It’s obvious that some lives are valued over others, and some commodities are valued more than life. How have these determinations been made? In this episode, we talk about how medical care prioritizes some patients over others—even to the extent of taking some people’s personal ventilators to give to others who were considered to have a greater life expectancy or quality of life—how supply chain issues exacerbated this problem during the pandemic, and what a system may look like that prioritizes people over profit.

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Sources

Health Communism: A Surplus Manifesto by Beatrice Adler-Bolton and Artie Vierkant

Brilliant Imperfection: Grappling with Cure by Eli Clare

State policies may send people with disabilities to the back of the line for ventilators

How the Supply Chain Upheaval Became a Life-or-Death Threat

Eric Garner’s Death Will Not Lead to Federal Charges for N.Y.P.D. Officer

Eric Garner died during a 2014 police encounter. An officer involved might lose his job.