No. They want most of us dead. They’ll still have power but we wont. Not those of us you don’t give in them. And but cutting it off, I do not mean it necessarily has to be the flipping of a switch and plunge the world into darkness. It could easily be a progression of deplatforming those who who disagree with them then debanking them and all their followers/customers. In short, use the social credit system that is already in use to make it impossible for those who don’t go along to have any interactions with anyone.
a few days ago out shopping I saw a surprising number of customers using cash, but I agree with you they are furiously working to make life impossible without an idiot phone.
There is always a line for the manned cashiers even when there are several self checkout registers available. Many still prefer manned checkout yet stores are doing away with them. TPTB don’t care what we want.
for me it depends. At Kroger self checkout, I liked it because I knew the woman who managed the self checkout area. We had a good rapport. I wish they had employees that "manned" gasoline self serve pumps to..
But couldn’t just as well had the same interactions with her if she was manning a register as a cashier?
The only places I use self check out are those that only have self check out. The 100 Yen store offers enough stuff at that price that I suck it up and use their stupid self check out. After the sudden closure and demolition of the full service gas station we used for around 15 years or more, that was as shock, I now use an unmanned self serve station. It’s the best located and the cheapest. But I glad I don’t live near it.
Sep 26·edited Sep 26Liked by Kitsune, Maskless Crusader.
The "vax" push worldwide will debilitate and knock off the elderly and breeding populations.
The lack of options will finish off the rebels.
The addiction to tech will immobilize and subjugate many.
Compliant people will use their typing thumbs to beg. They become unable to think for themselves, who can only access their glowing device to demand something from the ether.
This current feels impossible to navigate, and we're exposed to the evil elements as our privacy is diminished with every "click to accept."
Looking for viable alternative resources is exhausting.
It is an exercise in creativity! Don’t let it get you down. Smart people can adapt and retain their independence. When adaptation goes beyond what we are willing to accept, we walk and find a different way.
Many will die believing the propaganda and by giving up. We can be the difference. I have a friend who is 20 years into a “terminal” cancer that was told he would be gone in less than a year.
I have little doubt that after they have removed the noncompliers and only have the idiot phone addicted remaining, that they will kill the power anyway. Or, just whittle down the heard with errors that prevent some form logging in to get their rations and there not being enough for others to share with them.
In other words, I think what you describe is a feature and not a bug, unless a natural event such as a solar flare fries everything before hand. But then what do we have? The fall of all modern societies which is what they want anyway.
You and me, Kitsune, curmudgeons trying to buck the trend. We both put up a down-with-dumb-phones post on the same day. Just wait until your son starts giving you the evil eye for continuously pointing out the decline and fall! Nevertheless, 頑張って! Fight on!
Funny you should ask that. In one of the rare cases I me watching TV, there was a special on a little while ago of how things were in Japan during the Showa era. One of the many things that both my wife and I recalled but by kids had now ideas of was how to fold the newspaper to read it on a crowded train. Keep in mind, Japanese papers still used the vertical format. The show played footage taken during that era of the many business men with their paper as folded in 1/8th to allow quick flipping between the sides as the read the paper. They then gave a news paper to many people on the street and those 40 and over had no problem folding it, the 20 somethings were as confused as any one who first tries folding an origami crane. Though I never read a Japanese newspaper on the train but have seen it the folding and my wife and I laughed hysterically at the younger folks trying to do so.
I wonder if I could still fold a map correctly. Probably not. Wasn’t something I had to do every day. we did have to learn it in my 5th grade social studies class though. I remember that well.
Absolutely on the paper map idea! During a terrible 100 year flood, being able to access possible alternative routes meant the difference between life and death. Remember that roads were blocked by local government with the Maui wildfire?
An app, what is that. I don't do well at this type of store.
WalMart, Circle K, the pizza store (I can't remember what they are called). and the government, get all my funds, along with the utilities, and that's if I have them.
Banks too, as I wrote about in the past. Gas stations as well, forgot to mention those. Do not drive much and thus do not need to fill up often.
