[JohninCR]

For one, medical licenses are incredibly difficult to get....

Apparently you didn't pay close attention in school to the overall quality of those who were PreMed.
Avoid getting sick is my motto.

Many lives are saved & lost in the practice of medicine daily.  What exactly & specifically might readers gain in comparing a licensed medical physician's proper practice to the operation of a high-end audio business?  Barring a clear answer readers can safely assume the answer is "nothing", as was my original point. 

The original post was making the point that "business is business" isn't an acceptable attitude, with which I agree.  Your response included the inapplicable comment about how much more difficult it is to get a medical license, so I made a wise crack.  As far as comparisons go I'll made one for you...They're both overpriced, and my approach is to avoid them both.

[James Romeyn]

...When It comes time for your triple bypass surgery and your HMO starts giving you the stiff, yep there's someone in the board room saying:

What difference does any of this make? Business is business.  We'll choose the doctor we like or don't like...whatever the reason may be...

I hope you don't really need someone to list the life & death differences between buying a moderately high-expensive audio component & triple bypass surgery.  For one, medical licenses are incredibly difficult to get vs. a very easy occupancy permit to open a business importing audio equipment. 

The earlier poster compares HMO & triple bypass surgery to bad apples in the audio business.  It's relevant to point out that 6 to 8 years of full time school that costs $100k +, and literally physically painful testing is quite a bit easier than paying $50 for an occupancy permit to open an audio business. 

What exactly is not applicable to point out that the original comparison is ludicrous? 

[JohninCR]

The earlier poster compares HMO & triple bypass surgery to bad apples in the audio business.  It's relevant to point out that 6 to 8 years of full time school that costs $100k +, and literally physically painful testing is quite a bit easier than paying $50 for an occupancy permit to open an audio business. 

What exactly is not applicable to point out that the original comparison is ludicrous? 

OK if you insist.  His point was nothing about doctors.  It was about your HMO having a "business is business" attitude, so maybe you end up with a lesser doctor for your triple bypass, and how that attitude is wrong especially in businesses where customers generally lack a working knowledge to make an informed decision.  Your response was about as applicable as explaining Eminence's quality controls, when the topic is the unethical business practices of a speaker company that uses Eminence drivers in their speakers.  The original comparison was a hyperbole anyway, so let's just let it go.

[James Romeyn]

I very much appreciate your reply above. 

With all due respect, & in complete sincerity, please accept my pre-apology for adding more useless BS:

Obviously, for one given patient & one particular triple bypass surgery, there may be such a thing as the one best surgeon in the world.  But the buyer of an HMO policy has full prior knowledge before agreeing to the insurance that the chances of his surgeon being on the same playing field as the one performing the same procedure on Bill Gates or El Presidente are very very slim to none.  HMO's are given the opportunity to find the best & lowest rates for the customers, after choosing from a list of board-certified licensed M.D.'s to contract with to perform the surgery.  That's the exact nature of the business.  An HMO hiring an unlicensed person to perform surgery is guilty of a civil crime & probably criminal also.  Along these lines I am in favor of some type of online rating system for M.D.'s.

There is no such rating system for high-end.  We have only the UL listing, which certifies a component is unlikely to start a fire in normal use & nothing else.  And UL certification is not necessarily a legal requirement.  It might be required by an insurance carrier.  It may also be necessary to avoid being personally sued in the case of fire.  A person buying an audio component can go by only his own personal experience & the reputation of the store & manufacturer.  If you don't know shit about audio & you buy Levinson, you must, in any case I can imagine, have more money than brains.  The only people who know nothing about guitars, & who buy a Martin HD-28LSV or high-end Martin anything as their first guitar, are badly spoiled brats who don't deserve the instrument.  The sentence for being found guilty of the crime of getting burned by Levinson is to be forced to look in the mirror & say to oneself: Do better homework next time. 

I don't know the penalty for an HMO hiring an unlicensed individual to perform surgery, but it's a lot worse than the above.