Unquestioned, Unchallenged Authority.

This concept is one of the most dangerous social constructs our species has come up with in our short and volatile existence on this ancient rock we live on.  History is replete with dictatorships, monarchies and military juntas, each with their own methods of quelling social unrest, usually bloody, usually brutal and effective if for only a short while.  One commonality these brutal types of governments have is that they are all, without fail, temporary.  None have survived the test of time or the tolerance of human nature.  As for the British Monarchy, they are no longer a ruling class but a figure head with limited power, hence their longevity as a monarchy.

In any case unchallenged authority, no matter how you package it, is dangerous.  Examples of unchallenged authority range from political rhetoric to health care paradigms, each with their own set of social consequences.  In the 1950s Senator McCarthy held up an empty file and declared that he had a 'list' of communists who had infiltrated congress and certain areas of government.   What followed was what we know today as the 'Red Scare', which dominated our nations focus for a few years until it was abruptly addressed and shut down as a gross violation of our civil rights. 

Another example of unchallenged authority is the AMA. From the early 20th Century the AMA was 'the authority' in all things 'health' related.  What drove their unchallenged status were the deep pockets of the pharmaceutical industry who had very, very, very deep pockets which they used to bolster the AMAs political strength and influence which lead to the AMA becoming the unchallenged authority they 'were'.  So long as they made the pharm money the pharm paved their political roadway ensuring that the AMA retained its perceived authority, which was being used to make the pharm more and more money.

Being unchallenged creates an ego trip and dumbs you down.  If you can say anything you want, no matter how ludicrous or profoundly stupid and not have it challenged it is easy to believe that what you say is worthy of biblical writ and spew forth inanity upon inanity until you are finally challenged.  It is usually at this point that the 'ego' kicks in and the formerly unchallenged god of all things health unleashes a verbal assault on the person or persons daring to question their god-like wisdom.  This usually comes in the form of a particularly vicious attack on the credibility of the questioner hopefully restoring the perception of genuine authority.  Basically its a bully tactic. 

Chiropractic has been subjected to this very sort of tactic for the past century.  The fact that we are still here and growing in our influence in spite of persistent attacks on our profession suggests that the 'wisdom' of the AMA may not be wisdom but rhetoric. With all unchallenged authority, challenge is inevitable.  If you are unable to address your challenger with an effective, logical argument supporting your position the only recourse is to attack your challengers credibility in order to sustain your position, which is rhetoric.  Eventually true wisdom wins out.  It may take years, decades and even centuries, but true wisdom will ALWAYS without fail surface.  Galeleo was proven right when he said that the sun was the center of the solar system and not the earth, for this truth he was threatened with death by the church who found his 'truth' threatening. Eventually he was proven correct but he did not live to see his truth accepted. 

Chiropractic and chiropractors have challenged the AMA for over a Century now and the AMA cannot and will not subdue those of us who question their motives, and perception of wisdom which has been proven deadly if profitable.  In that sense the AMA has proven itself fallible and driven by egotistic rhetoric rather than sound logic and  physiology.  Why do you think chiropractic is still here and challenging the status quo? Why would the AMA have to attack chiropractic if they, the AMA, had a functional leg to stand on?  Why do they have to buy politicians with their pimps money?

Challenge everything often. 

A pending divorce between Government and The Pharm.

It is said that familiarity breeds contempt.  If this is true, then the intimate 'marriage' between big pharma and our world governments should be entering into a bitter divorce and custody battle very soon.  Why? 

With the collapse of the world economy governments are scrambling for cash to maintain their economic viability.  Big Pharma is among the few industries who have not felt the crunch. On the other hand they are also being prosecuted more frequently for criminal activities the world governments are no longer willing to tolerate.  The resulting fines from these prosecutions have become a new source of revenue for governments, the USA has finally figured out that as cash rich as big pharma is and as morally loose as they have been, it is easy to fine them for bad behavior, without really hurting them. 

Recently the Justice Department fined three pharmaceutical companies 3 billion dollars for bribing public officials.  It seems rather massive as fines go, but it is a mere drop in the bucket for the pharmaceutical industry which measures its profit in the hundreds of billions.  So as massive as this recent fine was, it was nothing more than a show piece, for you, the consumer.  It is the US government saying 'Look at what we've done, we are looking out for you after all', when all they've done is slap the hand of a miscreant industry from where many of our politicians get funds for re-election. 

The United States congress is still relatively cozy with the Pharm industry, other nations however, are not so much.  You see, the United States is the largest market for the pharm because we consume between 50 and 60 percent of the worlds pharmaceutical production, and we are only 5% of the world population.  Eastern Europe is coming down hard on executives and their minions who recently attempted to create 'monopolies' in their emerging economies.  Many of these nations are former Soviet Block countries and are familiar with 'monopolies' at the government level. As a result they have ZERO tolerance for such nonsense.  Also, these countries tend to be more cerebral on the whole and less gullible to a slick sales pitch. 

So with the world governments waking up we may soon be seeing the Pharmaceutical industry seeking to separate itself from Governments they once controlled.  Being so intimately associated with these nations, the Pharm has let slip their secrets to those they once held as close and intimate partners.  Once this happens we will be seeing what amounts to a divorce and custody battle over the fruits of that mutual association that netted both parties so much cash.  Now that the world nations need money and the corporate structures they enabled are flush with cash, the cozy, intimate and even loving relationship they once enjoyed may soon turn bitter, ugly and even violent. 

 You see, we aren't talking mere billions stashed away,  we are talking trillions upon trillions of dollars that have been spirited away from our government coffers to pad the private 'retirement' accounts of politicians who looked the other way as our nations wealth was extracted.  Not only will there be a divorce and custody battle, but we may see once prominent figures, particularly politicians arrested, charged and sent to prison for their part in what can only be summed up as a betrayal of national trust.  Not that they will ever 'see' prison because these persons, will flip on their partners in crime so fast we won't even see it happen.

  So watch the news in the months to come and listen carefully to the subtle comments change their tone against the pharmaceutical industry.  It will be a squeak  here, and a squeak there, but eventually the divorce of government and big pharm will be dominating the news.  Should be neat to watch.