Fast Food, Chronic Diseases, and the Capitalist Business of Our Health
EL SALVADOR, October 7— “The health of the working class is shaped by the capitalist system. While millions of us work long hours for wages that barely cover our basic needs, large fast-food chains and manufacturers of ultra-processed foods flood the market with cheap, readily available products, placing them within easy reach of us, the workers,” said C.
“The problem isn’t simply that a worker buys a hamburger or a sugary drink. The contradiction lies in a system where it is often easier and cheaper to consume processed food than to have consistent access to healthy food, which only a portion of the population can afford,” commented A.
Why is food that can make us sick accessible to us, while healthy eating becomes increasingly difficult? This is a question for workers to discuss.
“Diseases linked to excessive consumption of sugar, fat, and sodium are associated with obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure. These diseases also create markets. When a worker gets sick, it leads to doctor’s visits, medications, tests, treatments, and hospitalizations. Health ceases to be merely a human need and becomes a space where profits are made, while the consequences fall on our families,” concluded D.
And what is happening in El Salvador?
DoctorSV is presented by the government as a public telemedicine tool to treat, among other conditions, diabetes, and hypertension. The program includes technology, staff, medications, tests, and other components, as well as the contracting of specialized services and external networks, including pharmacies and clinical laboratories.
This opens up a debate. The issue is not simply whether a service is public or private. Under capitalism, both private companies and public institutions operate within a system that prioritizes profitability and the accumulation of wealth over the needs of the working class.
When companies seek profits at the expense of our needs and public resources may end up propping up businesses and contracts, we workers continue to pay the price. We do not need reforms that attempt to humanize a system based on exploitation. Nor do we need companies that profit from our health. We need a communist society, free from capitalist exploitation, where the wealth and services we produce are organized to meet the needs of the masses and not to enrich a minority.
That is why we must ask: How are public resources used? Who manages the services, and who ultimately benefits financially from our healthcare needs?
El Salvador National Hospital was established as a public institution. It offers services such as clinical laboratory testing and radiology. The discussion should not be reduced to a public versus private debate, but rather to how society’s resources are organized and whether they truly meet the needs of the working class.
“If the government can allocate resources to health care, why not direct those resources primarily toward strengthening infrastructure, workers, and health services?” asked one worker.
Capitalism turns our needs into commodities and can transform their consequences into new markets. Why does a society that possesses the resources and knowledge to prevent many diseases allow our basic needs to become opportunities for profit?
In a communist society, the health of the working class would not be organized around profit. Accessible, healthy food, clean water, decent housing, time to rest, safe working conditions, and adequate health services must be rights for all, not businesses for the few.
“How much money does a chronic illness that could have been prevented generate?”
This question reveals a contradiction: the working class produces wealth, but different sectors can accumulate profits off our basic needs: food, housing, health care, and medicine.
“Capitalist theft doesn’t just happen when they directly take our wages away. It also happens when the wealth we produce is used to sustain businesses while our needs remain unmet,” said F.
“We need to put a stop to this theft. We workers must discuss, organize, and fight for a communist society where production and services are aimed at satisfying human needs and not at enriching a minority,” concluded A.
The working class produces food, builds hospitals, keeps factories running, and keeps society functioning. We, the masses, have the power to transform this reality. Let’s organize with the ICWP and fight for a communist revolution.
Red Flag calls on our readers to discuss these contradictions in their workplaces, communities, and collectives: Who controls the wealth we produce? Who benefits from our illnesses? Why are our needs turned into business opportunities?
Health is not a commodity! The wealth we produce must serve the needs of the working class!