Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee: a political ecology of change

The ideological offensive of the right seeks to fill the space vacated by the collapsing legitimacy of the system. The derivatives meltdown and subsequent economic crisis; the rewarding of the culprits; the slow-motion military defeats overseas; the deterioration of basic life support systems such as health care and food; the decimation of the public sector; lack of policy in the face of a growing climate crisis; the devastation from the BP disaster and the inability of government to address the pain caused by all of these has undermined the legitimacy of the status quo to a degree not seen for at least half a century. Obama's promise to transform that system is what swept him into office, but all of the candidates in the last election had to run against the status quo to have credibility.

The progressive reforms we won in past eras were granted against a background of labor militancy, mass protest movements and ideological competition with the soviet bloc. No such pressures exist today and so the top 1% has little incentive to be generous toward poor folk. In fact they are hell bent on eliminating public expenditures and are cutting back on support to the non-profits. The integration of the corporate sector and the state has emboldened the corporados to the point that they have little fear of consequences for even the most brazenly criminal behavior. All this is creating pressure along a fault line that runs through the heart of the non-profit sector.

A public health lens can best illuminate the nature of this tension. Let's compare two basic approaches in public health to guarding against disease outbreaks in a population. One strategy is to pursue what is known as vertical immunity: indentify the pathogen for the disease in question and develop a vaccine or anti-biotic that is designed to defeat it. Precise but narrow. The other is to confer horizontal immunity: support the overall health of the population so that it is better able to resist whatever harmful organisms or other insults it is exposed to. Horizontal immunity is less specific in its response but promises a level of general security by making the human population a less friendly environment for infection.

There's no great mystery in how to confer horizontal immunity and healthy resilience in a population. It is not very capitalist-friendly, however. It consists of providing what bodies need and removing what causes them harm. Take nutrition: healthy food is as fresh as possible with minimal processing and the absence of pesticides, preservatives and hormones and other junk. It is safest when provided by agriculture on a scale that does not leave us vulnerable to national disease outbreaks from huge processing centers. Other contributing factors include exercise, supportive social networks, safe housing and self-determination (feeling in control of one's life). Effective care emphasizes supporting the body's natural healing capacity with minimal intervention. All these measures could be within reach of people without the need for any corporations in the process.

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