2023년 5월 21일 일요일 – Mountain View 생활 84주차

Gun Training

After the tragic accident in Texas, I was surprised by the fact that it was the 199th gun violence that happened in the US. In 2022, the estimated number of firearm death was 20,138. Even though the number is only 0.006% of the US population, this kind of crime never happens in Korea.

Due to its historical and cultural uniqueness, it’s impossible to prohibit guns in the US. Therefore, it might be better to learn how to protect ourselves from this crime. If possible, running away as much as possible is the best option. If I can’t avoid the scene, we should fight with the criminal to protect ourselves and our family.

Therefore, I enrolled in basic pistol training with my friends. The class was a 4-hour course that taught us how to carry, load, and fire a pistol safely. The gun range was just a field, and there was no safety wall to separate people. So, If some people decide, they can kill everyone in the field.

The Glock 19 was so handy that I felt I could fire it with one arm. The 35 magnum adopted by Korean Police has powerful recoil, and it’s hard to imagine firing it with one arm.

Anyway, the lesson was really basic. The distance between me and the target was merely 2 to 3 meters. I don’t think this drill was useful in practice because I’ll be shooting at targets from a distance. But it was an impressive experience only possible in the US.

Standup Comedy

Meta Comedy Club is one of my favorite Youtube channels that Korean comedians show standup comedies. Even though they actually didn’t do standup comedy. They hosted real standup comedians in some episodes. Even though we are not used to standup comedy, it interested me in the genre.

I searched some Youtube videos and realized I should learn about their culture to understand their comedy. It would take me time to understand their cultural context.

What I want

Whenever I think about the next step, I can’t figure out what I really want. I have yet to find out what I really want out of my many goals. Is it better to randomly choose one and never look back at others?

Money Market Fund

A lot of money is flowing into money market funds. I also opened a bank account that invests in money market funds. The FDIC protects deposits, and the interest rate is almost 5%. It’s a riskless way to profit more than the 0.1% interest for saving accounts. A possible risk might be the US government bankruptcy, but it’s less likely to happen.

Korean Medical System

The number of specialists in non-popular departments has decreased, and we have discussed this problem for a long time and have not concluded.

In the current healthcare system, non-popular departments exist because the government controls the price. Therefore, some treatments may result in a deficit. Furthermore, specialists hardly open their hospitals due to less demand.

However, the governments never consider making the price follow the control of the market. In Korea, medical service is a public good. Everyone can easily visit a hospital and pay less than 10$ for primary care. National health insurance supports this system. If the government tries to transfer this to private insurance, people will change the government.

But we know that this system is not sustainable in the future. We have to do something. Operating a public hospital can’t be a solution. A well-known example of this is a military hospital. Most people would choose a private hospital if asked whether to get surgery in a military or a private hospital. We only expect the minimum quality from the public service.

What if National Health Insurance reduces the coverage or deductible for non-critical cases? Then, it can pay more for critical services. Same for the emergency room. Recent news said that 90% of ER patients are mile cases. The government doesn’t need to pay for them. Also, the government should hospitalize drunken people. They have to pay for it with their own money.

I believe the problem never be solved. Politicians are all elderly, and they only care about the next election. The medical system will break down slowly, and we will face the situation after 20 years. At that time, they are either dead or about to die. So, they never take the responsibility. The sad thing is that all countries suffering from depopulation are facing this problem.