Fear: The Price We Pay
In several entries over the past 22 months this blog has advocated for curiosity rather than fear when seeking peace and joy—well spoiler alert—-here it comes again.
If my body were under physical attack and I though my existence was threatened, or if I were experiencing sensations that I just couldn’t understand for a prolonged period of time, or if something entered my nervous system that I had no chance of considering—well yes I would say fear might be unavoidable and valuable. However, aside from that caveat...let’s explore a bit shall we?
Does your body...
- Carry your spirit around?
- Experience sensations and emotions?
- Allow you to share sensations and emotions?
- Behave the way you expect it to let’s say 50% of the time or more?
Well then... let’s just say you meet the basic specifications for having a reasonable body.
Now let’s consider what happens when we are numb to the impact of fear.
what do insurance companies a and government programs providing insurance sell?
they sell us pieces of paper or in today’s world they sell us data in a computer somewhere. Have you ever seen an emergency room where the doctor goes over to the instrument table and pulls out a sheet of. Paper and says “you have a raging fever and a gunshot wound but once I read this paragraph and verify your bill is paid you should be able to get up and walk out with no after effects.” So what I’m saying is that an insurance plan or policy has never cured anyone. In fact in the great majority of cases your own body given time and a little work heals itself.
What does the fear that leads us. To buy insurance cost? Well, when you calculate the price per month per person for insurance, the left over costs you pay, the price of administering our public health insurance programs and let’s not forget drugs—More on that in a second...) we probably spend about $13,000 a year over the course of our lifetime in order to have a body that supposedly l.ooks and feels just like (or just alittle better than) everyone else’s. Oh and in the end... well you die—by the way when I die I am leaving specific directions for the disposal of my remains but if someone gets the idea that I needs to be planted with a tombstone some place, please have that tombstone read...”my other tombstone is a pyramid.”
Drugs—Fear For Sale on Steroids —so to speak.
this was mentioned in the last blog, however, it desserts some “special” thought. absolutely...there are drugs that help people regain and maintain certain physical capacities that improve quality of living. On the other hand —and it’s a handful of little blue. Pills) consider how many commercials you see regarding medicines where you are told to “Ask your doctor about ——“. If this drug were valuable and beneficial don’t you think someone who has trained for a lifetime to work on your body might. Know about it already. Do you ever see a beer commercial that says “ask they guy at the liquor store about Jose Cuervo.” After all after drinking it for a while you might have the courage to ask that lady in the bar for a date and she migh just be drunk enough to agree to it. Oh and you are going to convince me that alcohol is not a drug? Well let’s see—it impacts the way you think, the typesa of substances delivered to your cells through the blood stream...it influences a your ssenses including temprary pain relief. Sounds like a drug to me. unfortunately Jim Beam never advertises “if you can’t afford the big handle bottle we may be able to help.” Pharmaceutical companies and street dealers do it.... haven’t you ever seen someone saying. Here try this ...it’s really good stuff at a party before?
In addition to the dollars we pay ...the costs may be much higher than we are aware of....
Take a look at the amount of money “big pharma” gives to political campaigns on both sides of the aisle and the revolving. Door between these companies, the government agencies that are tasked with providing oversight, and then throw in the resources provided to institutions that do basic. Development and research leading to the availability of drugs and the diagnosis of the symptoms. Those drugs may impact. well in short, because we are afraid of getting outside the body norm, being sick, not living forever, being seen as weak or not sexually talented we allow drug companies to buy. Our attention and feed us fear.
Okay one more insurance example.... you don’t see very regularly a battery commercial that says “asks your mechanic about die hard..” (Pun alert) /there are plenty of dead batteries you can get free of charge.” then again you never know you have a dead battery until you are trying to go somewhere so the fear of missing out or worse is already built in. To their product. We are starting to get overrun with “extended warranty” offers which is a form of insurance. Think about this because its just like health insurance. These companies know that if they charge the right sum enough money and insure enough cars their income will exceed the amount they will pay out. They are assuming absolutely no risk. Health insurers , including our government set the cost for insurance and the price that it costs to receive care by controlling the market... in this case... your health. even though a routine. Visit may catch a health problem and save the system money and preventative medicine may reduce the risk of bad things... an increase in the patrticipation rates. Of people. In routine care and prevention is never reflected by seeing a lowering of medical prices. In fact, when is the last time a major insurance provider has gone out of business because they underestimated the number of payouts they would have to make? Oh never...because they control, the number of payouts they. Make—-hmmm...Well not to go all morbid here, however you are also sold life insurance and burial insurance. Now just how many dead bodies have you seen laying out in the. Street or stacked against the garbage can—you know right next to that cool blue recycling bin— because well no one could afford to deal with the remains? Funeral Businesses sell two products.. a skill in dealing with people who have lost functionality because of grief and one last shot at providing your adoring public to say look at and respect this cool box and this pomp and circumstance. They give people a chance to gather and pray for a person’s soul. I might suggest that if you are going to pray for my soul—you can start now because there is a great need for it. As far as the grief thing goes... become aware of how you mix the gratitude of having. Experienced others and the loss of that gift. If you become aware of what meanings you are. Creating in the experience of loss, I’m willing to bet you might not fear. The death of others quite so much and maybe you won’t fear. Yours as much either. Just my opinion.
So to summarize... we are sold insurance for our body but the piece of paper can’t impact our health. A car insurance policy has never change a tire, a life insurance policy have never insured someone stayed alive, and...well you get my point.
So what’s the cost of fear???
tomorrow we will go further down that rabbit hole and talk about fear and politics...
Just as a warm up... Remember when we feared and hated the Russians (Soviet Union)? Now are we getting better at fearing the folks in china? Or maybe theme and the Middle East terrorisst around the corner...? Don’t worry if we run out of “those people to fear...we can always fear each other right here in the good ol’USA
How much fear can one person take/buy? Well that’s something to explore tomorrow unless you’d like to show you are not afraid and satart thinking about it now.
I’ve gotta move my spirit around now.. so peace be with you.
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