New Rule: Not Everything in America Has to Make a Profit

How about this for a New Rule: Not everything in America has to make a
profit. It used to be that there were some services and institutions so
vital to our nation that they were exempt from market pressures. Some
things we just didn't do for money. The United States always defined
capitalism, but it didn't used to define us. But now it's becoming all that
we are.

Did you know, for example, that there was a time when being called a "war
profiteer" was a bad thing? But now our war zones are dominated by private
contractors and mercenaries who work for corporations. There are more
private contractors in Iraq than American troops, and we pay them generous
salaries to do jobs the troops used to do for themselves -- like laundry.
War is not supposed to turn a profit, but our wars have become boondoggles
for weapons manufacturers and connected civilian contractors.

Prisons used to be a non-profit business, too. And for good reason -- who
the hell wants to own a prison? By definition you're going to have trouble
with the tenants. But now prisons are big business. A company called the
Corrections Corporation of America is on the New York Stock Exchange, which
is convenient since that's where all the real crime is happening anyway.
The CCA and similar corporations actually lobby Congress for stiffer
sentencing laws so they can lock more people up and make more money. That's
why America has the world;s largest prison population -- because actually
rehabilitating people would have a negative impact on the bottom line.

Television news is another area that used to be roped off from the profit
motive. When Walter Cronkite died last week, it was odd to see news anchor
after news anchor talking about how much better the news coverage was back
in Cronkite's day. I thought, "Gee, if only you were in a position to do
something about it."

But maybe they aren't. Because unlike in Cronkite's day, today's news has
to make a profit like all the other divisions in a media conglomerate.
That's why it wasn't surprising to see the CBS Evening News broadcast live
from the Staples Center for two nights this month, just in case Michael
Jackson came back to life and sold Iran nuclear weapons. In Uncle Walter's
time, the news division was a loss leader. Making money was the job of The
Beverly Hillbillies. And now that we have reporters moving to Alaska to
hang out with the Palin family, the news is The Beverly Hillbillies.

And finally, there's health care. It wasn't that long ago that when a kid
broke his leg playing stickball, his parents took him to the local Catholic
hospital, the nun put a thermometer in his mouth, the doctor slapped some
plaster on his ankle and you were done. The bill was $1.50, plus you got to
keep the thermometer.

But like everything else that's good and noble in life, some Wall Street
wizard decided that hospitals could be big business, so now they're run by
some bean counters in a corporate plaza in Charlotte. In the U.S. today,
three giant for-profit conglomerates own close to 600 hospitals and other
health care facilities. They're not hospitals anymore; they're Jiffy Lubes
with bedpans. America's largest hospital chain, HCA, was founded by the
family of Bill Frist, who perfectly represents the Republican attitude
toward health care: it's not a right, it's a racket. The more people who get
sick and need medicine, the higher their profit margins. Which is why
they're always pushing the Jell-O.

Because medicine is now for-profit we have things like "recision," where
insurance companies hire people to figure out ways to deny you coverage when
you get sick, even though you've been paying into your plan for years.

When did the profit motive become the only reason to do anything? When did
that become the new patriotism? Ask not what you could do for your country,
ask what's in it for Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

If conservatives get to call universal health care "socialized medicine," I
get to call private health care "soulless vampires making money off human
pain." The problem with President Obama's health care plan isn't socialism,
it's capitalism.

And if medicine is for profit, and war, and the news, and the penal system,
my question is: what's wrong with firemen? Why don't they charge? They
must be commies. Oh my God! That explains the red trucks!