Blog #7

The coronavirus pandemic has brought to light many aspects of biopolitical strategies. To be honest, I didn't really know what biopolitical strategies were until we started talking and learning about them in this class. Now that I know the definition and examples of biopolitics, I feel that this is a major part of society that I didn't really pay attention to until now, which is exactly what those in biopolitical power prefer. I think the virus has made us realize several things that those in power have been slowly implementing and creating systematic dependence so that the general public becomes more dependent on those in power. An example of this, which is extremely relevant to what is going on right now, is our healthcare system. Our healthcare system is one of the most broken in the world, which is apparent by how much our health care costs for the average person. This is because our hospitals are not run to provide proper care to patients, instead they are run to maximize the amount of money each bed can make the hospital's shareholders. For the past several decades, our healthcare system has been slowly trading capability (number of beds, number of patients a hospital can take care of) for efficiency. This means that instead of our hospitals being able to handle a massive health crisis like what we are experiencing now, our hospitals have instead been built to squeeze out every possible dollar they can from patients, and maximize the profit from each bed, which quick patient turn around so that each bed can make us much money as possible. This is where the biopolitics of our healthcare corporations have been systematically making people more indebted and more dependent on health care, to the point where we have to pay an outrageous amount of money for any health emergency, and any elective type of care. This is how biopolitics have impacted our health care system. I think a lot of the biopolitical processes involving grocery stores and transportation have been complicated with the coronavirus pandemic. We have seen gas prices plummet, which is seriously hurting the fossil fuels industry, which is something I am particularly appreciative in relation to the virus. We have seen grocery stores still open as well as drive-thrus of fast food. I think we have become particularly dependent on the fast food industry and restaurant industry here in the United States, and that this is another biopolitical strategy to keep the American people dependent on the food industry as a means to eat. Some people never cook at home. They are completely dependent on fast food and restaurants to feed themselves, and since eating is an essential part of survival, we see that the food industry here in the United States has many Americans depending on it to survive and eat.