If you needed a wallet-size encapsulation of what’s wrong1 with American capitalist culture, check it out: the (I swear I’m not making this up) healthcare gift card. Healthcare, reduced from a right, to a commodity, to a luxury,2 to a friggin’ gift card.

This really is, erm… sick.

  1. At least *some* of what’s wrong… I only have so much time. [↩]
  2. Broadly speaking, gift items are luxuries. Do *you* want socks and underwear as gifts? [↩]