Sonsabitches! (cont'd)

I was moved to take off on this tirade, already into its second day, by one particular phrase that just hit me like a punch in the jaw in the USA Today article. That phrase: "the end-of-life medical market." Have you ever seen anything so gross? Right there in that one phrase is the epitome of what's wrong with not only our health care system in the US, but what's mainly wrong with the US.


We have lost our souls, brothers and sisters. We have lost sight of any measurement of worth, value, importance that is not connected to money. Everything in this country has a price/profit margin. Everything in this country is there only to be exploited. It doesn't matter whether what we're talking about is animal, vegetable, or mineral. In fact, we don't live in a country. We live in a fucking market. That's how matters are measured. How is it that I cannot find anybody who is regularly speaking out against this falsehood? Everyone seems to accept a gigantic lie that was foisted upon this country decades ago by right wing ideologues. I.e., that "the market" is the arbiter of truth in human affairs. The care and feeding of "the market" is the only really significant human activity. The tea party fruitcakes are simply logical outgrowth of a mentality that can't see any further than the balance sheet. When the market speaks, we are bound to listen.


In this madcap universe, a repulsive notion like "the end-of-life medical market" is perfectly logical, perfectly understandable. People who are dying are simply another commodity to be bought and sold. But as the story underscored: the market is a snake pit of grifters, thieves, cheats, and bullies. Who is playing fair out there? Nobody. Everybody's on the make, on the take. That we have scumbags who are ripping off the government--and hence all the rest of us too--by cheating and lying about the care of the dying, well, is that really a surprise? That's the way it goes in this wonderful free market, in this country with the best health care in the world.

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• Study: UK's National Health System One Of The Best, Most Cost-Effective In Developed World...Maybe We Should Pay Attention (crooksandliars.com)