Sick sad world

Vol. 56

In This Issue: ESSAY | NOW READ THIS | TAKE ACTION | FINAL FRAME

When I was a sophomore in high school, my mother died. Maybe a year later, my father, drowning in medical debt from her multi-year health struggles, was forced to declare bankruptcy.

My dad didn’t fill me in on many of the details, but I remember that credit card debt and spiraling interest on that debt was the main culprit. Despite having “decent” health insurance and a modest, middle class salary through his job as the minister of a Presbyterian congregation, he’d needed to pay many of my mom’s medical bills out of pocket. And they were substantial.

Mom had been in and out of the hospital for several years, first for a recurring cyst and then infections and brain damage that resulted from treatment. There had been stints in rehabilitation facilities, and a months-long stay in intensive care toward the end of her life. Turns out, that shit is expensive. Especially when you live in these United States of America.

I found out some time later that the fungal infection that caused so much of the trouble was likely the result of a contaminated batch of stents, one of which had been implanted in her head to help prevent the cyst from coming back again. The hospital and doctors hid this information from us and many other families, (rightly) fearing lawsuits.

It’s entirely possible that my mom’s death was caused by the contaminated stent. It makes the hundreds of thousands of dollars of medical debt, and the life-altering bankruptcy that resulted, not just heartbreaking but infuriating.

I can definitely point to the whole episode as a radicalizing event in my life. I remember thinking at the time, “If the person receiving treatment ends up dying, all related costs/debt should be automatically voided.” Since then, I’ve learned enough to expand that into a firm belief that no one should ever have to worry about costs when it comes to seeking and receiving health care, full stop.

It seems like we’re now living through a national moment of radicalization on health care. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say that such radicalization has been on a slow-but-growing-rage that’s been fully unleashed by Recent Events. In the wake of the shooting death of the CEO of one of the biggest (and arguably worst) health insurance companies, the reactions from the general public have offered a stark and often angry contrast to the hand-wringing platitudes of our corporate and political “elites.”

I understand the overwhelming lack of surprise by regular people over what’s happened. I understand the outrage at the death of one CEO being decried far more loudly by the powers that be than has ever been done for those thousands of people he was at least partially responsible for harming or killing through his greed.

Still, I can’t and won’t personally condone vigilante murder. First, because killing someone doesn’t solve the larger systemic issues at hand (despite so much of our media insisting that there is, for example, a Patriarchy the Man, whose vanquishing will save the day in one fell swoop). Second, sitting on our hands and expecting other people to act to make change on our behalf never really works out well, and often means relying on people who resort to violence to achieve change. Much as I can understand why and how such tactics come to feel like the only resort, violent revolutions have a very strong tendancy to lead to violent and authoritarian rule. No thanks!

But that means we all have to play a part in making non-violent revolution a reality, and stop dismissing and/or demonizing the various non-violent movements for being “too extreme.” I highly recommend reading this essay by Elad Nehorai for more on this line of thought. In it, he notes:

A society cannot sustain this level of inequality combined with state repression of nonviolence without some of those who want revolution turning violent. And the longer it continues, the worse and more popular the violence becomes.

…If those who think the murder was wrong want to prevent more such violence and more broadly prevent a violent revolution, they have to commit to nonviolent revolution.

…Yes, revolution is inevitable. But the revolution you choose matters more than ever. And nonviolence is and always will be not only an option, but the most viable and effective one.

Fixing our healthcare system, which is the most expensive with the worst outcomes in the developed world, isn’t the only reason for a non-violent revolution, but it is a good one.

Americans owe somewhere around $220 million in medical debt, with approximately 66% of bankruptcies caused at least in part by health care costs. That percentage has remained about the same since the Affordable Care Act went into effect, too.

Further, as of 2021 health care spending accounted for 18.3% of the U.S. economy. The health insurance industry makes exorbitant profits off denying needed coverage and taking advantage of government subsidies. UnitedHealth Group, recently in the news after its former CEO was shot dead in the street, is the largest by far, with 15 percent market share and some $23 billion in profits last year alone. They’re also notorious for having the highest rate of claims denial in the industry, at 1-in-3. There’s currently a lawsuit against the company for alleged use of an AI model to manage claims that apparently has a 90% error rate.