The places I still frequent, though far less than before, are coffee shops and places to eat between classes. Shopping is for necessities for me or family stuff…until I run my saving dry, which looks to be soon.
Maskless, you are very intuitive, but this post is especially relevant as we are losing our unique identities which has little to do with the media discussion of “how we identify,” or the pronouns we use. Have you heard of “hive mentality?” https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160414-is-humanity-evolving-into-a-hive
I have as it has been used to describe groups from small to large working in mental lockstep. But I have not read much on it, certainly have not studied it
However, I live in Japan which spent millennia creating a group oriented society where the individual gets no consideration beyond the group to which they belong. I see much of this being adopted in the west. That is why I keep saying that the US and much of the rest of the world are turning Japanese, like the song.
Sorry to hear about the masks. There will still be those that are "couragous" and still mask here in the states. They believe we are the ones who are deluded, who can blame them? The illusion of consensus is a very strong motivator.
Regards to the online thing. I will give you an honest response. When I used to take my dad to different specialists for his rheumatoid arthritis and spectrum of issues, we had to fill out a form every time we came to a new facility. I thought "shouldn't all these records be online...it would make things more efficient." Another answer would be to fill out the same form and just pass out copies. I do prefer the "online" method.
There should be options though for those who prefer not to go online, and for good reason.
The irony is that in this world where they speak of "safety" over liberty. They very much traffic in the insecurity of these technological wonders. I use different passwords for anything online for a reason. I know at some point, something will be breached. Banks understand this as well. I also mix up the logins as well.
My dad felt the same way about debit cards. He thought we should cut them up and deal in cash. Although he did use an ATM card. I confess I do like the convenience of online. Not only in having to apply for a membership, but also it works great for appointments. You can actually go out and do other things...until your actual appointment time notifies you.
I spend so much time logging in and signing up for things that there is little time for anything else. Even substack makes me log in to to “like” or reply to many of those I subscribe to. Same with the online versions of newspapers. Epoch Times too. Then there are my work accounts for my different employers. Logging in for many online activities is a necessity, I get that, but why do I need to do so for face to face transactions now too.
The hospital/clinic questionnaires are a pain, but what else are you going to do while you wait? More importantly, if it is online, it is going to become public knowledge sooner or later. Lots of people would love to have contact information and all the medical data for patients of any hospital. Drug companies can then bombard the sick and frail with direct marketing of drugs in the vain hopes of prolonging life of those they made sick in the first place. Long long ago a coworker at one school lost her position at another because they learned she had anorexia. Now, instead of having to hack multiple hospitals data banks, which in the past meant breaking into the office in the dead of night with a pen light and spy camera at many hospitals, with our SSN in the US and “My Number” in Japan used as national IDs, they only need to hack into one of of the many data bases that store and use our data. For me, not a good trade off. But I have had my ID Stolen and have reason to believe there are people using it the States and am thus a bit more sensitive to this issue than perhaps most are.
Debit cards are, in my opinion, less secure than ATM cards. With the former, as with a credit card, the information needed to use them is stored and shared all over the place. With an ATM card, they either need the actual card and PIN, or a sophisticated skimming operation, which exist, that takes more equipment and personnel to carry out.
However, all three of these, debit cards, ATM cards and credit cards in places in the States have become harder for those near the lower rungs of the income ladder to even get. In the late 90s I was shocked to learn that the bank I use while in college switched their policies and that all other banks in the area did too, otherwise I would have switched banks. All accounts with balances less than $10,000 were charged a “Maintenance Fee” each month. Was not a lot, but instead of putting money in an account and earning interest on it, if you deposited less than $10,000 and left it there, eventually you would have zero money left. Have since learned that in my home state anyway, that they somehow do not allow people under certain income levels or who have below a certain balance ( I never was clear on the mechanism for this) to even have a bank account. Those people are forced to use a government maintained account and the ATM card for it has a minimum withdrawal of $20.00. That was years ago when my parents told me this, back when $20 could still but something.
