaccination versus enduring a bout of the flu and all the costs that can come with it. Bottom line: vaccination not only saves you a lot of the physical agony that can come with suffering from the flu, but it can save you a lot of money as well.

Source: FrugalDad.com

Unsolicited and Unwarranted Emails: Privacy in the Internet Age

I am not the most tech-savvy individual in the world (most of my close friends know this all too well) but I know enough to know how to handle the Internet, especially when it comes to privacy. Rarely do I sign up for anything, and if I am forced to, I use one of several “junk” email addresses. I generally never use my personal email address or school email addresses. This is pretty standard practice nowadays.

Back in December, I woke up to a deluge of emails. A deluge of emails is not exactly unusual for many of us, and generally is never a problem for me. The problem was that these emails all had one thing in common: they were all from online education sites in response to supposed requests I made regarding a variety of academic programs and degrees. All the emails were directed to one of my school email addresses.

For those of you who don’t know, I have a bachelors and two masters degrees. Given the amount of student loan debt I have been tackling, if I was going to further my education, it would not be now but sometime in the future. It seems inconceivable that, if I were to consider going the online education route, I would use my school email address to request information. I also have anti-virus/anti-spyware/anti-malware software installed.

Not only did I receive probably no less than 100 emails over the next month, but received calls on my cell phone from many, if not all of the institutions from whom I had received an email. Rather than passively mark them as spam, I decided to contact them. Only after responding to each and every call, and requesting each caller to take me off of their calling list, did I see a decrease in the communication I was receiving. Now I receive maybe one or two every few days, and all get automatically relegated to my spam folder.

I thought that was the end of it.

Boy was I wrong.

This morning, I woke up to another deluge of emails. No, these weren’t from online universities, but insurance companies. Each was emailing me in response to an auto insurance quote request that I supposedly made…again using my school email address. Apparently I am not alone. After Googling the issue, I found that many people have been similarly inundated with unsolicited emails from insurance companies. After a local agent contacted me in response to my supposed quote request, I sent him an email and got the following:

I went to NetQuote’s website. It’s a company that apparently sells insurance leads. Thanks to a nifty little extension called Web of Trust (WOT), got this warning as soon as I landed on their homepage:

Frankly, given their reputation, I was hesitant about emailing them, didn’t want that information somehow stored and used by their system. However, I called the 800 number and a very helpful representative did look into my situation. I wasn’t listed as a consumer, but the quote request ID did show up in their system. Someone did make a request using my information. The rep thought that it would have been because I filled out a survey or requested a gift card online, something that would require my email and other contact information (I’ve never done anything of the sort). They assured me that emails would be sent to the insurance agents to not contact me. While I’m glad that they did help me, something is still clearly not adding up. So I’m telling my story here, the only way I know to try to publicize the issue.

I feel violated and worried. As careful as I am, these things are still happening to me. Sure, insurance and online universities are not exactly dangerous entities in their own right. Yet if someone can use my private email and make my cell phone number readily available to entities with whom I have no connection, what else can they potentially do? I have checked all of the more important things (bank account, credit report, etc.) and there doesn’t seem to be anything amiss. Nonetheless, I want something to be done. This is a blatant invasion of privacy for personal gain, and they are really picking on the wrong person.

I know I am not alone, so I’m requesting anyone who has had similar problems or know anyone who has to share and retweet this post as much as possible. The Internet has ballooned into a vast and complicated entity. While that has provided innumerable benefits, the expansion has also driven the rise of people whose sole goal is to take advantage of others for the sake of making money or other purposes, many of them illicit.

If you have received similar emails, rather than ignore them or mark them as “spam”, dig deeper. Find out who gave out this information and contact them. If they don’t help, look up their profile on the Better Business Bureau or other similar regulatory agency’s database. File a complaint, describe your story, make sure your voice is heard. That is the only way they will learn that we will not stand by quietly and allow them to invade our lives and our privacy.

Upheaval in the Middle East?

It would seem that the events in Tunisia have sparked a call to action across the Middle East, most recently in Egypt. There are also signs that Jordan may be the next to join the fray. While it is encouraging to see people seeking to oust the old guard in favor of something more akin to a democracy, my concern is that fringe elements may try to pander to the people’s need for change by injecting their questionable views into the mix in the hope that they may take root.

