pol
Benefits rep for the parent company called me this morning to say "we're doing everything we can."
I asked if they were contracting a second insurance provider so we'd at least have a market from which to choose, or if they were lobbying for single-payer at the corporate level.
He said no.
I said, "then you're not doing everything you can. I expect better."
The conversation didn't really go anywhere after that, but it took him forty-five minutes to recognize that.
pol
To be sure, at one point he did fully admit that our corporate benefits package sucks and he hates having his hands tied, and it was good to hear that acknowledgement, but learned helplessness doesn't move the needle. He did say by the end that he would ask about how long my spouse would have to be without treatment before they could apply for TNS as a "new depressive episode," and that might work. And he did say he'd tell me how to manage an external review. But none of that _fixes_ this.
pol
THIS is why we need unions.
THIS is why we need collective action.
THIS is why we need solidarity.
THIS.
The benefits rep on the phone said flat-out he's having to tell a patient with breast cancer that she's exceeded her limits, and he "felt terrible" for having to do it. I about screamed on the bus, "your feelings won't pay for her cancer treatment."
pol
@literorrery this is just... *he* was trying to make *you* FEEL SORRY FOR HIM. "I had ~no choice~ but to do this horrible thing!" YOU ALWAYS HAVE A CHOICE. how somebody can sit there hand-wringing while doing hideous things for a fucking salary... UGH.
"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" should be *required reading*, starting in grade school. :|
pol
@green And yes, I understand when people can't fight. I understand disempowerment and helplessness. I understand the limits of individual capacity to fight against a corrupt system or their own demons. I refuse to blame victims for not fighting back. I'm not faulting mice for failing to drag the elephant to the table.
I do blame the people who could speak up and refuse to do so. I blame those who could take a stand and don't. I blame those who have the capacity to fight and don't do so.
pol
@literorrery I mean... my hands aren't clean by any means, I'm still living in Omelas--but I do what I can to reduce the harm I do. after doing that job for--less than a year, I can only imagine myself quitting and dedicating my knowledge and experience to *changing the system* instead of passively handing down death sentences and "feeling bad" about it. I personally would not be able to live with that choice.
pol
@green "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality." Desmond Tutu.