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developed societies and some of the worst outcomes. Neoliberal
doctrine struck another blow, introducing business measures of ef-
ficiency: just-on-time service with no fat in the system. Any disrup-
tion and the system collapses. Much the same is true of the fragile
global economic order forged on neoliberal principles.
This is the world that Trump inherited, the target of his batter-
ing ram. For those concerned with reconstructing a viable society
out of the wreckage that will be left from the ongoing crisis, it is
well to heed the call of Vijay Prashad: “We won’t go back to normal,
because normal was the problem.”
C.J. Polychroniou: Yet, even now, with the country in the midst
of a public health emergency unlike anything we have seen in a very
long time, the American public continues to be told that the uni-
versal health care is not realistic. Is neoliberalism alone responsible
for this peculiarly unique American perspective on health care?
It’s a complicated story. To begin with, for a long time, polls
have shown favorable attitudes toward universal health care, some-
times very strong support. In the late Reagan years, about 70 per-
cent of the population thought that guaranteed health care should
be in the Constitution, and 40 percent thought it already was —
the Constitution taken to be the repository of all that is obviously
right. There have been referenda showing high support for univer-
sal health care — until the business propaganda offensive begins,
warning of the heavy if not astronomical tax burden, much as what
we have seen recently. Then popular support fades.
As usual, there is an element of truth to the propaganda. Taxes
will go up, but total expenses should sharply decline, as the record
of comparable countries shows. How much? There are some sug-
gestive estimates. One of the world’s leading medical journals, The
Lancet (U.K.), recently published a study estimating that universal
health care in the U.S. “is likely to lead to a 13% savings in na-
tional health-care expenditure, equivalent to more than US$450

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