I hope that change does come to the region with little chaos, and heralds in an age of greater strides in technology, social reform, and entrepreneurship. I mean, the Arab world has given us a lot that we take for granted nowadays, so who knows what else may come from that region. It would be very cool to see what ideas come to the surface if they are given the chance to shine.

Shout out to Project Remix

I first heard about Project Remix last year–or at least the collection of nascent ideas that would eventually become Remix–from one of the creators, who is also a good friend of mine. I was immediately sold on the idea, which was to create a site that provided resources and information to Desi (South-Asian) youth. A site created by the Indian youth for the Indian youth.

The official site launched recently, though it had already started generating buzz among our peers when it had made its first foray into the collective consciousness. Currently there are sections for cuts, cultural media, and articles. The cuts feature mixes used by various student groups and collegiate dance teams (bhangra, raas, Indian fusion, etc.) from across the country. Cultural media highlights video performances from various collegiate groups. The articles on Project Remix have been broken down into smaller categories and initiatives, devoted to everything from the arts to sports (currently I’m contributing to Team Innovate’s Neurobio series so be sure to check that out!). Examples of articles currently up on the website include my neurobio piece (an overview of neuroscience), a two-part series on biofuels, a review of Slumdog Millionaire, and a piece recounting a trip to Chennai to volunteer.

Project Remix is seeking new, fresh voices that can contribute to the site in any capacity. If you are a writer or blogger who is interested in appearing on the website, you can email projectremixny at gmail dot com. For any other questions, you can also send an email to the aforementioned address. The website is http://www.projectremix.org.

In addition, you can follow Project Remix on Twitter @ProjectRemix for updates.

The Recession: Naren Ubi

To set the stage, I work for (insert cool computer company) in Chennai (South India). Here’s what has happened so far since the recession started:

1. ‘NO HIKE THIS YEAR’ was the circular [memo] that we got last December at (insert cool computer company). I was in for a nice hike as I got the top rating for my performance. (hike=pay raise)
2. Second circular during the month of Feb. (aforementioned cool company) had an excellent quarter despite the global economic slowdown. Still, they went ahead announcing that we would have to forgo 5% of our dear cost-to-company. They even said that it’s better to lose 5% than losing the job!
3. Third one is the harshest for me..I was in for a promotion, and I was told that I cannot be promoted since promotion attracts a certain percentage of PAY HIKE, and that it is against the current (cool computer company) policy of no hike and 5% pay cut!
4. I bought a house last year, and I made the mistake of approaching a private bank for the loan. The builder had a nice deal with the bank, and I was the bakra [scapegoat] there! Result: when most public sector banks have slashed the interest rates, this private bank is just too adamant scourging me (and others in the middle class) with high interest rates.

So to summarize: no pay hikes, a 5% pay cut, no promotion (because of the lack of pay hike and 5% pay cut) and soaring interest rates being peddled by private banks. India may be growing economically in some aspects, but we’re suffering just like everyone else in most aspects.

Well, all these add up to just one thing.. recession-proof yourself. Try to earn as much money you can so that you can spend happily during tough times like these.

Naren is a blogger and a blog consultant. He is fairly experienced with WordPress blogs, set up, customize open designs, SEO and ideas on blogging. He would be happy to help you on your blog quests Feel free to visit his blog at http://www.ubiquitense.com/

The Recession: Steven

There Really Is No Business Like Show Business

The time: January 2009

The place: Broadway

The event: A total of 14 productions (including three long-running Best Musical Tony winners, two shows with multiple Tony wins, three musicals by Tony-winning writers and/or directors, a high-profile revival of a play with Hollywood stars, the last original play by a recently departed playwright, two limited engagement holiday shows, one Chinese spectacle, and the triumphant return of Liza Minnelli) closed.

It’s Steven here from Penguins and Procrastination. Last summer, I worked at a well-respected, professional (or for those in the know, Equity) theatre upstate New York. In the lineup of shows were four popular musicals that can be brought up in everyday conversation. However, even with loyal patrons and repeat subscribers, the theatre had trouble filling the seats. With $4.00 gas prices and the urge to save money, regular theatergoers were not willing to make their annual trips to their favorite regional theatre or stay for the after-show cabarets. Similar situations have been seen across the nation, causing many regional theatres to shut their doors or be in danger of doing so.

