Suffocating on Capitalism

I recently received  a Cpap machine to squelch my sleep apnea that I have had for over thirty years. This machine has eliminated my snoring that can rattle the glass right out of a New York City skyscraper. Needless to say, this has never made me popular for a sleep-over or for invitations to come and spend some time with friends or relatives.

Attributing to this breathing problem there are twenty years of smoking that finally left me at age forty with a touch of COPD. This was later complicated by bacterial pneumonia I acquired during a hospital out-patient procedure. The bacterial pneumonia almost did me in, and, thanks to a savvy lung specialist, I recovered, but with more loss of lung function. So, I rented an oxygen machine for sleeping at night. However, with the Cpap, the oxygen machine was no longer needed, since I cannot use both machines when I sleep.

When I called the oxygen machine provider and informed them I no longer needed their machine since I now had a Cpap, they informed me I would need my doctor’s permission for them to come and remove the machine which was costing me $20 a month in rent.

This corporate power play rankled me a little, and I— all but— insisted they come and remove the machine. This was when their corporate muscle revealed itself. They told me that if I mandated that they remove the machine without permission from my doctor, this service would not be available to me in the future. Why, of course, put a virtual gun to my head and shake me down. And all of this was done in the most pleasant professional manner.

Their justification for my doctor’s permission was to be sure I could do without the machine. When I explained I had seen this specialist just the month before, I did not feel it was necessary for his intervention, since I was not even using the machine. They disagreed and said the permission was necessary so the doctor would not be liable, which made no sense since I was the one having the machine removed, not the doctor. To me, this would mean time and a hefty $40 co-pay. Of course this corporate hospital factory was going to get its cut from this poor writer on disability at any cost (pun intended). Their attitude also said they had no regard for me or my wishes.

Where does all this lead, you may ask? It leads to a fundamental flaw in the way we live and do business in this country. We are a democracy first that happens to use the capitalist economic system, and not a capitalistic economic system that happens to use democracy.

A capitalistic economic system that uses a democracy is a cocktail for impending disaster that we have already felt the effects of. This is what you get with the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, the advent of Citizens United, in addition to the heavy-handed intervention of the Supreme Court in giving corporations personhood. This also explains why you and I, as We the people, are only a means to an end, with that end being yours and my accounts they can drain.

Copyright 2013 by Darian Land. All rights reserved.