31 Advocacy or complicity?

Marx argued that capitalism had made us all wage slaves.

Capitalism tells us that we are ‘free’ to give our labour in return for pay, but in the end many of us really have no choice but to work if we are to survive. So we work to live.

Capitalism also emphasises individual responsibility and personal choice as the cause of misfortune. It rejects the idea of social determinants of health in favour of behaviourism.

As wage slaves, HCPs must promote the message of behaviourism and personal responsibility if they are to remain important to health funders/employers (and thereby earn a living themselves).

So are Swain et al^[1] correct when they say that all ‘health professionals are parasites’?