3 March 2011
An article of less than sixty words, in the Toronto Star of October 30th, 2010, was worth a million words about the corrupting influence of capitalism:
"A Milan court has convicted three doctors of performing unnecessary surgeries in what the Italian media has dubbed a 'clinic of horrors', with the hospital's chief surgeon sentenced to 15-1/2 years in prison. Prosecutors said unneeded operations, including amputations, were performed on 83 patients at a Milan clinic to get large payments from the state health system."
Some may say one cannot blame capitalism and this was a simple matter of greed, but greed, however, is endemic in capitalism. The pressure is always on to want more, which affects people who are living well by capitalism's standards as much as the majority, who are not. Whether it is advertising, the need to keep up with the Jones, or just plain insecurity, the pressure to want more is always there.
In a society where money does not exist, where the premise is, 'from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs', a situation like the one above will be impossible. Wishy-washy changes to malpractice laws would make little difference. That would be like using a band-aid when a major operation is necessary, and one is - the overthrow of the capitalist system.
