Editor’s Note: Last month, we began posting the work of Enceno Macy, an inmate in a US prison. I was contacted by the person who edits his work, who asked if I had any article suggestions. I said that I would love to see something on health care in the prison system, since we’re having such an interesting conversation about the health care prison among the supposedly free. He said he was already on the project when I asked; this is what he submitted earlier this week. One thing that’s clear is that we need prison reform; we need a lot less people ‘on the other side’, and we need to see how cruel of a system this is, where many people find themselves for petty offenses or for no good reason at all — draining the taxpayers and enriching private companies who provide prison ‘services’. Enceno’s articles are sent handwritten, then typed and edited by a trusted editor who I have known and loved for about 18 years. Comments typed into the response area will be sent directly to Enceno. Thanks for reading and for the warm response he received last time –efc
By Enceno Macy
Some people dream of freedom. I dream of elephants. One of the many amazing and wonderful things about elephants is how in their wisdom they truly care about each other. How could we kill something so majestic and intelligent and caring by commercializing it? Starting with P.T. Barnum the elephant was doomed, and I can’t even blame Barnum, who bought the world’s largest elephant for his Barnum and Bailey circus in 1882.
Phineas Taylor Barnum made millions on the philosophy that there’s a sucker born every minute. He was also a Republican who championed emancipation of slaves and founded one of the first hospitals in Connecticut. Barnum was no saint. He was a jail-bird himself, in fact, but at least he believed in giving good value for the money he conned out of suckers, and the hospital he founded was dedicated to quality medical care. What would he think of Republicans today who refuse to accept a black president and foam at the mouth over health care for all?
He would probably wonder if the care part of health care was as doomed as the elephant.
Without doubt, universal health care would be in the best interest of everyone in the U.S. A government’s priority is supposed to be the safety and well-being of society, and trillions of dollars are spent on military, police, firefighters, and other important agencies to ensure our safety and well-being. But what’s the point of the police or military saving us from murderers or terrorists if we can’t afford our cancer treatment or organ transplant or other life-saving care? Lack of health care kills and maims as surely as murder and terrorism. Yet insurers who profit from denying people medical care have convinced a nation of suckers that universal health care would be creeping socialism and destroy democracy.