These instances may be a serious wake-up call for any aspiring theatre professional, such as the one writing this blog post. And it is. The nation’s economic crisis has affected all industries, and it is no secret that Broadway and the theatre in general have been hit hard. What does this mean for someone like me who is taking his first steps into that elusive field called show business? A few things come to mind, and not all of them are scary.

In the midst of all the drama surrounding the economic state, I have found that New York City is never at a loss for theatre opportunities and auditions, and those auditions are teeming with talent. The theatre scene is just as competitive as ever. This is a good thing. Competition is a healthy aspect of show business. The quality of talent is not necessarily diminishing with the gloomy economy. Standards of talent have not decreased, which means that from an artistic point of view, the theatre continues to thrive.

It is a fact that in this economy, people still make a living by working in the theatre. It may true that actors have to accept gigs that pay less than they’re used to, but to be working in a show means a steady paycheck for the duration of that contract. Out-of-state theatre gigs and tours help people save money since they don’t have to worry about paying rent for however long the contract is (as long as they sublet their apartment or any similar alternative). Also, many theatre people have other jobs to help pay the bills. These jobs are flexible and don’t go out of style, whether it is working at a restaurant or offering services such as photography, web design, or music or dance expertise to fellow actors. Let’s be honest: someone working in the theatre probably knows what it’s like to have a smaller salary than someone working in corporate America, so a year of slightly less pay is manageable.

If the economy has scared anyone out of a career in show business, it hasn’t ended the life of the business itself. In fact, Broadway has adapted to the economic climate. Sure, intimate or experimental musicals such as 13, [title of show], and most recently The Story of My Life have all failed on the Great White Way, but there are only four empty houses on Broadway currently (that’s a low number of empty Broadway theatres). The focus of shows playing on Broadway has shifted to uplifting tales during economic hardship (like Mary Poppins, In the Heights, and the brilliant Billy Elliot) or family-friendly crowd pleasers (The Little Mermaid and Shrek). I realize that four of the five shows I just mentioned are based on movies, but this is a way the theatre has redefined itself to stay afloat. If this is not Broadway’s proudest trend, at least it has kept itself alive. (More screen-to-stage Broadway transfers coming up: Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 and the U2/Julie Taymor Spider-Man musical, with Sister Act, The First Wives Club, Ghost, The Addams Family, Catch Me If You Can, and Slumdog Millionaire in the works.) This isn’t the first time a gimmick put Broadway back on its feet. In the aftermath of 9/11, jukebox musicals helped bring people back to the theatre. One of the original jukebox musicals, Mamma Mia!, is still playing worldwide and was turned into one of the most successful movie musicals ever.

The times reflect and reshape every medium within the entertainment industry. The requirements of a theatre professional are always changing, economic crisis or not. Of course, it is wise to be a bit more conscious about money right now, but the theatre is far from dead. I’m currently working at a dinner theatre in Florida with actors who are happy to be employed and audiences who relish a good night at the theatre. I’m also returning to that suffering theatre I worked at last summer for one of their biggest seasons yet in terms of the caliber of their lineup of musicals. The economy has claimed some victims in the theatre world, but this is all part of the natural evolution of theatre itself. Broadway will survive, the theatre will prevail, and the show must go on.

Steven holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Emerson College. Originally from Long Island, he is currently performing in Thoroughly Modern Millie at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre in Hudson, FL. He urges everyone to support the performing arts in any way possible, especially in schools. Check out his blog, Penguins and Procrastination.

The Recession: Vivin

When Saroj asked me to write a guest post about how the recession has affected me personally, I drew a blank. So I wrote a haiku instead:

A crisis
that is of the sub-prime kind.
401K’s, gone.

