Painting: “I Don’t Return White Blouses (Sandia Mountains, New Mexico),” by Alanna S. Graboyes, asgraboyesart.com
NOTE: In the coming months, I’ll post excerpts from my not-yet-published book manuscript, Fifty-Million-Dollar Baby: Economics, Ethics, and Health. The goal is to edit the manuscript in plain view, with the help of your comments.
Preface: The Way of Sandia
In New Mexico, mountains called the Sandias rise from a flat desert floor. In Albuquerque, the Sandia Peak Tramway rises three-quarters of a mile from road level to the top of the peak. In April 1992, my wife and son and I ascended in fifteen minutes from desert heat to cold wind and residual snow.
In December 2005, the three of us returned, purchasing tickets from an older vendor who was hewn of the same stone as the mountain. The temperature was 65 and the sky a shade of blue that resides only in New Mexico. “What is the temperature on the peak?” I asked. … “18 when I got here. 32 last time I looked. Probably up somewhat from that now,” the vendor said. … “It’s probably still a good idea to wear our down coats to the top, right?” I asked. … Through a barely perceptible smile, the stone man said, “I just provide the information. I don’t tell you what to do with it.”
Driving away from the ticket booth, I laughed and told my family, “That is the beauty of the West. Here, they give you the information, but they don’t tell you what to do with it. Back East, they tell you what to do, but they don’t give you the information.”
We can refer to the vendor’s attitude as the Way of Sandia, and it served us well when ascending to the mountaintop. The Way of Sandia is also beneficial when discussing the economics and ethics of health. In my role as a professor, I have always sought to adhere to the Way of Sandia.
Sounds interesting and will await further chapters. As an East Coast resident, I'm sorta confused by your premise. I see a society swimming, often near drowning information, as people try to decide what's relevant and how to respond. If you could point to an area in medical economics where we lack information, that would allow my concerns and allow me to better focus.
Humility informs, arrogance insists.
Clergy, professors,experts and prophets (yes, prophets—speaking unpopular truth was a prophetic role) who speak as students themselves don’t arrogantly correct others but provide truth—unbending truth.