Our Malady

Subtitled "Lessons in Liberty From a Hospital Diary," Timothy Snyder's short book about nearly being killed by the commercial medicine system in the United States should be shocking. Unfortunately, for anyone who has had extensive contact with this system and its designed flaws that make a few rich and many sick, it will not be. Snyder's account of the differences between his first child being born (in Austria) and his second (in the United States) is particularly telling. In Austria his wife was kept in the maternity ward for 96 hours after delivery and provided with constant care and training. In America an algorithm demanded labor be induced and a Caesarean be performed despite the fact that the mother and unborn child were both in excellent health. Of course the fact that other countries have figured out how to provide a decent standard of care for all of their citizens will cut no ice in a nation whose policies are oriented almost exclusively toward enriching the wealthy, so despite the fact that Snyder ends his book with a call for change and a measure of hope I won't hold my breath.