I explore the connection between predatory capitalism in its pursuit of profits and modern disease such as cancer. I fold in my own battle with cancer, and suggest the cure. The cure for cancer may be democracy, if that ends the lethal pollution of the fossil fuel oligarchs.

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This is not about how politics controls research on cancer and other diseases. It is about a political economy which, in the name of democracy, is killing us.

Today, I got my PSA score (used to assess degree of cancer), and it was not down, after 4 months of a heavy duty cannabis extract treatment and numerous anti-cancer supplements, along with a vegan anti-cancer diet. It didn't go down. After my cancerous prostate was removed 10 years, ago I had nearly 8 yrs cancer free, then two years, ago the score began to rise, from .2 to .4. to .5 to today's .6.

That is a low score, but it is growing and my treatments have not stopped it. I ask: how can I have got cancer when since age 26, I have been on an organic anti-cancer diet?

There are two theories, not necessarily incompatible: one asserts, as the man who discovered the cause of cancer did, that the cause is pollution. Dr. Warburg won the Nobel Prize but the Nazis kept him from accepting it. He said pollution caused cancer.

The other theory is the genetic element: studies on twins seem to show that there is a genetic component, which may not cause cancer but predispose to it, make us vulnerable to the onslaught of pollution.

So I am going to go with the idea that tho genetics makes some more susceptible, it is pollution which is killing us.

On a gross level, this is easy to see. Each year, millions die from fossil fuel pollution; in the US, 13,000 die from coal pollution, and tens of millions suffer from air pollution, not to mention water pollution as in Flint, Michagan and many other cities.

Why do we have so much pollution? Why haven't we switched to clean energy? Why haven't we banned fossil fuels, which are poisons we eat and drink and breath every day?

We know that pollution kills, makes sick, decreases productivity, increases healthcare costs, makes us suffer.....and destroys the environment, including climate disruption? Why is nothing being done?

The reason is simple: politics. The oligarchy is made up of those who profit from pollution, from the energy industry to the ag industry. In a democracy, these corporations which are killing us would be stopped.

But in an oligarchy where the polluters rule, all action is to prevent action; private profits trump public safety. Money trumps human health. Accumulating billions is more important than protecting the earth. This is a political decision, within a system of oligarchic rule. We are being killed by cancer because the ruling class has hijacked government and made effective regulation impossible. We are being killed by design, since the fossil fuel elites know the damage their products do.

And so, as I ponder my next treatment (probably immunotherapy), I ask everyone to consider how our politics, mostly right wing, Republican, pro-corporate but including the establishment Democrats. Clinton, for instance, has received 7 million from the fossil fuel people this year. Clinton is also on record of supporting fracking.

Here is what Sanders said of her in April: ""Well, when you vote for virtually every trade agreement that has cost the workers of this country millions of jobs, when you support and continue to support fracking, despite the crisis that we have in terms of clean water," he said April 10, "and essentially, when you have a super PAC that is raising tens of millions of dollars from every special interest out there, including $15 million from Wall Street, the American people do not believe that that is the kind of president that we need to make the changes in America to protect the working families of this country."

Politifact concludes that "Clinton's past support of fracking is well documented."

And so it is not only the Republican's who are blocking action to reduce the damage done by fossil fuels; it is also the Democrats, who are bribed with millions to continue the status quo. Now Clinton says she wants solar on every roof. That is easy to say, and it will get some Bernie supporters to accept her. But her history is of defending the fossil fuel industry. And history trumps hypotheticals.

Conclusion: pollution is killing us. Both parties have protected this lethal industry to varying degrees. It seems, as with so much else, that if we want change, if we want to stop killing ourselves with toxins in our air and food and water, we will have to finally end the rule of the oligarchs and establish a democratic nation, where the leaders lead in ending pollution and transforming us to clean energy and with it, better health for our families and our earth.

If something is killing you, it's time to fight back. We must push Clinton to follow thru on her solar dream and to back off her enthusiasm for fracking.

One more issue: when I turned 65, I had my first ever physical checkup. That is when the cancer was found. Why do we (and only because of Obamacare) only now do checkups at 65. If my cancer had been found earlier, it would have been cheaper and easier to treat.

Why don't we have yearly checkups at all ages. Why wait until the disease has driven deep into our bodies. The lack of universal healthcare, with free checkups on a yearly basis, would save hundreds of billions in cash and even more in reducing human suffering.

Who is responsible for the lack of universal healthcare, based on the principle of early detection, early treatment: less cost, less suffering?????Who is blocking such a plan?

Well, you know who. And I blame them, along with the oligarchs, for trying to kill you and me. Capitalism, by focusing on profits, has become a dangerous monster, putting getting rich over saving lives. If democracy is the answer to the crimes of the oligarchs, then capitalism is the villain, for it preaches the doctrine of profit, selfishness, and disregard for all other values; this is the mentality of a psychopath grown as large as the world itself.

I cannot imagine a revolution or transformation which does involve ending fossil fuel production and most meat production, both of which are killing us and the environment.

I cannot imagine that we will end this carnage until we have a new system in place, which puts human welfare ahead of private profit. The fight against capitalism, against corporate fascism, and against oligarchy is a fight not only for political rights but for our health and the survival of the earth as an abundant garden.

There are many ways to kill people, from war, to assassination, to poisoning the environment. Until we defeat the forces of pollution, we will continue to see our PSA scores rise. Let us use our pain and anger to mobilize the fight against the polluters.......and their hacks who are paid to block effective action to end the murder by pollution which is the bsis of fossil fuel (and meat) profits. The IMF estimates that transnational fossil fuel corporations get over 6 Trillion a year in subsidies, including the shifted cost of health and environmental and climate damage. Pass the costs on to the public: make the victims pay!

Authors Bio:

retired, working radical egalitarian/libertarian socialist old school independent, vegan, survivor