Imagine a net—woven from many strands, each connected, each reinforcing the others. A net doesn’t depend on a single thread to bear the strain; its strength lies in the way its fibers interlace, ...
You sent me over here from part 1 and it was well worth it.
I have also noticed a seeming lack of interest on the left with prevention, with a focus on universal healthcare instead, but I've never seen anybody talk about it til you. What do you think that hesitancy is about?
I think there are a number of factors. As I alluded to in the piece, wanting to reduce rates of chronic illness can be embraced in a basically eugenic way that denies chronically ill and disabled people full personhood and validity. It's related to the way that 'cure' is weaponized against disabled people, where disable folks are only affirmed and celebrated to the extent that they 'overcome' their disability. I think the left is rightly worried about giving oxygen to these framings--we have to be careful about the way we advocate and what we're actually advocating for.
When it comes to preventing chronic illness, if we're not actively dismantling harmful systems then the responsibility for those preventive actions can easily fall onto individuals, even to the point where people feel responsible for their own suffering.
Thank you for these thought provoking and re-stitching words, what an interesting/huge tension and juncture to be in as a western world/world, being an individualist society, needing to become more community-focused to heal and create the net needed to care for each other and the Earth. We have so much to unlearn and remember, and it's so messy and I really hope we get there <3
Thank you for two well written pieces that capture and express many of thoughts and concerns I have recently had regarding public and community health, evidence based practice, and the influence of 'wellness' personalities vs. practitioners seeing the individual. I look forward to part 3.
Thank you for another thought provoking article. It's a long up hill struggle to achieve monumental change but it's worth the fight.
You sent me over here from part 1 and it was well worth it.
I have also noticed a seeming lack of interest on the left with prevention, with a focus on universal healthcare instead, but I've never seen anybody talk about it til you. What do you think that hesitancy is about?
I think there are a number of factors. As I alluded to in the piece, wanting to reduce rates of chronic illness can be embraced in a basically eugenic way that denies chronically ill and disabled people full personhood and validity. It's related to the way that 'cure' is weaponized against disabled people, where disable folks are only affirmed and celebrated to the extent that they 'overcome' their disability. I think the left is rightly worried about giving oxygen to these framings--we have to be careful about the way we advocate and what we're actually advocating for.
When it comes to preventing chronic illness, if we're not actively dismantling harmful systems then the responsibility for those preventive actions can easily fall onto individuals, even to the point where people feel responsible for their own suffering.
It can be tricky terrain to navigate.
Thank you for these thought provoking and re-stitching words, what an interesting/huge tension and juncture to be in as a western world/world, being an individualist society, needing to become more community-focused to heal and create the net needed to care for each other and the Earth. We have so much to unlearn and remember, and it's so messy and I really hope we get there <3
Thank you for two well written pieces that capture and express many of thoughts and concerns I have recently had regarding public and community health, evidence based practice, and the influence of 'wellness' personalities vs. practitioners seeing the individual. I look forward to part 3.