They got it wrong. To be fair, they were too close to the problem. They were so busy trying to figure out where the dots were supposed to be connected that they could not see the obvious.
The system worked exactly the way it is supposed to. Moreover, the majority of people like it that way.
I say that because Mental Health in the United States is run on the principle of a negative lottery.
In a positive lottery, lots of people pay in and only a few benefit. There are quite a few low level winners and then a very few jackpot winners.
But in a negative lottery nobody pays in and a few people pay the price. If you have mental health issues that limit your income or happiness, you can be considered a low level winner. If the pain becomes so unendurable that you check out early, then you are a jackpot winner. Of course if you are shot, stabbed, pushed in front of a train or otherwise crippled or killed by someone with mental health issues, well then, your a jackpot winner too.
I said before that people like it this way, and the proof will be in the actions that come from this tragedy. Will a single new psychiatist, psychologist or social worker be hired anywhere in the system? Will any new money go into treatment of people fighting their demons? I doubt it, the consensus seems to be that if there were more computers and information managers, potential shooters won't end up on campuses and there will be better alarm systems for when they somehow get there anyway.
No mention was really made about where the shooters will go instead. The shooter at Virginia Tech had been in and out of treatment for ten years before he finally gave in to the demons. I wonder sometimes how long I would last under similar circumstances. Have you ever wondered how long YOU could take it?
On the other hand, what are the odds that I specifically, will be a jackpot winner? Astronomical really. Why would I pay more taxes to deflect a fate I am unlikely to experience? Like I said, the system works just fine the way it is. There will be no rocking of the boat any time soon.
Of course, if I take my chances of being a mental health jackpot winner, and add that to my chances of being a collapsing-bridge jackpot winner, and add it to the uninspected/poisonous-food jackpot, it really starts to add up.
How many negative lotteries do I belong to?
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