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Is Phoenix the Next Silicon Valley?
SpicyBrownMustard writes "There's no secret to a rising level of 'Silicon Valley fatigue' lately, and the new reality show certainly isn't helping. And with hacker hostels packing in twenty somethings fueling the 'it's okay to fail' incubator culture that now is actually hurting startups, it's no wonder weariness with the culture is setting in. Forbes.com asks the question: Is Phoenix The Next Silicon Valley? The article covers a startup with a couple names you might know, who picked Phoenix due to its much lower cost of living and different quality of life. The startup's CTO, 'explains that having so much more financial freedom lowers the stress associated with working for a startup, as he can enjoy work/live balance.' Their location certainly didn't hurt fundraising, as they managed $2 million in seed capital. Are we indeed moving on from Silicon Valley for tech startups?"
This is a myth perpetuated by people who pull reasons out of hats and other dark orifices to empty your wallet. If any of this smoke had even a passing hint of reality to it, we would be seeing a global pattern that would bear this out. Such a pattern is embarrassingly absent. Here's what is present,
Americas spend more for medicine than any people on the planet; per capita: $7,146, as a percentage of GDP: 15.2%
Our life expectancy is 42 (50th for new borns) in the world falling behind Cuba and Chile, Our child mortality rate is one of the highest in the industrialized world.
The WHO rated American medicine over all at 72 of 191, being beaten by Mexico, Sri Lanka and Uraguay, but tied in a dead heat with Surinam.
Medical care is the number 1 reason for bankruptcy being a a significant cause in 46.2% and mentioned in 62.1% of all bankruptcies.
The United States is one of only 3 industrialize countries (the other two being Mexico and Turkey) on the planet that failed to cover virtually all of their citizens (at least 98.4%) with complete medical coverage. As a result, a 2009 Harvard study reported that 44,900 American's die needlessly every year due to lack of access to affordable medical care.
We have a ridiculous run away malpractice problem, for profit hospitals that have no problem charging $10 for an antacid tablet that costs less than a penny, semiprivate hospital rooms that can cost $20,000 a day, doctors charging $250 for a 30 second visit, pharmaceutical companies who no longer produce useful drugs, but keep pumping out analogues of prior cash cow meds to keep drug patents and fat profits coming, while at the same time moving heaven and earth to sabotage and undermine the generic drug industry, and a greedy insurance system that gladly spins the whole disaster on and on as it take ever fatter slices for itself. This is the picture of an industry rife with greed, gluttony, payola, bribery and an utter disregard for human life or dignity.
Anyone who thinks for a moment that this industry doesn't need to be regulated within an inch of its existence, has no clue to the depth and breath of the depravity that has been visited on the American people. It has passed being a bad joke, its beyond obscene, it is now a full on tragedy, a national shame, an indictment of our system of enterprise and government. It is a blight on our children and nothing less than beating it back into a not for profit service designed to protect and promote the health and well being of PEOPLE is an acceptable answer.