Up until now most of my time since my truck incident has been spent interacting within the health system. I am patient and passenger, client and customer. All the people I deal with are there, directly or indirectly, to help me recover. Of course they have their own agendas. They have targets and timetables. They have systems and processes. There are policies and procedures - thousands of them. They have objectives and appraisals, supervision and exams. They have bosses and minions, students and professors. Sometimes they have dramas, other times its more humdrum. They have celebrations and personal tragedies.
Despite of and because of all of this I am making progress. I have come to understand the system, the systems within systems, the idiosyncrasies and madness, the friendliness and occasional heartlessness. And of course, I am now an integral part of the system - no patients - no medical teams - no passengers - no transport.
And just as I begin to understand the health system, I have to add in the justice system. It is the justice system that will determine any compensation for my injuries and associated suffering and losses. But this is a whole new ball game. Here my understanding stems only from the study of justice and philosophy. It comes from Rawls and Hume and Plato. Hypothetical veils of ignorance and Socratic conversations some two thousand years ago. The more recent occasional chat with a community policeman hasn't led to many insights.
My road to potential compensation is unlikely, though, to involve desultory conversation about justice as fairness or justice as doing no harm. Rather, it will involve the police, lawyers, insurance companies, the court system, independent medical checks, and god knows what else. Unlike the health system, not everyone will necessarily be 'on my side'. Because of course there is more than one party in my truck incident. And most frustrating of all, I wont be able to write about it.
You can challenge me on this if you like - but for some reason it feels inappropriate to write it down and 'publish' it. Not safe somehow. Not that there isn't a story in it - quite the opposite in fact. But it comes at a time when the role of the state is being questioned in relation to personal data. And a time when the balance between liberty and safety (from terrorist acts) is resulting in strange decisions. There is a loss of confidence by some communities in the institutions who are supposed to protect us and keep us safe.
So, if you want to hear how its going with me and the justice system, you'll have to drop in for a coffee, or take me for a cake. I'll tell you stories that will make the hairs on the nape of your neck stand on end. And when its all over, at least two years away as I understand, I'll give you my definition of justice, as it happened to me. Socrates, I imagine, will turn in his grave.
Despite of and because of all of this I am making progress. I have come to understand the system, the systems within systems, the idiosyncrasies and madness, the friendliness and occasional heartlessness. And of course, I am now an integral part of the system - no patients - no medical teams - no passengers - no transport.
And just as I begin to understand the health system, I have to add in the justice system. It is the justice system that will determine any compensation for my injuries and associated suffering and losses. But this is a whole new ball game. Here my understanding stems only from the study of justice and philosophy. It comes from Rawls and Hume and Plato. Hypothetical veils of ignorance and Socratic conversations some two thousand years ago. The more recent occasional chat with a community policeman hasn't led to many insights.
My road to potential compensation is unlikely, though, to involve desultory conversation about justice as fairness or justice as doing no harm. Rather, it will involve the police, lawyers, insurance companies, the court system, independent medical checks, and god knows what else. Unlike the health system, not everyone will necessarily be 'on my side'. Because of course there is more than one party in my truck incident. And most frustrating of all, I wont be able to write about it.
You can challenge me on this if you like - but for some reason it feels inappropriate to write it down and 'publish' it. Not safe somehow. Not that there isn't a story in it - quite the opposite in fact. But it comes at a time when the role of the state is being questioned in relation to personal data. And a time when the balance between liberty and safety (from terrorist acts) is resulting in strange decisions. There is a loss of confidence by some communities in the institutions who are supposed to protect us and keep us safe.
So, if you want to hear how its going with me and the justice system, you'll have to drop in for a coffee, or take me for a cake. I'll tell you stories that will make the hairs on the nape of your neck stand on end. And when its all over, at least two years away as I understand, I'll give you my definition of justice, as it happened to me. Socrates, I imagine, will turn in his grave.
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