WRIT 150 (Change Name)

 I think my topic this time will be about the cost of healthcare: should doctors be treat patients who cannot pay for treatment?  This topic is one that I've looked into before after reading Mountains Beyond Mountains  by Tracy Kidder. This guy named Paul Farmer set up medical clinics in Haiti, and Russia and spends all his time treating patients who cannot afford medical treatment. He does work in public health too, establishing things like safe-water wells to make major impacts on those disadvantaged communities. He pretty much doesn't take a wage, and instead spends it all on helping buy more things to help the people he treats Book Cover for Mountains Beyond Mountains While this is an extreme example (maybe?), realistically people have their own interests to look after. Most doctors do not work for hospitals that are capable/willing to spend all their available resources on patients who could not pay for it, nor are there many (if any) insurance companies that will pa...

 What side do I take on the topic of paternalism and exercise as a means to slow the rapidly growing rate of obesity? Paternalism should definitely be utilized in this scenario. Yes, there are some other factors that are driving the obesity rates, but this is one way that we can slow its growth. Additionally, it's something that we all hear when we're younger, but simply fail to do: exercise. The fact that not enough people seem to be exercising is an issue in itself. We are social creatures, and we love trends and fads. If there can be a continuing trend of exercising, how much healthier could the U.S. actually become? It's cool to see communities that come together to be healthy: my neighborhood has a large group of people who go on walks and runs in the morning. This is a great thing, but it is a fairly isolated incident of exercise that continues to adulthood. People on my street go out simply to do errands and spend the rest of their time on couches eating junk food. W...