The+Occupation+And+The+Importance+Of+Marxism+Amongst+It+All


 * Name: Alex Cattaneo**

__**Artefact:**__
====

====

====The man in this image, has taken a picture of himself holding a protest poster in front of his face, he is participating in the recent Occupy Wall Street Protests that are not only occurring physically within cities, squares, and streets, but are also occurring on the internet, in forums, discussion boards, and chat rooms. the poster states the main problems within society that lead to this political movement, //"we are the 99%"//is the slogan used for this movement, it refers to the fact that the top 1% of the population control the majority of the financial wealth within society today, and that the 99% are massively disadvantaged because of this (Goodman, 2011).====

====__**Public Health Issue:**__ There are many issues that are being brought forward in these protests, from the financial inequality that exists within a capitalist society to corporate greed, corruption and influence over the government. As can be seen the focus of these protests is very broad, however health and healthcare are prominent issues as this man is stating, he has //"No Job, No Health-Care, No Savings, No Retirement Fund"//. In this essay the way in which a capitalist and socialist health care systems are operated, along with the resulting level of overall population health, as stated on the Occupy Wall Street Health Care group, //"...there is a need for a healthcare system based on people instead of profit."// (Occupy Wall Street Healthcare, 2011)====

====__**Literature Review:**__According to the Free Online Dictionary Marxism is defined as: The political and economic philosophy of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in which the concept of class struggle plays a central role in understanding society's allegedly inevitable development from bourgeois oppression under capitalism to a socialist and ultimately classless society (The Free Online Dictionary, 2011). Where Marxism, Capitalism and health are concerned, there are a number of issues such as the equality and accessibility of Healthcare that is delivered under each system. Followed by issues such as the way health care insurance structures differ under each sociological structure, along with the Distribution of wealth within both a capitalist and socialist society, and the direct impacts that this has on the overall population health and the health of the individual. The occupy wall street protests are striving to bring about a classless society as mentioned in the definition above, they are striving for not only a political, but also a health care system, where people come before profits (Occupy Wall Street, 2011)====

====The equality and accessability of healthcare and services is one which affects countries around the world, many countries that have extremely well developed health care systems face this problem, and it could be said that the current capitalistic framework in which these systems function is the cause for this inequality (Greene, 2002). Put simply as Greene (2002) mentions, the capitalist approach to medicine favors those with the financial ability to afford the services that they require to maintain a good level of health, where as those who are unable to afford medical treatment, for eqample; opperations or medication, are left, and their health continues to degrade. It has been suggested that for a health system to be equally accessable that it must be a socialized one, one thad doesn't put the burden of the cost of treatment on patients but rather on society as a whole (Navarro,1983). Essentially within a socialized health care system based on Marxist theory, an individual will contribute to the overall health and wellbeing of the population by contributing to this system through his/her taxes according to their means. It also goes to say that an individual will be treated according to their needs, rather than in accordance with their financial ability to afford the treatment that they require (Rogoff, 2005). A Capitalistic health care system limits the extent of this however, as for the system to function it must come out making a profit, this profit comes from the patients that are being treated within the system. whilsty a capitalistic health care system promotes competition, innovation and progress, it also limits the extent to which people can be treated within it. In this case the system's primary focus is to make a profit, with the people and patient coucomes as a secont priority (Occupy Wall Street Healthcare, 2011). The privatization of health insurance is one of the major contributing factors of this.====

====The way in which health insurance is structured under a socialist and capitalist health care system vary greatly (Sociology.org, 2005). As detailed by Boxall and Buckmaster in their document titled: "Options for reforming Australia's Health System" there is currently a mix of the two, on the one hand there is medicare which could be considered to be a socialist approach as it is funded by the government, and on the other hand there are the private health care insurers, where by the individual pays for their health insurance (this is partially government subsidised) (McAuley, 2008). The difference between the two is that medicare is a service to the people, there is no profit being made through its use. private health insurers on the other hand must provide this service, but must also be able to come out with a profit, this means that as a society we are paying more for private health insurance than we are actually recieving in return (Navarro, 1983). McAuley, I. (2008) makes a good point in saying that within any nation there should be only one health care insurer, and it should be socialized, and controlled by the government, thus cutting out all the extra costs associated with private health insurance. Even Boxall & Buckmaster (2009) authors of the Australian Parliment Document titled "Options for reforming Australia's Health System", whilst not going to the full extent of suggesting a health care system based on Marxist principles, their suggestions are supportive of a socialized health care system. In the United States where the protests are at their largest, the people want change, as in America health insurance is completely privatized, they have a completely capitalistic approach, and the people no longer want it, they want the wealth within society to be redistributed (Occupy Wall Street Healthcare, 2011).====

====In principle Capitalism and Socialism differ greatly in the way in which wealth is distributed within society, this can greatly affect both the health of an individual and the overall health of a population depending on what form of health care system is in place (Bloom,1988). In a capitalist society with a capitalist health care system, health is driven by profits and only those who can afford to have treatement will recieve it, however it is also possible for a capitalist society to have a largly and for the most part socialized health care system where universal health care is available to all within the society. The latter example will produce an overall higher level of population health as socioeconomic health is not a barrier to medical treatment whereas with the former socioeconomic status can be a barrier to good health (Viccente,1985). As can be seen however the Occupy protests are not solely based on socialized health care, they are also calling for the redistribution of wealth. As Mullen (1993) suggests in his article titled: "Unemployment and Health: notes towards a Marxist critique", if there are many unemplyed people within a society, the overall health of society will go down, as with a lack of income there is no money to spend on that individuals health, and as unemployment rates rise, the societies level of health falls. thus the call for redistribution of wealth should correlate with better overall population health.====

