The tendency to try to privatize everything from water and parking meters, to public education and even social security and maedicare, are hallmarks of greed. They see all that money in public institutions and can't wait to get their hands on it. This is a great example of how to disrupt that process.

Insulin costs for people with diabetes are too high. Can California produce a cheaper version? - Vox https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23574178/diabetes-insulin-pen-injection-cost-california

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#NeoLiberalismKills
#KillPrivatization

"There are few better emblems of the failures of the US system of medical care than its inability to consistently provide insulin to Americans who need it.

The drug was discovered 100 years ago, and it provides essential and ongoing treatment for millions of people living with diabetes, one of the most common chronic diseases in the country. And yet one in six Americans with diabetes who use insulin say they ration their supply because of the cost. Some people end up spending nearly half of their disposable income on a medicine they must take to stay alive.

Though insulin generally costs less than $10 per dose to produce, some versions of the drug have a list price above $200. This is in part because, in the US, a warped market has allowed three companies to dominate the insulin business.

But if some states have their way, that may be about to change

With California leading the way, a handful of states are considering trying to disrupt the market for essential medications, starting with insulin. The plan would be to manufacture and sell insulin themselves for a price that is roughly equivalent to the cost of production.

Their premise: Take away the private market’s profit motive and maybe states can deliver affordable insulin as a wholly public enterprise, run by civil workers, that does not need to make money. Because these states buy a lot of drugs too, through their Medicaid programs and the health plans for government workers, they would also reap the rewards if those drugs are cheaper."

It is time to wrest back control of our lives, countries, environments and economies from the neoliberal, capitalistic systems and the greedy, immature and unbalanced people who own, run and benefit from them at our expense! They are running it off the cliff and if we don't regain control, they will destroy everything that is worthwhile and that we hold dear. Greed is a pitiful response of immature and insecure people and must be treated as such because of how much damage it has and will do to our planet, our lives and future generations! The greedy are not well or responsible and must never be in a position to follow their greed to its logical end; our mutual destruction and impoverishment. We must ensure that "insane," emotionally-deranged people like that, who devote their lives to greed, can never be in control or commit such atrocities again!

'Our Future Is Public': Santiago Declaration Envisions End of Neoliberalism Death Spiral https://www.commondreams.org/news/santiago-declaration-our-future-is-public

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#NeoLiberalismKills
#SantiagoDeclaration

"...An international coalition made up of more than 200 trade unions and progressive advocacy groups on Thursday published the Santiago Declaration, a manifesto for "a complete overhaul of our global economic system."

The undeniably anti-neoliberal document proclaiming that "our future is public" is the product of a meeting held in Chile—the "laboratory of neoliberalism" where Milton Friedman and his University of Chicago acolytes' upwardly redistributive economic model was first imposed at gunpoint by Gen. Augusto Pinochet's military junta.

From November 29 to December 2, more than 1,000 organizers from over 100 countries gathered in Santiago and virtually to germinate a left-wing movement against "the dominant paradigm of growth, privatization, and commodification."

"Who owns our resources and our services is fundamental. A public future means ensuring that everything essential to dignified lives is out of private control."

"We are at a critical juncture," the manifesto begins. "At a time when the world faces a series of crises, from the environmental emergency to hunger and deepening inequalities, increasing armed conflicts, pandemics, rising extremism, and escalating inflation, a collective response is growing."

"Hundreds of organizations across socioeconomic justice and public services sectors—from education and health services, to care, energy, food, housing, water, transportation, and social protection—are coming together to address the harmful effects of commercializing public services, to reclaim democratic public control, and to reimagine a truly equal and human rights-oriented economy that works for people and the planet," reads the document. "We demand universal access to quality, gender-transformative, and equitable public services as the foundation of a fair and just society."

The Santiago Declaration continues:

The commercialization and privatization of public services and the commodification of all aspects of life have driven growing inequalities and entrenched power disparities, giving prominence to profit and corruption over people's rights and ecological and social well-being. It adversely affects workers, service users, and communities, with the costs and damages falling disproportionately on those who have historically been exploited.
...
Austerity cuts in public sector budgets and wage bills are driven by an ideological mindset entrenched in the International Monetary Fund and many ministries of finance that serve the interests of corporations over people, perpetuating dependencies and unsustainable debts. Unfair tax rules, nationally and internationally, enable vast inequalities in the accumulation and concentration of income, wealth, and power within and between countries. The financialization of a wide range of public actions and decisions hands over power to shareholders and undermines democracy.
Against the heavily privatized status quo, "we commit to continue building an intersectional movement for a future that is public," the document says. "One where our rights are guaranteed, not based on our ability to pay, or on whether a system produces profit, but on whether it enables all of us to live well together in peace and equality: our buen vivir."

...the creation of an egalitarian and sustainable society hinges on ensuring universal access to life-sustaining public goods delivered by highly valued workers.

"We need to take back control of decision-making processes and institutions from the current forms of corporate capture to be able to decide for what, for whom, and how we provide."

"Who owns our resources and our services is fundamental," the manifesto argues. "A public future means ensuring that everything essential to dignified lives is out of private control, and under decolonial forms of collective, transparent, and democratic control.""

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