I do not think the sermons on safety over liberty is irony; it’s just a bald faced lie. Ironic for the fools that fall for it, I guess. I recall a statement attributed to Benjamin Franklin; “Those who would trade a little liberty for safety deserve neither and will lose both.”.
It is ridiculous that I need an account for anything online. There are places I have only visited once, and yet somehow still need to sign into them. It really sucks when its been awhile and. they want authentication. They send something to your inbox, and then they ask you to update your information.
Substack simply remembers me...unless I login after a browser update, or on a different computer, then it usually sends me an email to confirm my identity.
But not only do you need to login, you want to get the app. I have a Subway sandwich) app, and the app simply does not work. I've tried using it a couple times and it doesn't work at all. I think its because my phone is an iPhone 10.
If you are online, you can go out to lunch while you wait, hang out in your car listening to tunes at a loud volume, talk to friends on the phone, respond to twitter posts about how masks are the best thing since sliced bread.
I am with you on the whole privacy thing in regards to medical history, but they steamrolled over that during the pandemic. I decided, as a result of "not really knowing" to send off for my vaccine history. I have no idea how many vaccines my parents had me get. I think they still trusted in the system..so my guess is probably the amount of vaccines normally given children who were born in the sixties.
In the current political climate, they would probably promote a woman who had anorexia and applaud her alternative lifestyle choice.
Who knows about the credit card companies. I still think for them for the most part...they are making money hand over fist with their high interest rates and maintenance fees.
Concerning smart phones, the thing that I am more concerned about is where we get the batteries. Heck all of this hardware is probably exploiting some worker in the third world.
I guess my wife is correct, she says I am an optimist. I was giving the best case scenario, which is horrible, IMO, but you are correct, apps do not always work. I doubt it there is a single app out that works on 100% of the devices, OSes and configurations in use. Then we have updates that screw everything up. Then we have planned obsolescence. Batteries are even a bigger concern. They do wear out. Even without the concerns you give, which are real, but let’s say that they don’t exist, try finding a proprietary battery for any device a few years old. Power supplies too.
I had to make a panicked and hurried emergency purchase last night. I broke the power adapter for my MacBook Air. Apple no longer carries them for my model. After much searching, I found an off brand maker that can get it to me in time for when I must have my computer again for work. I bought the laptop new in 2018. The hardware for it no longer being sold by Apple, how much longer until it dies? I can no longer afford to replace it. This scenario will play out it various forms as prices continue to go up and people can no longer afford to replace expensive devices every few years.
I have often pondered how well off my grandparents would have been if every few years they had to replace a $1000 computer and pay for all the monthly and yearly subscriptions needed to keep it functioning. Then add to this the fact that they probably had only two refrigerators their entire lives and we are on our 4th or 5th already. Same with all other appliances.
I suspect this trend will be fought hard in the US. Several legal challenges are possible (for example such requirements might be in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act). There will also be a lot of state by state variation and interstate commerce laws could well be invoked by major players such as truckers.
If we had an actual functioning legal system, yes. Challenges will be thrown out one way or another. One way that I am all too familiar with is the “lack of standing “. Any case that does go through and somehow wins, will apply only to the plaintiffs while all case that ar3 lost will be applied nationally.
Yes it is spreading, we are being corralled to using the stupid apps and getting pushed further and further away from human contact. But even speaking eventually to a human providing a service can be very challenging as they are constrained by some of the insane rules put in place by remote governments. I live in the UK and accessing the NHS is frankly a nightmare especially when you feel unwell, which is very ironic. The questions you have to answer before you can get to your actual problem is mind numbing and exhausting. Although again ironically, if you want to have access for a vaccination then the service is very quick with minimal questions. We live in a strange upside down world.
This is another huge issue. The throttling or directing of “traffic”, so to speak. They make as cumbersome as possible, often to the point of futility to get the service you want or need but make as easy and quick as possible to get what you do not want and did not ask for, often “misdirecting” you there as you attempt to navigate the various menus.
