We know that the United Nations has been accused of creating alarmist views on health and global warming to enlarge the scope of their own operations and to obtain additional funding and media attention. Many of their positions, such as those which relied on the linear extension of population growth to predict dire consequences failed to materialize. As did their positions on the avian flue, the swine flue and global warming. Operating from a viewpoint that can be appreciated by President Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, the United Nations created crises where none existed – and then attempted to advance their far-left political agenda based on the predictions of dire consequences which never materialized.

What can we learn from excerpts of a speech delivered on September 15th, 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark by Dr. Margaret Chan who serves as the Director-General of the World Health Organization? An address to the Regional Committee for Europe’s 59th Session which received little or no media coverage in the United States.

It’s not about health and medicine … it is about health, medicine and politics …

“You laid the foundation for understanding the social determinants of health and tackling them through policies that valued social cohesion and protection as worthy political goals.”

Health problems are directly correlated with government spending and wealth …

“Old health problems resurged or became more apparent, especially when government health spending dropped.”

“What had previously been pockets of poverty, or pockets of problems, spanned entire countries. The close links between wealth and health came into even sharper focus.”

Healthcare reform: developing a rationale for increased government control …

“The consequences of unhealthy behaviours became more acutely visible, again forcing a look at the social determinants of health.”

“The region responded to these disparities in a true spirit of solidarity. Privilege was interpreted as responsibility. Resources were made available for direct support to countries.”

Of course, like the corrupt UN’s “oil for food and medicine” program, much of this support never reached the intended recipients but was diverted to corrupt dictators and others who gamed the system for political advantage.

“The agenda turned to weak health systems as a fundamental barrier to more equitable health outcomes, and tackled the need for reform. In so doing, health officials in this region took on what must be one of the most critically important and difficult challenges in public health today: health care reform. You did so with discipline and rigour.”

Healthcare reform is necessary for fighting economic downturns, climate change, and other crises …

“As you in this region have noted, strong health systems are essential for weathering current and coming storms, like the economic downturn, climate change, the influenza pandemic, and the many other global crises that our imperfect world is certain to deliver.”

Healthcare reform will be necessary for dealing with the economic downturn, climate change – and yes, medical issues should they really materialize. As  side note less people died of the avian and swine flu than did during a normal flu season. So much for the pandemic that never was.

Moving from healthcare to wealth redistribution …

“Ladies and gentlemen, let me quote from one of your documents. ‘Health authorities across Europe are concerned that the present economic system does not distribute wealth on the basis of values of solidarity and equity, thus hindering improvement in health outcomes.’”

Maybe socialist or communist health authorities are concerned about wealth redistribution, but the doctors themselves appear to be concerned with real patients and their ability to effectively treat and cure these patients – regardless of their social, financial or political status.

“Precisely. This is the heart of the problem. The report of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health, issued last August, includes one particularly striking statement. ‘Implementation of the Commission’s recommendations depends on changes in the functioning of the global economy.’”

“At the time, that statement raised some eyebrows. A review, published in The Economist magazine, praised the report’s ambitions but suggested that its attempt to correct global imbalances in the distribution of power and money was basically ‘howling at the moon.’”

How did the United Nations arrive at healthcare reform as a means to correct the global imbalances of power and money? Simple: they simply stated that healthcare reform demands “redistributive change.” And I wonder where we have heard that phrase before? Listen to any Obama speech and the rhetoric and meaning become crystal clear.

“A month later, the financial crisis hit the world like a sudden jolt, and hit the world where it hurts the most: money. Greed seeded the financial crisis, which sprang out of control as corporate governance and risk management failed at every level of the system.”

This is basically a lie. The financial crisis was created primarily by government policies which demanded that formerly responsible financial institutions take obscene risks by lending money to those who could not afford to pay their day-to-day obligations, let alone the hundreds of thousands needed to purchase a home. Threatened by the risk of an audit, increased regulatory interference in their businesses, prosecution for not providing loans to impoverished areas and other cudgels, the financial institutions played along with the government. The government’s own regulatory mechanisms were ignored or thwarted by those who saw a chance to accumulate political power by pandering to the special interests. Yes, corporate greed was a factor as was the creation and trading of gambling-like derivative securities. All of which could have been stopped cold by the government’s proper oversight and enforcement of existing laws.

“In a world characterized by radically increased interdependence among nations, mistakes made in one country or one sector are highly contagious. And the consequences are profoundly unfair. Developing countries have the greatest vulnerability and the least resilience. They are hit the hardest and take the longest to recover.”

“In a sense, the Millennium Development Goals are a corrective strategy. They aim to compensate for international policies and systems that create benefits, but have no rules that guarantee the fair distribution of these benefits.”

With the corrupt United Nations as the arbiter of what is fair and equitable and the conduit through which all funds flow?

“The Goals and the many new initiatives and instruments for improving health are badly needed and doing great good. But they do not address the root causes of the great gaps in health outcomes. The root causes lie in flawed policies. This conclusion, I believe, is one of the most important outcomes of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health.”

The death of capitalism and the rise of socialism …

“Some political analysts and academics are now predicting an end to the capitalist market model and point to signs that globalization is in retreat. We hear some sweeping conclusions: blind faith in the power of market forces to solve all problems has been misplaced.”

