Health Care: The New American Sadism - NYRB
http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2013/apr/02/new-american-sadism/Put simply, Brill says, these bills tell us there’s no free market in our healthcare system, that hospitals set their rates knowing that someone in pain or in fear for his or her life is not going to ask to see the price list first before agreeing to some test or treatment. It’s no wonder that 60 percent of our fellow Americans who file for personal bankruptcy each year do so because of medical costs.
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Today, when the acquisition of wealth, quickly and in large amounts, is admired above any other human endeavor, every medical emergency or catastrophic illness is seen as an opportunity for some to enrich themselves beyond their wildest dreams. It’s no wonder that our healthcare is so much more expensive than that of every other developed country in the world, where the costs are not only much lower, but people also live longer than we do. Unlike us, other countries have the peculiar notion that profit has no place in any situation in which the basic decencies that human beings owe to one another ought to be the first consideration, and for that reason regulate the cost of lifesaving drugs and operations. In other words, they are less greedy than we are and far more humane.
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In the past, even the most venal among our politicians would now and then show that they have hearts. No more. Now that money rules politics more than ever before and those for whom private gain outweighs public good every time fill the coffers of both political parties, any mention of the plight of the sick, the homeless, and the old borders on political suicide. Polls show that most Americans do not quite share the callousness of our political class to the suffering of the less fortunate members of our society. But some do. We all remember, I hope, the cheers that went up in the audience during the GOP’s presidential debate last spring in Tampa when Ron Paul, the libertarian candidate and former doctor, stated that he would let an uninsured man lying in a coma die without lifting a finger. “That’s what freedom is all about, taking your own risk,” he said. “This whole idea that you have to compare and take care of everybody…” at which point, a few members of the audience shouted “Yeah,” cutting off the congressman in mid-sentence.
This is the new face of American sadism: the unconcealed burst of joy at the thought that pain is going to be inflicted on someone weak and helpless. Its viciousness, I believe, is symptomatic of the way our society is changing. Everything from the healthcare industry, payday loans, and for-profit prisons to the trading in so-called derivatives, privatization of public education, outsourcing of jobs, war profiteering, and hundreds of other ongoing rackets all have that same predatory quality. It’s as if this were not their own country, but some place they’ve invaded in order to loot its wealth and fleece its population without caring what happens to that population tomorrow. The only interest these profit-seekers have in us is as cheap labor, cannon fodder for wars, and suckers to be parted with our money. If we ever have a police state here, I’ve been thinking, it won’t be because we’ve become fascists overnight, but because rounding up people and locking them up will be seen as just another way to get rich. If the hell that Jonathan Edwards and other Puritan divines described in such gruesome and graphic detail is still up and running, I hope that’s where many of them are headed for.
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everything old is new again 
mammogram. I told her that I couldn't afford treatment if the mammogram showed anything, so there was no point. I got the impression that she'd heard other patients say the same thing. 
And whether I would do the same thing if the situation were similar. I will certainly say that your friend had courage. Facing death would be something very hard to do.
But in thinking further about it, it would be very hard to watch one's financially devastated family try to survive after they exhausted their means. I don't think I could do that.
It makes me sick that your friend had to make this decision.
I hate capitalism. There has to be another way.
Cher
Stephen Harper is an Alberta Tory...somewhat of a Canadian equivalent to a Texas Republican, but not as extreme, I think?
However...he does not seem to be anywhere as extreme as George W. Bush or the Republican Party. Just thank God you don't have a Republican Party in Canada - it'd be redundant anyway, since you're a constitutional parliamentary monarchy/Commonwealth Dominion, not a republic!
And, after all, you've produced utterly brilliant musical artists over the years...Rush, Triumph, April Wine...all of which still remain firm top-spins in my CD collection. Of course, you've also produced the luminously lovely Tracy Spiridakos of NBC series Revolution (
), but that's another matter.
A big difference is the way our respective Governments are set up. There is very, very little accountability here, either for a President or (as now) a Congress that won't shit or get off the pot. You, at least, as an independent nation with a modified Westminster system, have a vote of no confidence option (as a "nuclear option" if nothing else) which is a check/balance we don't have. We also have the same person being Head of State and Head of Government, whereas with you Stephen Harper is just Head of Government and your Head of State is, of course, Queen Elizabeth II.
Mr Harper will come and go eventually, but Canada will still be there. I'm not sure this country can survive the Republican Party, Wayne LaPierre, Grover Norquist and Rush Limbaugh.
because at the rate I am paying it off, I will have to live another 100 years to pay it off in full.
I was in the hospital for 8 days in ICU in a strange city I was visiting at Thanksgiving. I had 2 life threatening conditions. Either one of them WOULD have killed me, without doubt, within 24 hours.
Response to ashling (Original post)
