X-Message-Number: 30143
From: "John de Rivaz" <>
References: <>
Subject: Re: DSS points
Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2007 11:16:43 -0000


Is "health service free at the point of service" really working? Money is partly
a method of rationing, and if the service is free but has limited availability 
then another form of rationing has to be used. It is physically impossible for 
anything else to happen. In the UK, the NHS has "a postcode lottery" and 
expensive drugs are often not available on free or subsidised prescription, even
to save life.


In 
http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=6223&Section=Disease&source=DHB_071215&key=Body+ContinueReading

it is even suggested that the medical profession may resist moves to direct 
expensive drugs to those who pass a genetic test that verifies that they will 
benefit.


I fail to see how cryonics that is free at the point of service would work. It 
could almost be argued that this applies today, as people have to pay before the
point of service. Cryonics isn't free, but it is already paid for at the time.


The ordinary "burn or rot" funeral is actually paid for after the point of 
service. This is often months or even years after, by the time lawyers and other
administrators have moved through the process of probate and estate 
distribution at their usual glacial speed.


I think what you may be considering is the fact that many people don't bother 
about their funeral, or even make a will. If you could just say to your friends 
"I want cryopreservation" and be happy and secure that it would happen, would 
more people opt for cryonics? The New Scientist poll is the best approximation 
to an answer: "If cryonics were free would you opt for it?" Slightly less than 
30% of those polled said "yes".


If you say and do nothing, then cremation seems to be the default option when 
you are declared dead, (at least in the UK). If you ask to be buried, either 
verbally or via a will, the chances are that you will get that option either if 
someone else pays or there is enough money in your estate.


For cryonics you have to do a lot more, and I can't see any way of changing 
that. It is not the fault of the cryonics service providers. It is the nature of
the civilisation we live in, and the systems that have evolved for 
administrators to make money without making anything of real value in return. 

-- 
Sincerely, John de Rivaz:  http://John.deRivaz.com for websites including
Cryonics Europe, Longevity Report, The Venturists, Porthtowan, Alec Harley
Reeves - inventor, Arthur Bowker - potter, de Rivaz genealogy,  Nomad .. and
more

Message #30141
References: <>
From: David Stodolsky <>
Subject: Re: DSS points
Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2007 21:09:29 +0100

On 15 Dec 2007, at 02:06,  wrote:

<del>
  
restructuring social arrangements, so suspension is gratis to the  
user at the point of service. This has been proven to be a highly  
successful strategy for health improvement.


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