reunion 3: the social/structural determinants of health [2/15/20]

welcome back to our 2-part special on the medical-industrial complex... part 2. today #1 returns to center an important piece of modern propaganda - the individualisation of struggle - which tells us that our choices alone determine our future, while ignoring the collective economic shitstorm of society that plays a much bigger role in the poisoning of our social relationships in general. how do we understand the improvement of society as an intersectional, collective struggle? a struggle based on individual needs, but more fundamentally class, as well as identity? how do we connect health justice with other societal goals like housing justice? the women's movement or queer liberation? reproductive justice? black, brown, and indigenous emancipation? capitalism is an economic system that gives rise to certain political structures and social/cultural formations. it digs its claws into every aspect of our world to make money and commodity the primary endpoints of human life rather than mutual aid and cooperation across our planet. it divides people based on constructed differences of class, race, gender, sexuality, or citizenship status, people who are otherwise like-minded and want the same things: safety and prosperity for themselves, their families, and humanity. it is an economic system that creates leisure for the few and suffering for the rest; and while privatized healthcare is merely one way this suffering is extended to the masses, it interacts with many other sectors of society like education or food or child care to create the perfect storm of exploitation. we cannot interpret anything in a vacuum because it's all connected - just like each and every one of us, no matter how alienated we all sometimes feel from each other. us.reunion.now@gmail.com episode art by @toosphexy on instagram follow us on instagram: @reuniondocs