Reflection and Kidder's Opinion

In the middle of chapter six, Kidder writes about Farmer's "knack for aphorism". An aphorism is a pity observation that contains a general truth, like "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Some aphorism's Farmer says are "Medicine is a social science, and politics is nothing but medicine on a large scale", "It is the curse of humanity that it learns to tolerate even the most horrible situations by habituation", "The physicians are the natural attorneys of the poor, and the social problems should largely be solved by them" and more. This really gives even more insight into Farmer's mysterious (and somewhat confusing) mind. He views the world like it's one big hospital, and everyone is either a patient or a doctor.

As for Kidder's Assumption, I cannot say that it is wrong. My mother always likes to counter me with a quote whenever I try to avoid chores but ask to go somewhere else: "If something's important to you, you'll find a way. If it's not, you'll find an excuse." I completely agree with Kidder and what he's saying. Personally, it annoys me when people think that just building awareness is enough of a sacrifice to help others. People who simply buy pink ribbons for breast cancer, or blue ribbons for anti-bullying, parade around like just building awareness for it counts. Why don't you donate money to breast cancer funds instead of the $2 you paid when you bought the bumper sticker for your car? Or maybe you should think twice before saying "that's retarded" as you take pity for those with learning disabilities?

Actions create reactions; if you want to stop anti-gay bullying, why don't you start with yourself and stop adding negativity to being gay when you say "oh that's so gay" or "you're gay". If you wanted to have people be more aware of people with learning disabilities, stop calling everything you don't like "retarded". If you wanted to help the people with nothing and no health care, you'd go donate money to those funds or maybe even go there and cure them all yourself. Because if you really want to change the world, or support a gay friend or family member, someone you know who's suffering with cancer, or maybe even support your brother or sister with a learning disability, you'd find a way--and not an excuse--to do it.