This reading, especially concerning Diane and her very unfortunate health situation, hit a very personal level for me. I completely empathize, and see everyday people whom are struggling to pay their healthcare bills or neglect to attempt to receive health care at all. Yes, this is often due to the ‘overcrowding’ affect referred to in the reading. All too often, as the authors said, insurance companies pull in the healthiest, wealthiest patients, and push out those who may be more at risk. It seems Diane’s tragic story is only one of thousands in the United States, health issues are prolonged and worsened because of austerity and a lack of trust in our medical system. Where there is only debt and misuse and unfair treatment, there cannot possibly be healing. For as the conclusion read, first as an economic and political body, we must strive to do no harm.
The striking rates at which suicide and homelessness jumped with unemployment and austerity was also alarming. However, I was rather inspired by Sweden’s ALMP’s and Finland’s drive to destroy homelessness. It is these initiatives that give the United States, and other struggling health care countries, the inspiration to reach for a healthier tomorrow. Because, if one thing rang true more than anything in this reading, the people must come first. Without our people at the forefront of our concerns, our economic austerity will do even more to plunge citizens, and this country, farther into debt and joblessness.
One bit in the reading that quite surprised me was the West Nile Virus outbreak in California. This outbreak shows the trickle down effects of austerity on that state and the overall health of its people. Citizens were losing their jobs, their homes had to be foreclosed, and their uncleaned pools became nesting grounds for infectious misquitos. The path is so clear, yet the results were incredibly disastrous.
Finally, if we are to become a body economic and move and live together in harmony, we must end budget cuts that are poisoning our citizen body’s peace of mind. Without jobs and homes, we cannot hope to move forward creating new ideas or inventing new scientific techniques. And if the future of our country is important, than we need to seriously start reevaluating our monetary spending as a government.
The Body Economic Prt 3
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“Without jobs and homes, we cannot hope to move forward creating new ideas or inventing new scientific techniques.”
If I could quote that and put it in a book I would. It seems like the overall goal of budget cuts and other comparable business procedures is not to move the company or city forward, but instead to make sure the balance of power remains where it needs to be and the hands that hold the money remain remain happy.