[Mpls] Giving Thanks, and

[Louise Bouta]

I enjoyed the messages from all of you on the 27th, as I always do when=20=

I get time to read them.
Especially from Dorie Rae Gallagher:
I stomp for Libraries, Education, and Honesty but most of all=20
Freedom...freedom to be who we are, freedom of speech and freedom of=20
open government.
LB: Glad to see that the freedom to be is Minneapolis-specific.
The freedom to be who we are should include the right to choose=20
whatever kind of health care we think will be helpful, even if one=20
person wants us to be disabled for life and be =93out of the way,=94 and=20=

even if we think different thoughts about politics, religion,=20
spirituality, life styles, or if we happen to be in poverty or a=20
profoundly depressed emotional state at the time.

This is no reason to force us into the =93mental health=94 system and =
take=20
our lives away.
````````````````````````
David Shove said on a different subject:
=93It's not Minnesota nice. It's hardball politics. You will be reviled=20=

and screamed at.=94
LB:  There is no group more reviled and just plain ignored until and=20
unless we can make money off them than those labeled =93mentally ill.=94=20=

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has long since been forced=20
to give up their proclamation that =93M I=94 is a =93brain disease.=94 =
They=20
can=92t show any xray, MRI, SCAN, or blood, hair or urine test which=20
indicates any medical  condition. The psychiatrists say -- before we=20
give them total control over other people  (not ourselves) -- =93You =
will=20
have to take =93medications=94 for life; you will be disabled all your=20=

life.=94

We don=92t need to make and keep people drug addicts for life.  We can=92t=
=20
even make it sound scientific any more. Why would we want to, anyway?

It may be time for some higher-level thinking. Why are we still=20
granting monopoly power to politicized medicine?  The experience with=20
Vioxx has now let everyone know that the pharmaceutical companies have=20=

been covering up the vast dangers of the drugs and that the FDA has=20
been covering up for big Pharma.
```
The following fable may be appropriate:

John Robbins, in Reclaiming Our Health, tells this story:  Once upon a=20=

time there was a large and rich country where people kept falling over=20=

a steep cliff.  They=92d fall to the bottom and be injured, sometimes=20
quite seriously, and many of them died.  The nation=92s medical=20
establishment responded to the situation by positioning a most=20
expensive ambulance fleet which would immediately rush those who had=20
fallen to modern hospitals where the latest technological wizardry was=20=

used.  No expense was too great, they said, when people=92s health was =
at=20
stake.
It occurred to several people to erect a fence at the top of the cliff.=20=

  They were ignored.  All of the people who worked in the medical=20
industry and those who made devices used in it and those who built=20
hospitals were against the idea.  They said, =93This is too complex and=20=

health is too important to be left in the hands of people who are not=20
experts.=94  When a few families who had lost loved ones tried to erect =
a=20
warning sign at the top of the cliff, they were arrested for=20
trespassing. =09
Much later on, it was decreed that those who had already broken both=20
arms and both legs in previous falls should exercise utmost caution=20
when falling.
Louise Bouta
Kingfield
Well Mind Association of Minnesota
4003 Pillsbury Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55409
612-823-8249
wellmindmn at earthlink.net
www.wellmindminnesota.org=