The medical-industrial complex
The medical-industrial complex is associated with health industry professionals, including nurses, hospitals, doctors, insurance companies, drug suppliers, and other related bodies that trade medical services and products for money intending to make profits. This body’s main objective is to make profits alongside the other two objectives of research and education. The intersectional feminists criticize the medical, industrial complex, and engagement with disabled bodies and minds because they do not advocate for the subjects’ general wellness. They do their research and business with completely different intentions from what they should actually be doing, showing compassion and care for the patients.
Medical Industrial Complex considers gender and disability as natural occurrences in human lives. The movement ensures the provision of services and products to disabled people, but they do not look deeply into it. They research various types of disabilities and manufacture and provide products and services to help curb and reduce them for their business success and maximize profits in the business. (Solomon) describes a black girl who had grown with mental illness, racism, and trauma in Texas from her childhood, going through many problems and fear until teenage. It is a clear indication that MIC does not focus on people’s mental health. The traumatic situations and racism that the girl went through could have been easier solved when she was younger by these professionals. People with disabilities comprise almost 20% of the United States population and is considered the largest minority group (Tubman, 236). People with disabilities do not even have proper representation in the nation considering their large numbers. Several organizations, movements, and platforms have been formed for decades now that fight anti-racism. Still, Tubman stresses that disability has been removed from the platforms. Some of the minority organizations that have a disability are left to fight for themselves to reduce even police brutality and promote black lives.
The MIC’s less interest in supporting people with disabilities and their system shows that their conditions will still have a long way to go and fight. MIC is a professional body that can support and handle the situations of disability and all forms of gender and racial discrimination worldwide. Also, these professionals are highly demanded. There may not be enough of them. Sometimes they cannot manage the people’s requirements, from people with disabilities, mentally ill, sick people, and chronic disease patients. Directing their attention to all these groups of people as much they try, they may not manage to attend to them all.
The Medical Industrial Complex does not consider the minority and oppressed groups of people. The movement is formed by highly experienced and popular groups of people who can change their communities’ toxicity. Still, they will not act towards that because their focus is non-profits and not people. As much as black people form anti-racist movements and feminists form gender equality organizations, but MIC does not promote them, they will barely succeed. The people will barely achieve equality and support for the disabled groups of people. Tubman explains that disabled people have high chances of remaining poor because their conditions are either caused by poverty or lead to poverty. It is clear that that directly excludes them from getting the necessary support, services, or products from the Medical Industrial Complex. For the case of African America, their mental health conditions result from their oppression and lack of freedom. Dr. Cartwright talks about the justification of slavery, a form of oppression to the blacks, and the cause of disability and mental health problems (Douglas, 38). He explains that the blacks living in American are exposed to major types of mental health problems; Drapetomania and Dyasaethesia. Dr. Vane Evrie supports that black people belonged to an inferior race. Therefore, educating them was unnecessary, and only whites with disabilities would be considered equal to blacks.
MIC, in its relentless pursuit for a cure, remains oppressive to most people who require their services and profits because they aim profit maximization. The most at-risk group of people who need their cures are disabled, minority groups, oppressed African American, and black women who are, in most cases, poor and unable to take of their own selves. They live below poverty levels and depend on unreliable sources of income for their survival. The professionals connected by the body have enough experience and knowledge directed to the right people, there will be little or no oppression, and cases of disabilities will be easily tackled. They focus on profit over people and, therefore, will only serve people who got money. Some of these health organizations, especially in countries with oppression and disabilities, should focus on helping the people. Organizations must benefit from their work, but it should not be their number one objective; as a health professional body, their number objective should provide cures and services to patients. From the video, the deaf explains that it is so hard for them to learn the normal people’s language, yet they are expected to do so since it is natural (2020, https://youtu.be/JnylM1hI2jc. Accessed 17 Oct 2020.). Accessing facilities and materials for learning normal people’s language is considered difficult because they are disabled and poor.
First, to ensure fairness and equality in service, the Medical Industrial Complex should focus on people over money and not money over people. Health organizations should be non-profit and people oriented, aiming at saving the lives of all classes and cultures of people. As a facility most required by poor people, it should be more focused on reducing expenditure on their clients’ side. The body should provide incentives and work closely with the government to ensure proper equal service provision. In developing expensive equipment, they should invite donors, the government, and well-wishers to support them. It is a good way of involving the right people to support and offer help to people who need their help. From (Behringer et al.) Angelina talks about her mother taking weed with her every night because that is the only way that can enable her to speak for a little long time. It is clear that if she gets the right drugs and treatment, as much as she may still fail to live for more than five years, she will be able to talk without using illegal drugs. I would also like to see MIC start to involve minority groups in their movements. It should not only be a movement that consists of rich and experienced normal groups. There should be disabled people in the corporation, black women, and other indigenous people. Their representation will make it easier for the movement to make decisions concerning all the people’s wellness. The representatives of these people will, therefore, not sit back to watch biased decisions being made.
Basically, the major reason for intersectional feminist critic on the MIC and its engagement with disabled bodies and minds is their act of focusing on profits. Also, the fact that the body does not care about gender and disabled people in the community contributes to the feminist critique of their acts. Intersectional feminism continues to form movements and rise against gender inequality and racial discrimination, and disability representation in these groups of people. It is also clear that the disability system is fragile in some countries that got the strongest health care system because of their focus on a specific class of people. From the article, I will conclude that MIC has excluded some of the most vulnerable minority groups because of their poverty status, considering their main aim of profit maximization.