====In conclusion a review of relevant litrature has revelaed that for a health system to be of best service to the people it must be one guided by Marxist principles rather than Capitalistic ones. As for a health care system to be easily accessible to all it firstly must be financially accessible, and the only way for a health care system to be asccessible to everyone is for it to be a socialized one, where people contribute to health care according to their means, through their taxes, and are then treated according to their needs. the same goes for health care insurance, it should be a safety net rather than a capitalistic enterprise making profit of the people that want that insurance. finally to further improve the health of the overall poipulation the marxist prespective requires that wealth be more equally distributed throughout society, allowing for people to highten their living conditions, and thus their overall level of health in most cases. There is the need for a shift from the current capitalistic way in which health care is provided, to a sistem with more basis in Marxist principles.====

**__Cultural and Social Analysis:__**
The Number of pretests occuring around the world that have the exact same focal points are occuring in many nations around the world, and the interest groups involved are huge, people are protesting against the immense wealth and power held by both individuals and corperations, they are protesting because of a lack of health care, employment, and retirement funds, and they are protesting against the banks (Occupy Wall Street 2011). The protests have been so sucessful and so wide spread beacuse of their motto, and it's meaning, "we are the 99%". In protests of the past against war, against nuclear power, and against governments they only usually occured in certain areas, regions, or countries, however these protests are very different, why? Because they include 99% of the pupulation, they are based on the average person and their lifestyle (Seitz-Wald, 2011). This video summs up this situation very nicely, it's a video from 1998 that was ahead of it's time, just consider the numbers mentioned in it.

media type="youtube" key="VLbWnJGlyMU" height="315" width="560" A Bugs Life.

====The issues being brought up in these proteste, especially those related to health, are related to people of the mid and low socioeconomic class, as these are the people that are often struggling with mortgagues and the majority of these people don't even have health insurance. This as Bloom (1988) would say is the classic problem with a capitalist health care system, as people of the lower socioeconomic class simply can't afford the treatment they require. Navarro (1983) even goes as far as suggesting that this problem isn't caused simply by a capitalist medicval system, but by a capitalist society as a whole, as all facets of society are interlocking, and health depends on much more than just socialized medicine. An example of this would be that someone of low socioeconomic status, may work long hours in a job that is very sedatry or one that puts their health at risk for little pay, this then leads to bad dietary choices due to a lack of time and money to afford healthy food, along with a poor standard of living, even with socialized health there are still health issues facing this person's health status.====

====This issue is a very important one as it affects the vast majority of people in society today, it's quite simple, if you are a low income earner, someone with debt, or are someone that will at some stage in your life will require medical treatment than the issues being brought forward in these protests affect you (Seitz-Wald, 2011). It is important because the octcomes of this global movements actions will impact people in the generations to come, whether in a positive or negative way that is yet to be seen. There is no single problem, no quick fix to achieve a socialized health care system based on Marxist principles, there are only steps that can be taken in the right direction to make it happen (Boxall, Buckmaster, 2009). ====

====Those who stand to benifit from a shift towards a socialized medical system are the vast majority, and those who would be disadvantaged would only be disadvantaged financially, as the redistribution of wealth which is what these protests are all about wouldn't physically harm those in the "1%", rather it would leave them with less financial control and power (Occupy Wall Street, 2011).====

====**__Artefact Analysis/ Learning Reflection:__** My artefact represents the Occupy Wall Street protests and many others like it around the world and on the internet. This is a global movement that for the past months is continually gaining supporters and momentum. The words with in the picture represent the core of these protests and their underlying assault on current capitalistic systems around the world, capitalistic systems that are vastly disadvantaging the people, especially those of lower socioeconomic status within these societies. Personally I view socialized health as a positive step forward in the development of a nation’s health care system, it shows that they look after everyone within the society regardless of the amount or money they have.====

====This assignment has furthered my understanding of the Marxist political point of view, along with the current situation both in Australian health care systems, along with those of countries abroad. Not only has it made me well informed on those issues, but also the issues surrounding the mounting number of “Occupy” protests that are occurring across the globe, and have been occurring for the past months.====

====It has opened my mind to thinking of health not just in terms of the current way in which these services are provided, but has actually made me think about other possible ways in which health care can be delivered. As with any situation, Socialized and Capitalist health both have their pros and cons, however it would seem in this case that socialized health is the way to go if the aim is to produce the healthiest society possible, rather than leaving health up the the finances a person has to maintain it.====

-Rogoff, K. (2005) A prescription for marxism. //Foreign Policy//, (146), 74-75.
-Seitz-Wald, A. (2011) Occupy wall street's success: even republicans are talking about income inequality. //Think Progress//. Retrieved from: []

-Viccente, N. (1985) U.S. Marxist scholarship in the analysis of health and medicine. //International Journal of Health Services.// 15:4 p525-545.
Reflections

[]

[]