"Bad health care has killed more American artists than I can list"

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Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/08/24/killed-for-profits.html

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I believe that you can’t really effect positive change in any other area if your body (or your child’s body, or your partner’s body) is sick or not working.

Dr. Stephen Hawking would have liked to type a word with you.

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Seems badly phrased. You can indeed effect positive change when your body won’t cooperate, and many do. It would be REALLY NICE, though, to not have to worry about things like “is that twinge cancer, or did I just eat an entire loaf of sourdough yesterday?”
I’ve lost four artist friends to cancer, ages ranging from mid-twenties up to sixties. All passed definitely before their time.

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Alex Chilton. One too many.

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Dr. Stephen Hawking had the NHS.

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He was also an exceptional individual who was highly atypical of the average person; his access to good health care extended his life far beyond doctors’ initial expectations and is an excellent example of why everyone (even ‘the least’ of us) should have such access.

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“That’s why we should all fight for other people’s health. Your decisions can affect when I die, and vice versa.”–Pagan Kennedy

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Ah, see… they might view that as a feature, not a bug.

I know for a fact if I had guaranteed healthcare and a guaranteed living income that covered daily expenses, I would exit my current job so fast it would leave a cartoon outline of dust while the chair spun.

I am not doing what I want to be doing, but what I want to be doing won’t pay my bills.

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Watching a loved one suffer chronic illness and die because they can’t afford healthcare is considered normal and acceptable in America. It is the status quo. This is what people who say “I don’t want to pay for your healthcare” want to see happen. This is what the Republican party wants so desperately to maintain.

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As @Neovison.vison noted, he had the NHS. He also was in an incredibly privileged position with regards to the kind of work that he did, being one of the most visible scientists of his generation, selling tons of books, and being the Lucasian chair at cambridge. No doubt his perseverance helped, but he had plenty of help that many Americans (especially working class Americans) DO NOT have.

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