We Are Not Just Victims; We Can Be Fighters for Communist Healthcare
If you want a preview of the deadly mayhem that will ensue when the capitalists decide to “open the economy,” just look at the hospital I work at. We’ve been living (and dying) under rules similar to the newly revised CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) policy.
My co-workers no longer self-quarantine for 14 days if they are exposed to Covid-19. If they are not dying on their feet, they are required to continue working. Completed tests are not required to get back to work, just some masks (if they are available) and daily temperature checks.
My co-workers call me every day. They tell me that they miss me, but I should stay away from the hospital. Every floor except one is “hot.” Over a hundred confirmed Covid-19 cases.
Who knows how many cases there actually are? The bodies are piling up.
The U.S. profit health care system has not only made it difficult to treat those with the virus, but workers who have other health care issues are not able to get the care they need. I am one of those workers.
I recently was told that I needed surgery to rule out a possible malignancy. They considered it emergent enough to schedule me. Nationwide no elective surgeries are being done, only emergencies.
Twenty-four hours before my surgery that changed. My surgery is now not considered an emergency. I could have to wait up to three months to get it.
I am not alone. Surgery for people who already have a cancer diagnosis is being postponed. Heart patients that need bypass surgery are being told by their doctors to stay in bed until they can schedule their surgery.
Epidemiologists call deaths that are caused by these kinds of delays “excess mortality.” It’s a huge, unrecorded number during medical crises like this pandemic.
Furthermore, I can’t enter the operating room if I test positive for Covid-19. That’s why my co-workers tell me to stay away. Despite two doctors’ affidavits that I am at high risk, the hospital hasn’t yet even granted me non-paid leave.
Many other healthcare workers face similar grim choices: lose their jobs or lose their health.
In another, better way, I am not alone. As soon as I get Red Flag, I pass it on to co-workers, family and friends. A relative of mine always thought that achieving communism was impossible. He’s changed his mind.
Capitalism does it again. Billions go to bail out corporations and workers have to fight for their lives. If we have to fight for our lives, let’s fight for communist healthcare.
—Healthcare comrade in New Jersey (US)
New York—Harlem hospital workers demand PPE
“Sometimes you have to demolish and start fresh”
Retired hospital maintenance worker: I am reading Red Flag. I love it. Thank you. I was thinking, will we learn something after this one. We did not after the last one or the one before. I could go back to the Spanish Flu. The bosses have all that money, yet they did not prepare. How to fix it: easy subsidy, rent control, no eviction, and no foreclosures. Medicare for all, health care reform.
Comrade: Do you really think these reforms will make a difference for us? Will they last?
Retiree: It was a sarcastic way of saying: they are good actions, but I think it is too late. I learned in building construction that renovation has a purpose. Sometimes buildings are beyond repair. You have to demolish and start fresh. It is healthy and failures from the past will always lead to a better future. How do we grow from here? I think this is a time of great opportunity.
What have we learned? What about money? Was it all worth it? Is it not a time to try something new? Fresh, with new values.
The heart and minds of the working class will welcome a radical change. We the working class are no longer willing to spill more blood so that the bosses can have more billions. No more of the same capitalism.
Comrade: Is it all right if we print your comments in the paper?
Retiree: Of course! People are starving for guidance, for hope. I am up 18 hours a day talking to friends and family members. We need to provide a clear message, so no one is taken advantage of while being vulnerable. I see civil unrest. I hope to talk with you soon.
Comrade: For sure! Meanwhile, forward the paper to all the friends and family members you are talking to. I would love to hear what they think, too.
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