Cooperate to Survive

One of the signature elements of the present regime is the destruction of cooperative activities -- by 'defunding' the working class, making survival more difficult and setting the Social Darwinism mark of 'all against all,' the right wing is drving wedges between people who should have the same goals. As part of the struggle, we need to find new areas for cooperation.

One area ripe for cooperative action is health insurance. Just imagine a Democratic Party offering group health insurance for all us orphans from the corporate health club. The Rethugs are presently helping this agenda by eliminating the tax deduction for corporate health insurance payments. Their goal in this is to make more Americans buy individual health insurance instead of less expensive group insurance. While this will please their masters in the insurance business, it also creates an opening for a Democratic health insurance cooperative. A person would have to show voter registration as a Democrat, and agree to work with either a local Democratic Party group or work with a national group, in order to participate. A start might be made by incorporating some union health insurance programs as starters.

Benefits would include a large base for bargaining, the ability to reward honest health providers, and the ability to deliver a tangible 'good' in the absence of elective power. I have no expertise in any health care insurance area, but at least let's get the discussion of this or any other cooperative ideas in progress.