Let me start this post by saying I don’t watch The Voice. I’m ambivalent about it. But I couldn’t help notice the brouhaha that judge Adam Levine started when he was overheard saying “I hate this country.” He was frustrated because one of the members of his team was voted off of the show by a public vote.
It seems that the person who was voted off was so obviously the best that he was stunned. People I asked said the same thing. So why did the public act so irrationally? Or was this just his opinion? Or do I have to go back and read Freakonomics and Predictably Irrational?
In other words why do people behave so irrationally when the truth is so obvious? Like I said I don’t have much stake in The Voice, but I do have a stake in this country’s health care system.
People who read this blog are a mixed group. Many dentists read this blog and will understand where I am coming from…let me tell you a story that has been developing through the years:
This morning I had a patient come in to tell me she was leaving my practice after 15 years. She was taking her family too, and she felt so bad because she loved our office,
But her insurance was changing, and “she had to go where they told her.” She had tears in her eyes.
There was no convincing her. She felt as if she was being forced beyond her will. Irrational? I know dentists think so. But what about the lay people reading this blog? How do you feel? You see, this is why, as a dentist I support Adam Levine’s outcry. Do I hate this country? I can tell you that it gets pretty frustrating when we watch people confirm a system that will not work to provide the best care for them and their families.
It’s frustrating to watch the public vote for a system that breeds mediocrity. It’s frustrating to watch the public en masse support a system that has no room for dentists to grow into excellence.
Dentistry may be just a small portion of the health care system. But it is part of the system, like the mouth and teeth are part of every person’s health system. Dentistry is a microcosm of what is going on economically and politically in this country. And health care professionals are watching the public just confirm exactly what they don’t want — they are voting to walk over the cliff.
That’s what frustrated Adam Levine— he said it and retracted it. I don’t think he hates this country and I don’t either – but it can sure get frustrating sometimes. We need more people to step up and support their true feelings—Adam knows talent…health professionals know health care.
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