If the pointy-head academics and political analysts were honest and not pandering to their well-paying patrons, someone would have surely noticed that the free-market system and so-called “market forces” were not so free from the manipulation of the government. Men such as Representative Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, openly regarded institutions that held sway over the major portion of the nation’s mortgages like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were actually instruments of government policy and thus should follow the dictates of the government’s enlightened politicians rather than operate in an unfettered commercial environment. After all, their market operations were guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the United States. So it is somewhat more than disingenuous to claim that faith in the power of market forces to solve all problems has been misplaced.

Looking toward the European model of political socialism …

“World leaders struggling to re-position the management of their economies have been advised to look to Europe for guidance. A well-managed welfare state is not the enemy of globalization. Instead, some say it is the saviour.”

A well-managed welfare state? Where in Europe do you have a significant population enjoying the benefits which are routinely available to all citizens of the United States? Where is their productivity? Has anyone noticed that the labor and trade unions have granted themselves a power almost equal to that of the government when it comes to imposing their will on certain European countries?

“As we know, the international policies and systems that govern financial markets, economies, commerce, trade, and foreign affairs have not operated with fairness as an explicit policy objective.”

“Too many models for development assumed that living conditions and health status of the poor would somehow automatically improve as countries modernized, liberalized their trade, and improved their economies. This did not happen.”

“Too many international systems have worked in ways that favour those who are already well off. In reality, gaps in health outcomes will be reduced, and health systems will strive for fairness only when equity is an explicit policy objective, also in sectors well beyond health.”

Human nature is not equitable or fair. In this model, pain and suffering is extended to all – sharing the sacrifice for those who are considered to be the ruling elite – people who are often corrupt, cruel and willing to use any means at their disposal to rule over others.

“Money makes the world go round. This will never change. But, as we have seen, market forces, all by themselves, will not solve social problems. The world needs to turn with a value system at its axis. We need this symmetry. If not, an already dangerous situation of vast imbalances, in income levels, in opportunities, and in health status, will only grow worse.”

The communist words of class warfare and victimization …

“Leaders in sectors with far more clout than health are making a similar point . At the April G20 summit in London, world leaders called for a fundamental re-engineering of the international systems to incorporate a moral dimension and make them responsive to genuine social values and concerns. They voiced a need to invest these systems with values like community, solidarity, equity, and social justice.”

Right out of the communist handbook: community, solidarity, equity and social justice. All charged words implying that the wealthy need to be penalized to provide for those of lesser fortune. All arranged by a benevolent governing group that is of the people. Yeah right!

“While this is welcome new thinking for world leaders, this is a familiar vocabulary for public health, dating as far back as the Declaration of Alma-Ata.”

Using the financial crisis to push a socialist/communist agenda …

“Today, a financial crisis and severe economic recession have encouraged world leaders to seek the kind of value system that primary health care has always represented. Perhaps this time around, in a world jarred awake by crises, some long-standing arguments will finally be heard.”

Healthcare as the Trojan Horse for infiltrating governments …

“Public health had no say in the policies that seeded the financial crisis or set the stage for climate change. But public health has much to say about the influenza pandemic, how it is managed, and how its impact can be reduced.”

“This is one occasion when heads of state and ministers of finance, tourism, and trade will listen closely to ministers of health. This is one occasion where the need for ‘health in all policies’ becomes readily apparent. This is one occasion when standard arguments about the need to build up fundamental health capacities in an inclusive way will ring true.”

“When privilege is interpreted as responsibility, we again see those values, like equity, solidarity, social cohesion and protection, that are at the heart of your contribution to better health, not only regionally but also internationally.”

Bottom line …

Through manipulation of the healthcare initiative, a government can secure further control over its institutions and its citizens in order to bring about social justice – a radical far-left plan of redistributive change that seeks to impose socialist values on a free society. Where government command and control systems are necessary to deal with the great issues of our time: healthcare, global climate change and the regulation of energy production and consumption. In essence, the government plans to control every facet of American life – starting with controlling your healthcare.

I cannot see a better case to declare President Barack Obama and the Congressional democrats a clear and present danger to our Constitution and our freedoms. Even as this is being written, the Obama Administration is planning to penalize those companies who do not provide healthcare to their workers and individuals who fail to purchase healthcare insurance from government-approved private or cooperative companies.

Here we have a high-ranking official in the United Nations sounding like Obama. Or is that Obama sounding like the UN official. It really doesn’t matter because both are sounding like the international socialist/communist party.

Time for a change. Vote the incumbents out of office and re-take our government before we reach the tipping point where a civil war is not only possible, but likely.

-- steve

Reference Links …

Should you wish to read the entire speech in context, including how to use the current flu pandemic as an initiator of political action, it can be found at:

WHO | Address to the Regional Committee for Europe (59th Session)

Millennium Development Goals 

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria,and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development

(I wonder how Goal 3 plays in the Islamic World?)

Declaration of Alma-Ata

“The declaration highlighted the inequity between the developed and the developing countries and termed it politically, socially and economically unacceptable.”

Social determinants of health

1. Income and social status
2. Social support networks
3. Education and literacy, i.e. health literacy
4. Employment/Working conditions
5. Social environments
6. Physical environments
7. Life skills
8. Personal health practices and coping skills
9. Healthy child development
10. Biology and genetic endowment
11. Health services
12. Gender
13. Culture