{"id":2784,"date":"2017-01-09T13:09:22","date_gmt":"2017-01-09T19:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mountainouswords.com\/mountain-air\/?p=2784"},"modified":"2020-08-10T11:04:52","modified_gmt":"2020-08-10T17:04:52","slug":"life-kickstarter-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mountainouswords.com\/mountain-air\/life-kickstarter-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Life in Kickstarter America"},"content":{"rendered":"

I remember the first crowdsourcing campaigns that surfaced in my social media feeds. The majority of requests came from musicians hoping to release music, designers aiming to give life to their video games, or inventors bringing new gadgets into the world\u2014fun, creative, ideas. Crowdsourcing websites began as a way to drag deferred dreams into existence, but in recent times they\u2019ve become portals to far less whimsical notions. In many cases, they are the difference between life and death. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"breakingbadcanada\"<\/p>\n

While the most visible crowdsourcing site, Kickstarter, is focused on artistic pursuits, medically based crowd funded websites are now one of last-gasp outlets for Americans facing serious medical and financial difficulties. Pleas for help from friends, or friends of friends, show up regularly in my social media feeds from sites like Youcaring, Fundly, and GoFundMe. These aren\u2019t frivolous requests. In some cases they are literally life or death campaigns. A short list of what I\u2019ve seen in my own personal feeds has included: cancer treatment, kidney transplant, emergency eye surgery, injury recovery, fund raising for a new wheelchair, and physical therapy. Less grave but still deeply impactful have been campaigns such as: critical money for a spouse of a murdered police officer, widowed veterans, PTSD treatments, dozens of calls for help for injury treatments, transport back to the US from foreign countries following injury, single mothers needing critical automobile repairs, and replacement eyeglasses for children. I\u2019m guessing you have a list of your own that has shown up in Facebook or Twitter. <\/span><\/p>\n

With promised cuts to vital health services and programs such as Planned Parenthood and the ACA, I expect to see an increase in \u201ccrowdsourced coverage\u201d in 2017. The fact Americans living in the most economically prosperous country in the world have to grovel for life-saving treatments and quality-of-life treatment is unacceptable. America\u2019s inability to care for its own is the most damning and egregious manifestation of the deeply entrenched systems of inequality and greed that tilt the scales towards a true decline of power and prosperity. <\/span><\/p>\n

There is nobility in the fact that many of these campaigns reach their goals through the donations of caring friends and strangers\u2014I donate what I can, when I can. With the threat of repeal of affordable health care (and a lack of a better, improved plan in its place), I may one day find myself calling out for help. The fact our government is indifferent to serious health problems among the most vulnerable is one of most embarrasing and frightful failures of our elected officials. The fact that friends and strangers step up time and time again is evidence that there is still something wonderful in the American spirit found in the people themselves. I worry that the more normal crowdsourcing becomes, the more policy will avoid addressing the real crisis. <\/span><\/p>\n

It gets more depressing. <\/span><\/p>\n

One of the best books regarding the overt truth of a corrupt system is Dr. Marcia Angell\u2019s <\/span>The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It<\/span><\/i><\/a>. <\/span><\/i>\u00a0First published in 2005, this deeply researched book is a disheartening look at Big Pharma\u2019s highly unethical but entirely legal practices in America, complete with concrete examples of just how corrupt and ugly the system really is. For example, nearly all pharmaceutical companies spend more that 85% of their budgets on marketing, relying on publicly-funded universities to do the actual grunt work of developing new drugs. John Oliver brought publicity to the disgraceful practice of selling medical debt when he purchased and <\/span>absolved $14 million dollars of fee and penalty heavy debt for $60,000<\/span><\/a>. \u201cPharma-bro\u201d <\/span>Martin Shkreli<\/a>\u00a0hyper-inflated drug costs while Mylan tried to justify a ridiculous price spike<\/a> of EpiPens.\u00a0<\/span>While there are certain champions of reform in congress, such as Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, the majority of senators and politicians who could enact real change are firmly in the pocket of health care conglomerates\u2014and that includes Senators from both major parties. <\/span><\/p>\n