In The US, we have a similar issue. They only give you so many options, and if your option isn't available, then its hard to decide where to direct the call. or the email form.
Which leads to 2 major issues. We have freedom of choice….. as long as it is an option found in the pull down menu. Quite some time ago, I attempted to complete a survey for the Trump campaign. One of the many questions asked for what I felt to be the biggest issue facing myself but FATCA/FBAR and CBT were not in the pull down menu…imagine that.
Another situation was with an online survey on what we should do with our wonderful, immensely large city park. The options were on what kind of concessioners to allow to build in the park. The option to just leave the wide open, grassy areas as they are to allow kids to run, fly kites, play games or whatever was not given.
The other issue is two faceted. Whomever is tasked to come up with all possibilities for anything and the menu to choose from will fqil in considering all, even those who have the best intentions to do so. This then defeats the stated purpose of such programs, to be able to apply trackable and searchable data points to every situation to allow for data driven decision making. This is because it forces people to choose the best fit which is not always the correct fit. I do not recall the specifics, but even before the panic doctors and hospitals were forced to intentionally miscode conditions. One reason is that the system would no longer allow specific conditions to be treated as they had successfully been, so they miscoded for a condition that they system would allow the same treatment for. There were other reasons too that I do not remember.
The other facet of this is criminal accountability. The criminally misreported “Hush money” case against Trump was actually an internal records case that was literally the choosing of the best fit for an expenditure from a pull down menu that the DA, after first saying there was no case, decided to go after anyway. This means that for every best fit choice you, I, anyone makes, we can now be criminally prosecuted for if a politically motivated hack of a DA wants to.
It all works until the electricity goes out.
They don’t care. They plan to shut it off at some point anyway.
Why do you say that? None of their totalitarian plans work without electricity.
No. They want most of us dead. They’ll still have power but we wont. Not those of us you don’t give in them. And but cutting it off, I do not mean it necessarily has to be the flipping of a switch and plunge the world into darkness. It could easily be a progression of deplatforming those who who disagree with them then debanking them and all their followers/customers. In short, use the social credit system that is already in use to make it impossible for those who don’t go along to have any interactions with anyone.
Well, “The best laid plans of mice and men/ Gang aft aglee.”
They want us to need them. They like us to suck up. Totalitarian control works quite well in 3rd world countries.
Except maybe you are the curve they wish to flatten.
a few days ago out shopping I saw a surprising number of customers using cash, but I agree with you they are furiously working to make life impossible without an idiot phone.
There is always a line for the manned cashiers even when there are several self checkout registers available. Many still prefer manned checkout yet stores are doing away with them. TPTB don’t care what we want.
for me it depends. At Kroger self checkout, I liked it because I knew the woman who managed the self checkout area. We had a good rapport. I wish they had employees that "manned" gasoline self serve pumps to..
But couldn’t just as well had the same interactions with her if she was manning a register as a cashier?
The only places I use self check out are those that only have self check out. The 100 Yen store offers enough stuff at that price that I suck it up and use their stupid self check out. After the sudden closure and demolition of the full service gas station we used for around 15 years or more, that was as shock, I now use an unmanned self serve station. It’s the best located and the cheapest. But I glad I don’t live near it.
The "vax" push worldwide will debilitate and knock off the elderly and breeding populations.
The lack of options will finish off the rebels.
The addiction to tech will immobilize and subjugate many.
Compliant people will use their typing thumbs to beg. They become unable to think for themselves, who can only access their glowing device to demand something from the ether.
This current feels impossible to navigate, and we're exposed to the evil elements as our privacy is diminished with every "click to accept."
Looking for viable alternative resources is exhausting.
It is an exercise in creativity! Don’t let it get you down. Smart people can adapt and retain their independence. When adaptation goes beyond what we are willing to accept, we walk and find a different way.
Most will die.
Many will die believing the propaganda and by giving up. We can be the difference. I have a friend who is 20 years into a “terminal” cancer that was told he would be gone in less than a year.
