Grey Atlantic

I have stopped reading Atlantic Magazine.  Actually, I stopped about eight months ago.  Megan McCardle is one of the reasons.  Kate Flannigan is another reason.  And Ben Witte.  And the fact that the articles have turned become too short to say much (which might be good given that the writers are saying much less).  I should note, however, that the magazine has gained readers I believe, so losing the likes of me has improved the economics of the magazine.

McCardle is a reason to stop reading Atlantic because she says things which are thoughtless, and over and over.  In one of her essays she argues that lack of medical insurance has no connection to mortality rates.  If this was true, it would be remarkable.  But it isn’t.  It is an example of not bothering to think about what is front of her.  If medical insurance has no effect on mortality, then a couple of other things follow, because for that to be true certain other things need to be true as well.  One of which is that medical insurance has no effect on access to medical care, or that medical care has no effect on mortality.  It cannot be that medical insurance has no connection to either of those alternatives.  We also know that Ms. McCardle thinks that medical care does affect mortality – she likes to whine about her insurer not wanting to fund her medical care.  Then there are her magically convenient conversations on buses. 

 

 

Comments

[Michael Drake]

I think she must ride the same buses that David Brooks does.

[T. Gracchus]

David Brooks on a bus? Not even when he was a student of the U of C.

[vibram five fingers]

If medical insurance has no effect on mortality, then a couple of other things follow, because for that to be true certain other things need to be true as well.