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So, a while back I talked about how the very nature of the role of government had changed, and we no longer found ourselves in a democracy, but a corporate feudal state, ruled completely by a fiscal aristocracy. I didn't get much response from that, and no one seems to really believe it has really gotten to that point, so I guess it is time to rouse some rabble. Luckily, all I ever have to do is turn on the news, and I am provided with plenty of grist for the mill. I could go on about the $23 trillion we are giving the Wall Street crowd, but honestly I think people have become so desensitized to massive corporate welfare that numbers like that just cause them to shrug. Their health and well-being though, that is something people still seem to care at least a little about, which is why the latest story so jumps out at me. Now, everyone knows that Swine Flu vaccine is in short supply, but what most people don't know is that the reason your grandmother, child or half the state of California can't get any, is because the big firms on Wall Street are more important than you. Here's how it works. While the government is having a hard time getting enough of the vaccine that they paid to develop for the normal citizenry, and the Center for Disease Control is advising that only those at risk should be vaccinated, Goldman Sachs was given 200 doses, Morgan Stanley received 1,000 doses and Citigroup has received 1,200 doses, before the vaccine had even made it to hospitals! What is even more incredible, is that these doses were given to them by their state government. Of course, everyone has become so inured at this point to the idea that in modern society that you are either rich or you are garbage that I doubt even this will shock some. However, stop and think about this for a moment. Your tax dollars went to fund the development of a vaccine, which by the way is actually owned by a private company, even though you paid for it to be researched, and then when they finally start producing it, they can't keep up with demand. Since they can't keep up with demand, the federal government gives an allotment to each state, with instructions that it only be given to at risk patients. When those doses get to New York, the state government decides that the richest financial institutions are more 'at risk' than the patients of hospitals, pediatricians, and geriatrics specialist, all on your dime. |
