Hard of Hearing: Tens of Millions of Americans Still Don’t Get It—Capitalism and Health Care Don’t Mix

Cuba, of course, has it, since 1960, right after the revolution came to power, and sets world records for its high quality, surpassing the US and more developed nations in many critical aspects. Norway has a free healthcare policy dating back to 1912, Brazil also offers free healthcare for all its citizens, by constitutional guarantee.  As do just about all nations around the world, including Romania, Spain, France, the UK, Taiwan, China, Russia (both under the Soviet Union and now), Albania, Serbia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, India, and so on.  Even the Ukraine, a corrupt, zombie state, still has it inscribed in its Constitution as a basic right of all its citizens. (The war naturally has allowed crooks to make medical services completely erratic.)  Yes, access to medical services without financial qualification is viewed as an inherent human right around the globe. BUT—not in America. Well into the 21st century, the USA remains stubbornly the largest country without a universal healthcare system, although it boasts another dubious distinction, being the world's most expensive healthcare system, yielding mediocre results.  This simple fact implies incalculable suffering and frustration for millions.  Yet, as usual, all of this is unnecessary, since the folks who run this country never seem to have much trouble corraling a trillion dollars or two to dump on "defence."

So, the obvious and vexing question is, why doesn't the US have universal healthcare? The answer to that question is like the legendary elephant in the room. Everyone can see it, yet no one asks what the blazes it's doing there...The US, a country awash in massive deviousness, that has sprung full-fedged industries dedicated to professional lying, has loads of questions and answers like these, topics begging for attention and resolution, that are not frequently touched in "polite company,"  such precincts inhabited by people perfectly comfortable with a perverted status quo.

I put it to you, therefore (and I scarcely claim any originality), that the inability to connect the dots and take the necessary action is an induced disability, a mental impairment, a strange pessimism imposed on the US working population by over a century of deliberate and constant disinformation by the billionaires' media and their misleading agents in the political class. The facts speak loudly for themselves. It's clear to any decent and rational person that profit cannot be left in command of any part of a well-constructed healthcare system. That simple truth illuminates all areas of this vast and tightly-knit sector: hospitals, clinics, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, specialized centers, healthcare providers (doctors, nurses, allied health professionals), the entire pharmaceutical industry, all medical research and engineering, medical equipment manufacturing and provisioning, administration and oversight, etc., etc. At the end of the day, the ineluctable fact staring us in the face can be summed up in a single sentence: Delaying the implementation of a state-guaranteed health care system that regards health as a human right is a crime.—The Editor