Where Did That Come From?

It’s the proverbial chicken or egg kind of question. Where does general acceptance by a large group of people come from? For example, I don’t find any widespread support for making law enforcement or fire protection for-profit enterprises. The inherent problems with cops and firefighters keeping their eyes on the bottom line so that shareholders realize a profit stand out like a sore thumb, absurdly so. And yet, when it comes to the public health and well-being of American citizens, this is just what we’ve done. Can it really be argued that a sick person is in no greater need of public service than a victim of theft or fire? Oh, yes, there’s for-profit property and casualty insurance to cover material losses, but would we really stand for a call to 911 being qualified by whether or not we’re insured before the police or fire department are dispatched? So where did we come up with the idea that giant, multi-national corporations profit from disease and injury? Joe Klein offers one plausible explanation in his essay, Will Special Interests Stymie Health-Care Reform? I encourage you to read it, and then to ask yourself how much longer we’re going to allow selfish, greedy corporations to profit from our humanness.