How much is your life worth?

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The reality behind despair and health cutbacks at Christmas- A Hamilton socialist writes.

Like everything else under capitalism the mental health system is broken.

I'm having to consul my cousin right now because her partner is in intensive care in a coma after trying to commit suicide and he probably won't make it.

I know what you're thinking, well who could have known he was going to kill himself, or if he wanted to do it he would have found a way.

M wanted help- he didn't want to do this, he didn't want to die, he begged and pleaded to be admitted to the Henry Bennett centre and they turned him away time and time again.

I spoke to my mum, a nurse, she said oh yeah this happens all the time, again and again, people ask for help and don't get it and die as a result.

It was less than a week since he last asked to be admitted to Henry Bennett centre and was denied, and then attempted suicide, the reality is the system doesn't give a fuck, we all have a dollar value on our heads people.

Someone is literally sitting in an office deciding that it is reasonable to deny x amount of people care even if the risk is that one of them dies.

How much is M's life worth?
That's what I want to know.

Maybe they're even happy because the cost of his ICU stay while he dies is less than the cost of treating his medical illness over his life.

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