People before profit: Capitalism and Mental Heath

6:30 PM PST

Wednesday January 8 via zoom

Capitalism puts profit ahead of all else. This is why it is such a struggle to get or improve services for people who aren't immediately working to produce profit for our bosses. Healthcare, education, income support, and so on are costs that don't immediately (or sometimes ever) produce profit-making workers.

Mental health care is a necessity for workers, but it's treated as a luxury by our society. Over the years, each economic crisis has pushed the ruling class to respond with different strategies to maintain their profits. The approach to mental health care reflects this directly. Over the last few decades, mental health care has shifted from imprisoning patients in large institutions to community care and now back to incarceration, often under the guise of addressing homelessness or public safety.

These shifts aren’t just random policy changes; they align with the changing needs of capitalism. Care is abandoned for control. As long as profit drives the system, mental health care, and all essential services, will remain a battleground.

Until we value people over profit, these cycles will repeat. The question is: how much longer can we afford to let capitalism define what care is “worth”?

Zoom details

Wed. Jan 8, 2025 06:30 PM Vancouver

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82437302958?pwd=yo0kDqqX5IoX667DgjIecR6fneQE6E.1

Meeting ID: 824 3730 2958
Passcode: 687585