As of 2023, the CEOs of the five largest health insurers made roughly $75 million dollars combined in annual compensation. Meanwhile:

Patients are grappling with ever-increasing health care costs. Spending on private health coverage is set to exceed $1.5 trillion this year, according to the nonpartisan U.S. Government Accountability Office. At the same time, the quality of U.S. health care is deteriorating, based on increasing mortality rates, premature deaths, disability levels, and other measures.

So yeah, a lot of us are sick and tired of being sick and tired, and growing angrier with the status quo by the day. This transcends party lines and “culture wars.” Just about everyone is or knows someone who has had to ration medication, delay or outright never seek care, and/or go into significant debt to pay for needed care. If there’s one thing that unites us as Americans, it is this.

Let this radicalize you. Not to support more vigilante murders, but to channel our very understandable rage and heartbreak into sustained action to force the powers that be to bow to the will (and health/housing/food needs) of the people. I hope we harness this moment for something better.

The whole thing makes for good folk songs, at least:

Now Read This.

“The future as a contested space” [Margaret Killjoy at Birds Before the Storm]

The future, our future, is unwritten, but we know how to write. We will write that future together. If we’re all aboard that ship, cast about by the winds, we know how to rig the tack or row the oars or whatever (again, I’m not a sailor). We sail our way through the storm by doing what we know how to do best: we take care of each other. We build and reinforce structures of mutual aid. We refuse despair. We stubbornly look at the situations around us and determine how best to act, collectively or individually, to move the ship in the right direction.

“Sydney Sweeney and Evaluative Aggression” [Noah Berlatsky at Everything is Horrible]

…to tell Sweeney and other women that their images and their bodies are not primarily about the women those images and bodies are attached to. Instead, evaluative aggression performatively insists that women’s bodies, and their existence in public space, is primarily about the pleasure, the attention, and the affect of men. It’s a kind of variation on Linda Mulvey’s gaze theory, except that instead of a film urging men to identify with (imaginary) male protagonists gazing on and possessing (imaginary) women, evaluative aggression creates a community of (unfortunately real) men who egg each other on to gaze on, and therefore possess, real women who dare to exist (or be visible) in the public sphere.

The Supreme Court Won’t Save Us — It Was Founded to Defend White Supremacy [Claudia Garcia-Rojas for truthout]

Instead of pushing merely to expand the Supreme Court by adding more justices, we should strip it of its authority by shrinking its jurisdiction and its outsized power over our lives.

“Never Forgive Them” [Edward Zitron at Where’s Your Ed At?]

You are the victim of a con — one so pernicious that you’ve likely tuned it out despite the fact it’s part of almost every part of your life. It hurts everybody you know in different ways, and it hurts people more based on their socioeconomic status. It pokes and prods and twists millions of little parts of your life, and it’s everywhere, so you have to ignore it, because complaining about it feels futile, like complaining about the weather.

Take Action.

Download and use the Deportation Defense Manual: “The purpose of this manual is to provide information, resources and a guide to create a plan of action to protect targeted communities against hyper enforcement perpetuated by ICE (“la Migra”). It is important to remember when we act together, we have the power to protect one another even when immigration laws and agents do not respect our community.”

Donate to the Holiday Solidarity Gift Drive by Moms United Against Violence and Incarceration (one day to go)! The drive offers crucial relief for families grappling with the financial hardships of having a loved one incarcerated—from the loss of parental income or the costs of visitation, communication, and commissary support.

Tell President Biden to commute the sentences of everyone on death row before Trump takes office!

Bystander Intervention for the Holidays - download a PDF of basic tips and tricks about how to intervene in shitty family and friend interactions this holiday season, courtesy of RightToBe.org (FYI they also offer regular free online trainings on bystander intervention and other safety techniques).

Final Frame.

Billie Jean wishes you a cozy life.

‘Til Next Time.

I hope you stay safe and warm this holiday season. Take care of each other. Free Palestine.