Doctor: You.
Patient: Human.
Symptoms: Apathy, corruption, discrimination, exploitation, failure, greed, ineptitude, memory-loss, short-sightedness, too many to list.
Diagnosed Affliction: Human nature.
Prognosis: Incurable, but discomfort can be minimized and a satisfactory standard of living be maintained with treatment.
Treatment: Liberal democracy?
Notes: Advise patient and discuss acceptable treatment options.
The ensuing phenomenon here is this: if the treatment does not work, the answer from the believers is that we need an even stronger dose of the same!!!
This tendency has certainly been observed for tax cuts in the USA, the ‘surge’ in Iraq, etc.
I would just like to point out that the correct symbol for medicine is the rod of Asclepius, with only one serpent.
“The caduceus is sometimes used as a symbol for medicine or doctors (instead of the rod of Asclepius) even though the symbol has no connection with Hippocrates and any association with healing arts is something of a stretch;[11] its singularly inappropriate connotations of theft, commerce, deception and death have provided fodder for academic humor”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus
So…within the context of this post…ironic…or not? ;)