A year ago, my uncle John passed away from pancreatic cancer. He was a kind, fun-loving man I will always remember for his booming laugh and bright smile.
We shared the same birthday, and each year he would call and sing “Happy Birthday” before joyfully shouting, “Happy birthday to us!” It was very painful not to have that call last November.
It is not an exaggeration to say John may still have been with us if the treatment he had been given had been better. And sadly, John’s story is not unique.
Our NHS is crumbling. Years of austerity and underfunding have left it unable to provide the care people need. According to the British Medical Association, austerity has deprived the NHS of £425 billion since 2009.
However, the money exists to properly fund the NHS. Each year, the UK spends £100 billion each year just servicing debt. Meanwhile, billionaires in the UK control £182 billion in wealth. That’s more than the entire NHS budget, hoarded by just 0.0007 percent of the population.
These individuals don’t produce wealth; it is the working class who does this. Billionaires are able to pocket incomes merely by owning property, shares or speculation.
The actions of pharmaceutical companies reveal the profit system itself undermines our healthcare system.
They acquire patents for life-saving drugs they play no part in producing, which they then sell to the NHS at obscene markups. In some cases, this is a markup of up to 23,000 percent!
No major political party offers anything different. Labour and the Tories argue over how best to make cuts, while Reform scapegoats immigrants and offers no real solutions. All while the resources to fund the NHS properly exist, but are hoarded in the hands of the few.
This injustice fills me with both anger and resolve. We need a new kind of society – one where the working class, who generate all the wealth, decide how it’s spent.
We need a democratically planned economy, where resources go to people’s needs, not corporate profits. That means nationalising major industries under workers’ control and calling for the workers of other countries to do the same.
This month, I’ll be running the London Marathon in John’s memory. Whilst training, I’ve received countless emails asking me to raise money for charity.
While charity reveals the real generosity of working-class people, who are willing to give even in times of crisis and hardship, it only acts as a sticking plaster to the real problems. In any case, much of these donations only end up in the pockets of well-paid directors.
Instead, I’m raising money for the Revolutionary Communist Party – a political party fighting to transform society from top to bottom; a society where everyone’s needs are met, not one based on private profit. If you can donate, even a small amount, it would mean a lot.