Maybe a large EMP strike, or a massive solar flare will make them realise the absolute imbecility of this online only approach.
At some point it will all go tits up quite spectacularly.
The sooner the better.
I have little doubt that after they have removed the noncompliers and only have the idiot phone addicted remaining, that they will kill the power anyway. Or, just whittle down the heard with errors that prevent some form logging in to get their rations and there not being enough for others to share with them.
In other words, I think what you describe is a feature and not a bug, unless a natural event such as a solar flare fries everything before hand. But then what do we have? The fall of all modern societies which is what they want anyway.
You and me, Kitsune, curmudgeons trying to buck the trend. We both put up a down-with-dumb-phones post on the same day. Just wait until your son starts giving you the evil eye for continuously pointing out the decline and fall! Nevertheless, 頑張って! Fight on!
Where do I get my official curmudgeons badge from?
Paper maps are the way to go. They do not rotate unless you rotate them.
Could you imagine making someone these days try to fold one of those maps.
Funny you should ask that. In one of the rare cases I me watching TV, there was a special on a little while ago of how things were in Japan during the Showa era. One of the many things that both my wife and I recalled but by kids had now ideas of was how to fold the newspaper to read it on a crowded train. Keep in mind, Japanese papers still used the vertical format. The show played footage taken during that era of the many business men with their paper as folded in 1/8th to allow quick flipping between the sides as the read the paper. They then gave a news paper to many people on the street and those 40 and over had no problem folding it, the 20 somethings were as confused as any one who first tries folding an origami crane. Though I never read a Japanese newspaper on the train but have seen it the folding and my wife and I laughed hysterically at the younger folks trying to do so.
I wonder if I could still fold a map correctly. Probably not. Wasn’t something I had to do every day. we did have to learn it in my 5th grade social studies class though. I remember that well.
Absolutely on the paper map idea! During a terrible 100 year flood, being able to access possible alternative routes meant the difference between life and death. Remember that roads were blocked by local government with the Maui wildfire?
An app, what is that. I don't do well at this type of store.
WalMart, Circle K, the pizza store (I can't remember what they are called). and the government, get all my funds, along with the utilities, and that's if I have them.
I still 'pretend' to not carry a smart phone.
Banks too, as I wrote about in the past. Gas stations as well, forgot to mention those. Do not drive much and thus do not need to fill up often.
The places I still frequent, though far less than before, are coffee shops and places to eat between classes. Shopping is for necessities for me or family stuff…until I run my saving dry, which looks to be soon.
Maskless, you are very intuitive, but this post is especially relevant as we are losing our unique identities which has little to do with the media discussion of “how we identify,” or the pronouns we use. Have you heard of “hive mentality?” https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160414-is-humanity-evolving-into-a-hive
I have as it has been used to describe groups from small to large working in mental lockstep. But I have not read much on it, certainly have not studied it
However, I live in Japan which spent millennia creating a group oriented society where the individual gets no consideration beyond the group to which they belong. I see much of this being adopted in the west. That is why I keep saying that the US and much of the rest of the world are turning Japanese, like the song.
Will look into the link. Thanks.
Sorry to hear about the masks. There will still be those that are "couragous" and still mask here in the states. They believe we are the ones who are deluded, who can blame them? The illusion of consensus is a very strong motivator.
Regards to the online thing. I will give you an honest response. When I used to take my dad to different specialists for his rheumatoid arthritis and spectrum of issues, we had to fill out a form every time we came to a new facility. I thought "shouldn't all these records be online...it would make things more efficient." Another answer would be to fill out the same form and just pass out copies. I do prefer the "online" method.
There should be options though for those who prefer not to go online, and for good reason.
The irony is that in this world where they speak of "safety" over liberty. They very much traffic in the insecurity of these technological wonders. I use different passwords for anything online for a reason. I know at some point, something will be breached. Banks understand this as well. I also mix up the logins as well.
