Why doctors have become glorified drug dealers
They sell it because you buy it
I’ve said before that current day doctors are glorified drug dealers — basically the sales division of the pharmaceutical industry — but I’ve come to realize that it’s too easy to put all the blame on them.
Because the real reason the medical industry is the way that it is, is because people have adopted a consumerist mindset about health.
Health is considered a good, like any other, that you can just buy through products.
Just like we don’t build our own houses, make our own clothes, or grow our own food anymore, but expect to get all these things by just trading it for money; we now have the same expectation for health.
If you have a headache, you expect to trade a few cents for a pill that will fix it. And that extends all the way up the chain of health problems.
So whenever you go to the doctor, you now expect that doctor to recommend a product or service (aka treatment) that will fix your problem.
E.g. someone who’s depressed and goes to the doctor now expects that doctor to prescribe antidepressants, not a DIY health regimen, that includes daily walks, sun exposure, a healthy diet, exercise and even talking to strangers, making new friends, maintaining relationships, and building community.
We can all agree, though, that it’s a lot harder for a doctor to sell someone on a lifetime of hard work than it is to sell them on that pill/treatment that they came in to buy in the first place. And seeing that the latter option is also much more profitable, it’s really no wonder the medical industry as a whole has moved in that direction.
Ultimately, it’s our own fault.
We should all realize that unlike houses, clothes, and food, health is not something that can be outsourced. It will always have to be a lifelong DIY project.
There are not many things in that category, but there are a few. Millionaire entrepreneur Naval Ravikant famously said:
“A calm mind, a fit body, and a house full of love. These things cannot be bought—they must be earned.”
The productized version of these things, like antidepressants, liposuction/implants, porn, prostitution, and AI-chatbots, are all hugely profitable, but they’ll never come close to the real thing.
Some things should not be productized.
Health is one of those things.