Life is unfair

I got some bad news today about a friend of a friend who passed away during the weekend. He wasn't that much older than me and lost a battle with cancer. That's pretty craptastic, but most likely his life was cut short because of medical malpractice. I never met the guy, but he was a very good friend of someone very important to me and I know that his loss will be felt strongly.

When I got the news, I got angry enough that I couldn't really see straight. If I could hulk out I would've and smashed everything in sight. This situation further emphasizes that the US medical system is no longer in great shape. The US is no longer superior in anything really. Our educational system is going down the toilet and our infrastructure is crumbling. Society has bifurcated into the haves and the have-nots and the gap between the two is growing. It's almost enough to encourage me to move to Canada or something, but I'm not sure what I would do there since most of the jobs in my field are here in Silicon Valley. I'm pretty sure that I'll move somewhere else when I'm retired because I don't trust the system here to take good care of me.

I'm not saying that there aren't good doctors here, but I think the system is overcrowded for sure and that strains the resources too thinly. To all those who think it would be a good idea for the US to just open its borders: are you really that stupid? Do you really think this country can handle half of the world's destitute? Do you think we would be better off with twice as many people? My colleague seems to think that the US is "empty" and that we still have it "great," but he's from India. Is that really the gold standard we should be using for reference? Yeah, we may be a step up from Delhi or Beijing or whatever, but is that a good thing? Is it a good thing that even a cheap house here in the sticks will still cost me four years' salary?

Anyhow, I'm just venting, but I don't really like the attitude of many Americans who think things are going just fine. Sure, why not drive a big ass SUV for no particular reason? Do you need a V8 truck for your commuter car?