Is Capitalism Making You Sick? by Barbara Rubin

[Guest guest]

Is Capitalism Making You Sick? by Barbara Rubin

Americans are a funny group. Our arrival on these shores, originally

rooted in the search for religious freedom, led to concepts of an

entrepreneurial culture in which social strata were based upon success

rather than birthright. However, our industrial orientation has evolved

to the point where it can no longer be correctly referred to as

capitalism. A component of " gangsterism " , resulting from the successful

collusion among corporations and between government and business, has

diminished consumer

control of the marketplace. 'Demand' no longer regulates supply in an

era of subsidies for unsustainable businesses (e.g. agriculture) and

consumer ignorance of product quality due to incomplete and misleading

labels.

One holdover of our religious roots is the resigned acceptance by

Americans to the burdens of life's less pleasant aspects. This is

evidenced in the lack of overt response to our increasing rates of ill

health. Alternately viewed as a burden we are " meant " to bear or

evidence of our own faulty lifestyles and weak minds, we can be sure

such factors were not bred into us by our hardy forefathers. We have

failed to see the effects of the degradation of capitalism as an

inciting factor in our apparent acceptance of chronic illness and pain

as our heritage. Yet these are intimately related events.

We shudder to recall the black death, which claimed a quarter of

Europe's population. Yet we ignore the statistics of the Census Bureau

which tell us that one-fifth of American adults (16-64 years of age)

suffer chronic illness/disability. This alarming number does not include

the enormous numbers of disabled children born each year or account for

institutionalized adults, disabled military personnel and the elderly

infirm. Those additions raise that statistic to astronomical proportions

for a " modern " society.

The suffering of the multitudes is no longer heralded by a smell of

smoke, the squealing of rats and cries to " Bring out your dead. "

Instead, this photo's caption is written on tickertape stemming from

Wall Street's acknowledgement of health care as our fastest growing

industry, comprising 15% of the GNP. We are simply not that weak a

species and this explosion of allergies, cardiac and respiratory

ailments, chronic fatigue, cancers, autoimmune diseases and premature

central nervous system degeneration (e.g. Alzheimers) is recent in our

history. It does not appear attributable to living longer. We simply

live longer with our illnesses. Case after case of poisoned towns (e.g.

Anniston, Love Canal, Woburn) indicate the race is on to make Forest

Lawn our best selling realty company.

The reason for this is a decades-long, illicit affair between industry

and government. Industry provides the ads needed to whitewash the

reputation of that union's bastard child - preventable disease and

disability. Numerous administrations told us we possessed a free market

system which needs no regulation since capitalism is self-regulating: If

the product is no good, no one will buy it. This mistaken view of

capitalism as practiced in this country has actually destroyed our

health and, subsequently, the economy. We turn a blind eye to the fact

that nearly a third of our work force will experience disability PRIOR

to reaching retirement age and yet still expect the GNP to recover. We

also returned the spiritual outlook of a modern nation to a feudal

acceptance of suffering as either a normal state of being or a

by-product of a weak mind/soul which cannot purge itself of

self-destructive tendencies. Stress must be the author of all ills. Pass

the prozac please.

Industries band together to lobby for the right to keep toxic

ingredients off product labels under the guise of " trade secrets " . We

are not allowed to know what is in our fragrances (e.g. toluene),

pesticides (e.g. inert ingredients often more toxic than the active

ones), foods (e.g. fish DNA in our tomatoes introduced by means of a

viral carrier organism), building materials (e.g. formaldehyde in our

wood products), fertilizer (e.g. containing a large percentage of

industrial waste products permitted by law) and so forth. Industry

refrains from competing to make the best product possible, opting

instead for reducing competition by using similar quality of formulation

and relying upon price wars (and price fixing) to share the consumer

marketplace. Losses can be made up through government tax breaks,

creative bookkeeping and slashing salaries and benefits for workers. If

workers go out on disability, so much the better - more where they came

from. And don't forget the dead peasant's insurance policy.

Conventional farming only continues by virtue of subsidies, given the

expenses of GMO production costs in patented seeds and expensive

chemicals - not because " modern " farming is economical. Attempts to

educate the consumer and increase production of unadulterated food

yields harassment by the FDA and law suits by corporate giants. One must

not advertise foods as being free of GMOs lest one suggest to the

consumer that GMOs might be undesirable. Truth in labelling has become

an actionable offense in our economy and the US seeks redress for this

criminal truthfulness via the WTO in international arenas when Europe

bans or labels their US imports to reflect their higher standards. The

USDA has forbidden a meat producer from testing each head of their

cattle for Mad Cow Disease, even thought it would be at the company's

own expense. Foreign markets demand such care and would more than make

up the expense in paying custom to a good producer they could trust...a

basic capitalistic choice. No, says our government. What happened to

laissez faire policies?

The EPA warns us that indoor air quality is now our worst enemy with 2

to 5 times the concentration of contaminants than outdoor air supplies.

The pollutants are brought into our homes by ignorant consumers who

assume the EPA would not let sources of these contaminants remain on the

market to be brought into our homes. Denial becomes a way of life.

Genuine capitalism requires variety and true competition to create a

" better mousetrap " . Then consumer choice supports the superior

industries who can expand etc.. Capitalism was not intended to support a

huge trough from which all manufacturers can feed. Happy and heathy

consumers earning a decent wage are required to support the best

industries in a " trickle up " model of economics. This country is losing

its consumer base to poverty, illness and ignorance.

A dwindling tax base will not cover the costs of medical benefits for

those who cannot work and require housing vouchers, food stamps and

other supports. Social security/medicare was designed as a cushion for

the elderly with inadequate means for a lengthy retirement and to

sustain the disabled who lacked sufficient time to build up a retirement

nest egg. It was not meant to sustain a society where a third of us

cannot produce and another third has lowered productivity due to failing

health on their way to disability or retirement. The remaining third is

left to bear the burden of a country betrayed by empty promises of their

right to pursue life, liberty and happiness while their pension funds

are raided by CEOs who pay no taxes. Even Ayn Rand would be nauseated by

what passes for a " free " market under this system.

What is done to one is done to all in the final analysis, a fact well

known to the founding fathers. It is time to include the Bill of Rights

in our litmus test of commerce issues to insure that disease and

poisoning are recognized as impediments to the pursuit of life, liberty

and happiness. Full disclosure of product ingredients and corporate

structures is required to restore capitalism to its original checks and

balances...choice by consumers to support the best run companies with

the best product lines with their dollars.

Barbara Rubin

Freelance writer/former educator

disabled by pesticide poisoning

P.O. Box 80

Cos Cob, Ct 06807

Raisyl@...

516-669-1402