Just kidding. Financially I haven’t been affected as much. I still have a well-paying, stable job. However that is definitely offset by the shrinking value of my 401K and my mutual funds. Hey, I’m still buying cheap right? Right. I sometimes wonder how everything could have become this bad. The answer can be summed up in one word: Greed. While it is true that capitalism does reward a bit of greed, you can risk breaking things (like what’s happening now) should you become too greedy. Read up on any analysis of the current recession and you’ll find that those involved, were chasing large sums of money, often at the expense of others. Growing up, my parents always taught me that I should accept responsibility for my actions, and that I should face the consequences. It’s funny how that isn’t even remotely the case now, as can be seen by the irresponsible homeowners and irresponsible (read deregulated) financial institutions being propped up by the government. Some would argue that our various economic institutions (and other industries) have become so inextricably intertwined that letting one fail would set off a domino effect that would supposedly lead to the end of the world. However, I always thought that in a free market, the strong survive, and the weak die. If a business falls, I would think that another would rise to take it’s place. Don’t read this to mean that I am completely against government intervention. I have hopes for the stimulus plan and I think that people who are yelling and screaming “ZOMG OBAMA SI TEH SOCIALIST!!!” are just overreacting. They seem to forget that aggressive deregulation is what got us into this mess in the first place. I’ll admit that I am quite possibly taking an overly-simplified view of the situation; I don’t claim to be an economist or an economic expert. The sad truth is that things were allowed to get to the point where corporations and financial institutions have become so powerful that the very life of the economy depends on them.

When all is said and done I’m hoping that the people in charge are financially more experienced and financially smarter than myself, and that they know what they are doing. To think positively, I guess recession has forced certain companies to rethink their business models (automakers, SUVs and fuel-inefficient vehicles suck and they’ve always sucked. I’m glad you’ve finally realized this) and has prodded the government to keep a closer eye on financial institutions. I have heard that markets eventually correct themselves. So I’m hoping that in a few years we’ll come out to be a little wiser and a litter richer.

Vivin is a software engineer and serves in the Arizona Army National Guard. He returned in November 2006 from Iraq after serving a year there as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Check out his blog at http://vivin.net.

The Recession: Anita

The other day, while watching the evening news (something I try to avoid these days), I saw a sobering statistic – that unemployment in California is now in double digits. I instantly burst into tears.

Why?

I have a job I hate. And thanks to the sucky economy, I can’t quit.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m grateful for my paycheck. Two of my good friends, who used to be my managers and mentors when I worked for an enterprise-software company, were both let go within weeks of each other. They have mortgages and kids and spouses and tuition to worry about. I only have myself.

But that doesn’t change the fact that I can’t sleep at night or that my stomach is continually upset.

I really, really, really want to quit. And I can’t. Unless I’m willing to cash out my (quickly shrinking) 401(k) and hope I find a job before it runs out. Or unless I’m willing to put everything I own in storage and just live in my car until I find a new job. I’ve been sufficiently aggrieved to seriously consider both options.

My personal recession actually started 4 1/2 years ago, when the company I worked for was acquired, and I took the severance package. This big chunk of change represented a second chance to pursue the dream that originally brought me to Hollywood in the first place. You see, I’ve always dreamed of being an actor. And most actors live in a constant state of recession while they go on pointless audition after pointless audition, hoping for that one big break. Meanwhile, the endless, exhausting stream of going-nowhere activity makes it all but impossible to hold a steady, well-paying job. It’s literally Hollywood or bust.

After my severance pay and unemployment ran out, I started working as a contract freelance writer, making half of my corporate salary and paying twice as much in taxes. I compensated with credit cards. I charged my rent. I charged my food. I charged my acting classes. By the time I finally accepted that Spielberg wasn’t calling, I was $69,000 in debt. It was time to go back to work, and I took the first job smoking: a position as a marketing communications manager with one of the companies I freelanced for.

It was a nightmare from the start. Nearly the entire management team turned over, and the people who brought me in quickly left. The new regime pigeon-holed me into a role so limited, I felt like a bottom-of-the-org-chart peon.

No problem. I’d just keep looking. And in a few months, I’d be on to something more challenging and fulfilling.

Or not.

I didn’t count on the global recession. It came early to Los Angeles, thanks to the Writers’ Strike. In October 2007, there were lots of jobs to apply to. In November, when TV production halted overnight, jobs were instantly hard to come by, even in fields unrelated to the entertainment industry. The housing bust, which brought down Southern California-based companies like Countrywide, simply made a bad situation worse.

Eighteen months after I started the sucky job from hell, I’ve only had three interviews and no job offers.

