Politics is always involved in healthcare, and always has to be. Doctors and scientists are humans and should not pretend to be above the rest of us or operating outside of the reality of our communities.
Remember if you say you want politics out of healthcare or science – you’re basically pushing for “the private market” to control it all. Politics controls government, and government is in charge of healthcare. If you don’t want that, you’re saying you want the richest people deciding what healthcare the poorest person can get or not get. Representative government, however flawed, is far preferable to “the invisible hand of the market” (which is a fantasy idea that’s a decoy to take your attention away from the power brokers attached to that so-called hand). There’s no power vacuum that won’t be filled by somebody. If scientists and doctors cede the political, they will be controlled solely by private equity. And we see how that’s turned out with veterinarians. We don’t even have an animal hospital in my city anymore.
Everything is political. Famines are political, and so are pandemics. Chloe Humbert Mar 18, 2024
Because government is about governance, and ultimately controls what happens or doesn’t in every area of society.
And for anyone thinking that you don’t want politicians making specific technical decisions about your healthcare… then specify that. Be specific. Don’t fail to communicate. But the idea that healthcare or science can operate without government should be so obviously false by now. And what controls government? Politics of course!