My dad felt the same way about debit cards. He thought we should cut them up and deal in cash. Although he did use an ATM card. I confess I do like the convenience of online. Not only in having to apply for a membership, but also it works great for appointments. You can actually go out and do other things...until your actual appointment time notifies you.
I spend so much time logging in and signing up for things that there is little time for anything else. Even substack makes me log in to to “like” or reply to many of those I subscribe to. Same with the online versions of newspapers. Epoch Times too. Then there are my work accounts for my different employers. Logging in for many online activities is a necessity, I get that, but why do I need to do so for face to face transactions now too.
The hospital/clinic questionnaires are a pain, but what else are you going to do while you wait? More importantly, if it is online, it is going to become public knowledge sooner or later. Lots of people would love to have contact information and all the medical data for patients of any hospital. Drug companies can then bombard the sick and frail with direct marketing of drugs in the vain hopes of prolonging life of those they made sick in the first place. Long long ago a coworker at one school lost her position at another because they learned she had anorexia. Now, instead of having to hack multiple hospitals data banks, which in the past meant breaking into the office in the dead of night with a pen light and spy camera at many hospitals, with our SSN in the US and “My Number” in Japan used as national IDs, they only need to hack into one of of the many data bases that store and use our data. For me, not a good trade off. But I have had my ID Stolen and have reason to believe there are people using it the States and am thus a bit more sensitive to this issue than perhaps most are.
Debit cards are, in my opinion, less secure than ATM cards. With the former, as with a credit card, the information needed to use them is stored and shared all over the place. With an ATM card, they either need the actual card and PIN, or a sophisticated skimming operation, which exist, that takes more equipment and personnel to carry out.
However, all three of these, debit cards, ATM cards and credit cards in places in the States have become harder for those near the lower rungs of the income ladder to even get. In the late 90s I was shocked to learn that the bank I use while in college switched their policies and that all other banks in the area did too, otherwise I would have switched banks. All accounts with balances less than $10,000 were charged a “Maintenance Fee” each month. Was not a lot, but instead of putting money in an account and earning interest on it, if you deposited less than $10,000 and left it there, eventually you would have zero money left. Have since learned that in my home state anyway, that they somehow do not allow people under certain income levels or who have below a certain balance ( I never was clear on the mechanism for this) to even have a bank account. Those people are forced to use a government maintained account and the ATM card for it has a minimum withdrawal of $20.00. That was years ago when my parents told me this, back when $20 could still but something.
I do not think the sermons on safety over liberty is irony; it’s just a bald faced lie. Ironic for the fools that fall for it, I guess. I recall a statement attributed to Benjamin Franklin; “Those who would trade a little liberty for safety deserve neither and will lose both.”.
It is ridiculous that I need an account for anything online. There are places I have only visited once, and yet somehow still need to sign into them. It really sucks when its been awhile and. they want authentication. They send something to your inbox, and then they ask you to update your information.
Substack simply remembers me...unless I login after a browser update, or on a different computer, then it usually sends me an email to confirm my identity.
But not only do you need to login, you want to get the app. I have a Subway sandwich) app, and the app simply does not work. I've tried using it a couple times and it doesn't work at all. I think its because my phone is an iPhone 10.
If you are online, you can go out to lunch while you wait, hang out in your car listening to tunes at a loud volume, talk to friends on the phone, respond to twitter posts about how masks are the best thing since sliced bread.
I am with you on the whole privacy thing in regards to medical history, but they steamrolled over that during the pandemic. I decided, as a result of "not really knowing" to send off for my vaccine history. I have no idea how many vaccines my parents had me get. I think they still trusted in the system..so my guess is probably the amount of vaccines normally given children who were born in the sixties.
In the current political climate, they would probably promote a woman who had anorexia and applaud her alternative lifestyle choice.
Who knows about the credit card companies. I still think for them for the most part...they are making money hand over fist with their high interest rates and maintenance fees.
Concerning smart phones, the thing that I am more concerned about is where we get the batteries. Heck all of this hardware is probably exploiting some worker in the third world.
