For-profit pandemic testing
After it was widely reported that Tom Hanks and his wife were able to simply walk into a clinic in Australia with the symptoms of a common cold and instantly get a coronavirus test – which was positive – Americans are beginning to ask out loud, “Why can’t we get tested?“
Because $$$, that’s why. Which is more important, people’s survival or more money for Trump and his goons?
Silly question.
According to President Obama‘s Ebola Czar (last night on Rachel Maddow‘s show), Ron Klain, Trump “privatized“ the testing here in the United States. Instead of taking the World Health Organization (WHO) test kits which are cheap and widely available all over the planet, and having them distributed across the country back in December, or January, or February when we knew this disease was spreading in the United States, Klain said that Trump has outsourced the testing to two big American companies, Quest and Labcorp. Trump’s head of HHS, Alex Azar, is the guy who doubled the price of insulin when he was CEO of Eli Lily company. Do he and Trump owns stock in these testing companies? Why are we refusing to accept the WHO test that the entire rest of the world is using?
Because there is money to be made. Nothing can be allowed to interfere with that.
Jeezis H. Charrrist.!..(….would hope you are wrong, but would know otherwise.)
Also relevant:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/15/america-public-health-system-coronavirus-trump
Sorta figures:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/mar/15/coronavirus-latest-updates-trump-tests-negative-as-spain-orders-nationwide-lockdown-uk-us-australia-italy-europe-global-economy?page=with:block-5e6dee8b8f085e564ad84631#block-5e6dee8b8f085e564ad84631
I am reminded of some lyrics…
As the reasons for the carnage cut their meat and lick the gravy
We oil the jaws of the war machine and feed it with our babies
[…]
As the madmen play on words and make us all dance to their song
To the tune of starving millions to make a better kind of gun
– Two Minutes to Midnight, Iron Maiden
The song was all about the profiteering surrounding war, but is very applicable to profiteering off a pandemic. In either case, we see money valued over life.
The president of our college told the local newspaper that the faculty was preparing for closing if it should be needed, but he thinks it is unlikely it will be needed.
United States of Ostrich.