Am I discouraged? You bet I am.

Anita is a take-charge marketer with 10 years’ experience in the technology sector. She lives in Los Angeles and holds a B.A. from Yale University. Check out her resume and portfolio.

The Recession: Sunil

It is about time someone came out of the shadows of a speechless population and say enough is enough directly to government. In this case, government means most Republicans: they might just become the sole reason America can’t rise from the ashes of this worsening depression. There is no time for excessive debating over that which has already been proven wrong. When all is said and done, more has been said than done.

Our economy has always been unbalanced, because the rich have always owned more of all wealth than the poor. It may seem like common sense when worded in that fashion. Now think… how would tax cuts help? Wouldn’t it just increase the gap, and destroy the middle class? This is exactly what’s happened the past eight years. To level the economy, it’s coherent to increase taxes on the rich and decrease taxes on the less fortunate. That’s exactly what President Obama is planning to do. That’s number one.

Number two is the statistical proof that tax cuts don’t work. Mark Zandi of Economy.com had done an excellent job effectively showing why tax cuts don’t add enough money to the economy. On page nine of his paper, “The Economic Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,” Table two shows tax cuts don’t work as efficiently as spending increases. The most tax cuts would add to the GDP is $1.28 per tax cut, compared to food stamps—which were incorporated into the New Deal—which add $1.73 per stamp into the economy.

Speaking of the New Deal, conservatives and general critics of Obama’s stimulus’s package cite it as proof spending doesn’t work… wrong. The only way to prove that correct is to try and prove this is show unemployment figures from the time, but completely exclude those who labored in work-relief programs, such as the famous WPA. If included, it’s clear unemployment rates went on a steady decline from the moment FDR became president in 1933, minus the years 1937 and 1938. Why? Spending was cut those two years to “balance the budget.” Who thought of that idea? Republicans, my friend… Republicans; isn’t hypocrisy just grand? There was a reason World War II helped as well: an increase in consumer goods, which the U.S. currently doesn’t have.

To make sure nothing else comes up, nobody—absolutely nobody—should cite Ronald Reagan as proof tax cuts and trickle down theory worked. Reagan was not only the first president to increase National Debt by $100 billion in one year, but also $200 billion in another year. The productivity growth rate dramatically decreased in his years, and the poverty rate increased. And, to top it off, the rich did get richer, and the poor didn’t necessarily get poorer, but didn’t improve much. Well… at least inflation was decreased.

It isn’t true that the stimulus plan is from the hands of God or that it’s perfect, by any degree. Half of what critics say of the plan isn’t true, either. First off, there isn’t any spending on “golf carts”… but fuel-efficient vehicles. By “remodeling federal offices”, the plan is for making buildings more “green”. There’s also no money specifically for butterfly parks, or Frisbee golf courses… or water slides. There’s also nothing about “floating trains,” but high-speed rail projects, which America lacks in compared to the rest of the world. If there is any pork, it’s not nearly as much as conservatives claim there is.

As the factual breakdown starts to wind down, the proper way of addressing this economic catastrophe must be addressed. America must produce something, and export it… period. Stand out for something. Importing more than exporting doesn’t help when competing in a global market. That “socialist” idea known as Universal Health Care would actually help. In fact, it’s not even socialized medicine. It’s a guarantee that all citizens have health care. Therefore, government wouldn’t necessarily provide it, if someone still thinks it’s “socialism.” It’s also been proven to save money, not waste it, according to the National Coalition of Health Care. UHC could save at least $320 billion over 10 years based on four different scenarios the NCHC tested, with a single-payer system saving $1.1 trillion over 10 years. It should be noted we have around a $1.75 trillion deficit… See something here?

The last thing to possibly say is that America must keep its head up. A significant chunk of this recession/depression is mental. Confidence significantly influences the stock market, after all. Quarreling doesn’t solve anything. The media is notorious for confusing the ever loving heck out of people because of all of the different views it shows, with no true answer. America must be informed. It must know everything will be fine, but it depends on the people. The people must unite as a nation, and put personal views aside. Fighting will lead to an inevitable destruction of the values America was founded on: hope and change.

Sunil is my brother. He’s also pretty awesome. Check out his blog at http://ssk001.wordpress.com.