>We should remember that even small reforms don't usually happen without
>some kind of radical actions happening that make the refroms more
>palatable to the people in power. Perhaps universal health care isn't a
>reality because the radical left hasn't organized direct action
>campaigns and protests on this issue. We haven't organized something
>radical and unpalatable to the people in power.
I'd like to see suggestions on this, too, preferably ones that raise consciousness while raising a little hell. The idea being that it's just as important to build radical understanding and lasting radical organizations as it is to gain a victory which will be partial and fragile.
We've enjoyed picketing the local office of Blue Cr*ss/Blue Sh*ld; and are thinking about more heat we can put there. I really think insurance companies are the best target. Blue Cr*ss, for example, has to spend a lot of money burnishing its image, with slogans such as "How can Blue Help You?" which we've rendered as "How can Blue Screw You?" Also, we've been poking holes in their claims to be nonprofit by getting a lot of figures out on what they spend on lobbying, CEO salaries, and empire-building. The lobbying figures are especially galling because not only is it blood money (denied care) it is our premium dollars spent to prevent us from getting a national health care system or even a slight reform. There's some "paycheck protection" the anti-union campaigners will never talk about. Your employer takes money out of your paycheck to give to bc/bs to oppose your interests. A union official burned his bc card in front of the building last time we picketed.
The California Nurses Association is bent on making it clear that any politician that takes insurance company money is running their campaign on the blood of patients who were denied care, or never had access to care because of the insurance company stranglehold on the system. We've also discussed sit-ins at hospitals, targeting those with the most egregious patient-dumping practices. But insurance companies are the main obstacle, and are widely hated.
Jenny Brown Alachua County Labor Party Gainesville, FL
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