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purplecthulhu at 08:24am on 19/08/2009
purplecthulhu at 08:24am on 19/08/2009Amid all the storm and drang about US Healthcare reform, I'm beginning to get the impression that there is an underlying assumption that the 'anti-reformers' have that needs to be investigated...
That is that sick people deserve to be sick, that they are being punished for some moral failing. This could be because they don't eat right, smoke or drink, but I think the deeper unspoken assumption is that god is doing it to them.
It's thus immoral for the sick to be helped by others as this punishment is a correct thing to have happen.
This is a huge misunderstanding of epidemiology and medicine in general.
I think the same assumption is often made in the US about being poor.
That is that sick people deserve to be sick, that they are being punished for some moral failing. This could be because they don't eat right, smoke or drink, but I think the deeper unspoken assumption is that god is doing it to them.
It's thus immoral for the sick to be helped by others as this punishment is a correct thing to have happen.
This is a huge misunderstanding of epidemiology and medicine in general.
I think the same assumption is often made in the US about being poor.
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