https://www.lewrockwell.com/2024/10/no_author/hurricane-helene-has-a-critical-lesson-for-all-of-us/

Hurricane Helene Has a Critical Lesson for All of Us
Exploring the dangers of putting profits before people, especially when they are hidden behind a veil of secrecy

By A Midwestern Doctor

Recently, the East Coast was hit by a devastating hurricane that swept through Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia, with 175 deaths in that region already been confirmed. Furthermore, unlike a typical hurricane, it also wiped towns off the map and was the worst hurricane in North Carolina’s history (with the possible exception of one in 1775). ...

... Doctor Thyself

Presently the affected areas are facing a huge number of problems. Two of the key ones are a lack of drinkable water and a lack of medical care. To illustrate:

Tropical Storm Helene caused severe damage to the water and distribution system for Asheville.

The city says that extensive repairs are required to treatment facilities, underground and above ground water pipes, and to roads that are washed away which are preventing personnel from accessing parts of the system.

“Although providing a precise timeline is impossible, it is important to note that restoring service to the full system could take weeks,” city officials say.

Or to quote a trustworthy friend in the area:

Mission Hospital in Asheville has been trying to hold itself together like it’s in a television starship battle taking damage.

Generators were the sole source of power in the days after the flood. With water from the city still not possible, pumping trucks have been brought in to satisfy the demand. Ceilings are leaking and crumbling outside of ORs in hallways.

Shifts are constantly running, and workers of all types are being incentivized to stay onsite as much as possible. Fuel trucks have been brought in to fuel staff vehicles at no cost, and the cafeteria is doing the same for weary bodies and brains.

The parent company of the hospital is donating a million dollars to help with relief efforts. Other hospitals were defeated entirely by the rising water. One such case is in Erwin, Tennessee where there was a dramatic rooftop evacuation by helicopter of all staff and patients at Unicoi County Hospital. Helping hands are flocking from all over the country. Fire trucks have been seen from as far away as Los Angeles, with EMS and line workers coming all the way from Canada.

In this publication, I’ve repeatedly emphasized Ivan Illich’s belief that two key problems underlie the dysfunction in American society.

•People are conditioned to believe they need to be taught to learn (which as discussed here destroys their natural capacity to learn and think critically).

•People are conditioned to believe they need a doctor to be healthy.

In turn, while I’d cite a few others as well, I believe Illich was spot on.

In the case of the second point, by reframing health as a product to consume rather than something you have your own agency over, it creates a situation where there can never be enough medical care, and in turn helps to explain why every year, more and more is spent on medicine (e.g., 17.54% of all spending in America in 2024), yet despite being by far the top medical spender in the world, we have some of the worst medical outcomes in the world. ......