The Death of Ivan IIych Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Death of Ivan IIych - Essay Example Ivan Ilych's life has been simple, because he lacks spiritual growth and lives like a philistine, and ordinary, because he experienced no suffering until his sickness and he relies on sycophantic decorum to fill his life; and the outcome of simplicity and ordinariness is a terrible life, because he learns that he has not fully lived intrinsically at all. Ivan Illych's life has been simple, because he lacks spiritual growth. Ilych measures the quality of his whole life through his material possessions and social status. He overly concerns himself with his belongings, because he desires to be perceived as a wealthy man: â€Å"†¦with his new and fashionable portmanteau, linen, clothes, shaving and other toilet appliances, and a travelling rug, all purchased at the best shops† (Tolstoy Ch.2). He believes that a wealthy man is more powerful and loved. Furthermore, his social relations are valuable to him, as they â€Å"†¦[inspire] general respect† (Tolstoy Ch.2). T his is similar to how I used to be concerned of the latest gadgets. I felt accepted when I had the most up-to-date technologies. I also have a friend, who is consumed with the desire of having social connections for the purpose of showing off. These are trite reasons for choosing how people should live. The absence of spiritual goals is all the more present in Ivan’s life. He lives for the pursuit of influence and wealth and he ultimately neglects the importance of developing his â€Å"inner hold† (Frankl 77). Furthermore, Ivan’s life is horribly simple, because he is a philistine. As a philistine, he has â€Å"no interest in culture, the arts, or fashion except as a show to others, but without authentic passion he can only define himself by the things he buys for himself† (Breakthrough Writing Lesson #2). He is materialistic and provides only the material needs for his family and himself. Frankl notes the facileness of such simple, material pleasures. He recounts the story of a woman, who discovered her â€Å"inner self† as she converses with a tree (75). She confesses to be a spoiled woman, but she changes completely when she realizes the importance of more complicated and deeper matters- the nourishment of her soul. As Frankl focuses on the significance of a spiritual life, which makes living more meaningful and complex, Ivan lives in the far opposite side of living, one that is simple to the point of being subhuman, because of the attendance to pure physical needs. Frankl understands the primitive nature of human existence: â€Å"It can be readily understood that such as state of strain, coupled with the constant necessity of concentrated on the task of staying alive, forced the prisoner’s inner life to a primitive level† (Frankl 36-38). Ivan is a prisoner of materiality, while the Holocaust victims were prisoners of human racism and xenophobia. Ivan Ilych's life has been ordinary too, because he experienced no suffering until his sickness, and he relies on sycophantic decorum to fill his life. He lives a comfortable life, up until his sickness. He focuses on material wealth and its accumulation. When he learns of dying, he abhors

Macroeconomics of the health care policy in United States Essay

Macroeconomics of the health care policy in United States - Essay Example The general health care was viewed important by each and every Americans and they took pride in the development of the system within the country, the increasing use of modern updated technologies and the growth of modernized hospitals dispersed in different areas of the country. People of the country started believing that health care system of the country has been one of the contributing factors behind the enormous growth of the country. However, it appeared to be just a myth when in the twenty first century several researchers and analysts within the health care system concluded that the health care system of the country was in a position of providing proper health care to only 60% of the chronically ill of the country. Series of statistical facts regarding the health care system of the country reveal that the system is collapsing. The main reason that was viewed behind the collapse of the system was that about 15.8% of the population of the country was not provided with health ins urance despite the country being the highest in its expenditure behind the health care system of the country. The country’s expenditure of the health care sector in the year 1990 was 12 % of the total GDP of the country of that particular year which increased to 13.1 % in the year 2000. The other industrialized countries of the world mainly Canada, West Germany, and Japan spent much less on the health care of the country but still they were able to cover most of their total population much more comprehensively than the United States of America. (Kronenfeld, 2002, pp. 1-9: Patel, Rushefsky, 2006, pp34-35: Shi, Singh, 2005, p144) Use of the most advanced techniques for improving health care thus did not imply that the populations of the... The price of the products hence will not be in accordance with the consumer’s preference since the producers have more information regarding the medical service provider and other medical products. These market imperfections have always been a cause of concern of the health care system of the country. Moreover, according to the data published by OECD in the year 2003, there exists an inverse relationship between the public spending on health care and the contribution of the latter in the total GDP of the country. The data reveals that with increasing public spending the sector’s share in the GDP reduces. Regulations on the health care system reduce competition among the different providers and hence it results in a reduction of their efficiency. Moreover, a majority of the hospitals of the country are generally financed by parties other than the buyer of the health care policies and its suppliers. Thus, proper macroeconomic policies to regulate these loopholes in the he alth care system of the country are to be taken so as to ensure a proper functioning of the system with the society being optimally benefited. The government should encourage people to increase their propensity to save such that those resources come to help in times of need for buying proper and required medical and health services. With the high rate of savings, highly deductible medical insurance with low premiums can be provided by the government that will appear beneficial both from the individual and social point of view.