I read Michael Cohen’s article about Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth’s expansion with interest and am very pleased at the news. Most of us know at least one person who’s had a long, frustrating and sometimes frightening wait in BID’s emergency room.
I am alarmed at the increased number of cancer patients reported and, to my mind, this is one indication that our society places a higher value on profit than quality of life. For example, processing food with artificial ingredients is cheaper than using natural products; manufacturing clothing in less developed countries where labor can be exploited generates a much higher profit margin than paying people here or abroad a living wage; having too many kids in a classroom instead of a healthy teacher-to-student ratio is cheaper than hiring more teachers and building more classrooms. Our culture puts a really high value on the profit margin.
Cohen writes that according to Beth Israel Lahey Health, “Certain types of cancer that are already prevalent among BID Plymouth patients, such as hematologic cancers and lung and bronchus cancers, are expected to increase by more than 10 percent during [2020-2030].”
Plymouth has 41 sand mines. Silica dust blows all around those mines and into the surrounding residential streets; the sand escapes from the hundreds of trucks that transport the sand daily along our roads. Diesel trucks hauling sand and emitting fumes are a common and constant sight, polluting the air we breathe. The cranberry industry in our area manages to obtain one earth removal permit after another under the auspices of agriculture, despite the health risks inflicted on the surrounding communities.
Given rising temperatures, greater numbers and intensities of natural disasters, ongoing losses of animal species, rising incidences of cancer, asthma and other pollution-related diseases, it’s clear to see that we need to take a hard look at what we as a society value in life and develop some determination to change in the direction in which we’re headed.
– Linda Jacobs