Note: What does inequality look like today in America? It is 50 trillion dollars moved from the middle class to the 1% since Reagan took office in 1981. It looks like only three billionaires owning as much wealth as the bottom half of America. It looks like one Millennial owning more money than all the other millennials in the country! Inequality is killing us … literally!
“Be Bold America!”
Sunday, January 29, 2023 at 5:00pm (PDT)
The aim is to have a society that treats everyone well – and health will follow.
The complex answer to why the United States does so poorly in health measures has at its base, one pervasive issue: the United States has by far the highest levels of inequality of all the rich countries. The antidote must start with a broader awareness of the nature of the problem.
Inequality Kills Us All details how living in a society with entrenched hierarchies increases the negative effects of illnesses for everyone. Dr. Bezruchka states that health in the United States is not what should be expected for such a rich country, one that spends a fortune on medical care.
He now looks at the country as the patient in need of treatment.
Interview Guest:
Stephen Bezruchka, M.D., M.P.H. is the author of Inequality Kills Us All and he is an Associate Teaching Professor Emeritus in the Departments of Health Systems & Population Health and of Global Health at the School of Public Health, University of Washington.
Due to decades as an emergency physician and his years of community health experience in Nepal, Dr. Bezruchka discovered that health in the United States is not what should be expected for such a rich country, one that spends a fortune on medical care. To understand why that was true, he obtained a Master of Public Health degree at Johns Hopkins University, where he was exposed to the social and political factors that matter most to advance health.