I guess my wife is correct, she says I am an optimist. I was giving the best case scenario, which is horrible, IMO, but you are correct, apps do not always work. I doubt it there is a single app out that works on 100% of the devices, OSes and configurations in use. Then we have updates that screw everything up. Then we have planned obsolescence. Batteries are even a bigger concern. They do wear out. Even without the concerns you give, which are real, but let’s say that they don’t exist, try finding a proprietary battery for any device a few years old. Power supplies too.
I had to make a panicked and hurried emergency purchase last night. I broke the power adapter for my MacBook Air. Apple no longer carries them for my model. After much searching, I found an off brand maker that can get it to me in time for when I must have my computer again for work. I bought the laptop new in 2018. The hardware for it no longer being sold by Apple, how much longer until it dies? I can no longer afford to replace it. This scenario will play out it various forms as prices continue to go up and people can no longer afford to replace expensive devices every few years.
I have often pondered how well off my grandparents would have been if every few years they had to replace a $1000 computer and pay for all the monthly and yearly subscriptions needed to keep it functioning. Then add to this the fact that they probably had only two refrigerators their entire lives and we are on our 4th or 5th already. Same with all other appliances.
I suspect this trend will be fought hard in the US. Several legal challenges are possible (for example such requirements might be in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act). There will also be a lot of state by state variation and interstate commerce laws could well be invoked by major players such as truckers.
If we had an actual functioning legal system, yes. Challenges will be thrown out one way or another. One way that I am all too familiar with is the “lack of standing “. Any case that does go through and somehow wins, will apply only to the plaintiffs while all case that ar3 lost will be applied nationally.
Yes it is spreading, we are being corralled to using the stupid apps and getting pushed further and further away from human contact. But even speaking eventually to a human providing a service can be very challenging as they are constrained by some of the insane rules put in place by remote governments. I live in the UK and accessing the NHS is frankly a nightmare especially when you feel unwell, which is very ironic. The questions you have to answer before you can get to your actual problem is mind numbing and exhausting. Although again ironically, if you want to have access for a vaccination then the service is very quick with minimal questions. We live in a strange upside down world.
This is another huge issue. The throttling or directing of “traffic”, so to speak. They make as cumbersome as possible, often to the point of futility to get the service you want or need but make as easy and quick as possible to get what you do not want and did not ask for, often “misdirecting” you there as you attempt to navigate the various menus.
In The US, we have a similar issue. They only give you so many options, and if your option isn't available, then its hard to decide where to direct the call. or the email form.
Which leads to 2 major issues. We have freedom of choice….. as long as it is an option found in the pull down menu. Quite some time ago, I attempted to complete a survey for the Trump campaign. One of the many questions asked for what I felt to be the biggest issue facing myself but FATCA/FBAR and CBT were not in the pull down menu…imagine that.
Another situation was with an online survey on what we should do with our wonderful, immensely large city park. The options were on what kind of concessioners to allow to build in the park. The option to just leave the wide open, grassy areas as they are to allow kids to run, fly kites, play games or whatever was not given.
The other issue is two faceted. Whomever is tasked to come up with all possibilities for anything and the menu to choose from will fqil in considering all, even those who have the best intentions to do so. This then defeats the stated purpose of such programs, to be able to apply trackable and searchable data points to every situation to allow for data driven decision making. This is because it forces people to choose the best fit which is not always the correct fit. I do not recall the specifics, but even before the panic doctors and hospitals were forced to intentionally miscode conditions. One reason is that the system would no longer allow specific conditions to be treated as they had successfully been, so they miscoded for a condition that they system would allow the same treatment for. There were other reasons too that I do not remember.
The other facet of this is criminal accountability. The criminally misreported “Hush money” case against Trump was actually an internal records case that was literally the choosing of the best fit for an expenditure from a pull down menu that the DA, after first saying there was no case, decided to go after anyway. This means that for every best fit choice you, I, anyone makes, we can now be criminally prosecuted for if a politically motivated hack of a DA wants to.
yeah this is good; it takes some time to translate fro mthe "Japanese."