It really is atrocious how this country treats healthcare (in general, but also) when it comes to issues that are largely affecting minority communities. We are so good at brushing horror and deaths aside if it's an uncomfortable reality to face, and the Chavez piece illustrates that. If you aren't completely insulated from everything, you'll see constant stories of gross mishandling of large groups of people just because of some perceived slight - and most of the times the victims are minorities in this country. These kind of stories make you think "why isn't every news channel talking about this right now?" or "how did nobody realize this was going on?" and I think it just points to the sorry state news media has been in for a long time. News media is all based on profit, and sad stories about how this country is committing atrocities to large groups of people just because they technically can do not sell well.
The Chavez piece makes me think of the current atrocity being committed across the globe when it comes to vaccines. The US and other wealthy countries have an abundance of vaccines and the ability to distribute them to their people (who seem to be resistant for some reason but that's another story), whereas many countries have exceptionally limited access to these vaccines, and thus COVID is hitting them much harder. These wealthy countries should not be hoarding its resources when it comes to a global pandemic and should do more to slow the spread of the virus in other countries as well. There's even incentive to help out the rest of the world because it's theorized that these countries without any help in regards to vaccines are where the variants have started emerging from. But, yet again, these are not firey, controversial hot topics that news media wants to discuss, so it gets left out of the public conscious and the issues remain.
Hello, I think your commentary on the Chavez piece in accordance with the Covid-19 pandemic was an astute connection. The pandemic we're facing has illustrated several things wrong with both our news media and our health system. I like how you noted as well that the victims of health care issues are usually minorities in the country. Often women and people of color have to fight to have their illnesses diagnosed correctly as well as treated.
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