The Problem with Profit
My son recently asked me a very interesting question: If we’d never before had public libraries, could they be established now?
I thought a minute—but only a minute—and said, “No.” We then talked at length about how our culture has become so profit oriented that it’s not likely a lending library could be invented—it would be the renting library.
I might be wrong, but it doesn’t seem like profit was always the guiding star that it is now. When I was a young woman living alone in New Orleans, my neighbor found me bruised and slipping in and out of consciousness as the result of a bike accident. He called an ambulance, and I wound up in Charity Hospital. My lengthy stay in this public facility had me in a busy ward with many other patients, but I received excellent care. And there was no bill. None. Not even for the weeks of follow-up care required for traumatic brain injury.
But Charity Hospital is gone.
My dad often lauded the great care he got from the Veterans Administration for little or no cost—including heart surgery. And I still hear comments from local vets about how well the VA treats them. For the roughly 6% of the US population who are veterans, government sponsored medical care is available—as it should be.
But most Americans contend with medical bills. And medicine for profit renders many patients bankrupt. (The Almighty Google suggests that up to 66.5% of bankruptcies declared in the USA are due to inability to pay medical bills.) Further, insurance companies sometimes deny medical services—because they are too expensive, hence interfere with profits. After all, their bottom line is meant to protect shareholders—not patients.
When I could no longer care for my Alzheimer’s stricken mother at home, she moved into an assisted living facility. She had a small private apartment with meals and nursing care. The kitchen staff cooked wholesome tasty meals—until the facility changed ownership. Apparently, profits were down—so the meals were scaled back to chicken nuggets and potato chips. Until ultimately the place closed—giving residents 30 days’ notice to move out.
Some folks give up everything to move into residential care, but there’s no guarantee the care will be there as long as they need it. If profits wane, the ax falls.
We now have private prisons that expect profits. The more prisoners there are and the longer they are incarcerated, the more profit the companies earn. My guess is that attempts at rehabilitating prisoners would likely bite into profits. But finding a whole new community of prisoners—like, say, illegal immigrants—could sure boost the bottom line.
When profit is the primary motive for managing public services, the quality of those services is bound to decline, and there’s no guarantee services will be long-lived. I’d much rather put my money into a national account that anyone can access than line the pockets of CEOs who might not still be around when I need to reap the benefits promised me when I bought my insurance policy. Or traded my home for an apartment in the assisted living facility.
Public institutions—schools, libraries, NPR, PBS, national parks, and more—are under fire. Some claim these institutions are a drain on taxpayers. But I think taxpayers will feel far more drained when there are no public services left. When we can’t relax in a public park. Listen to a free concert. Turn on educational programming for our children.
Or borrow a good book from the library.