<font size="4"><br>
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;">SOME
REFLECTIONS ON THE STATE AND HEALTH.</span><span style="color: black;"> (Pedro
Luis Castellanos).</span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: black;"><br></span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;">What are we
talking about here? </span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>-Of health, of a healthy living, of a life
lived in wellness.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: black;"><span> </span>-</span><span style="color: blue;">Of the
state: </span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span><span> </span>-Of
power.</span><span style="color: black;"></span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: black;"><span> </span><span> </span></span><span style="color: blue;">-Of the legitimized use of force; of domination; of
exploitation.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span><span> </span>-Of
the hegemony of one social group that has given itself legitimacy, i.e., of the
</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span><span> </span>legitimization
of the rules of the economic and the political game.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>-Of a situation of conflict and of a
consensus with multiple contradictions around the</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>decisions of what is public, i.e.:</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: black;"> <span> </span><span> </span>-</span><span style="color: blue;">re public and private; private vs social ownership; public
goods and private goods.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>-re general interests and particular
interests.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>-re what are national and what are
international interests.</span><span style="color: black;"></span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>-re class conflicts.</span><span style="color: black;"></span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;">Some
points upfront:</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- Do we live in an era of change or are we
witnessing the change of an era?</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- An era of grave simultaneous crises:
economic, financial, social, political,</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span><span> </span>environmental, climate, food, cultural,
techno-scientific…</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;">Capitalism
in its neoliberal phase:</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- Dominance of the financial capital over
productive capital;</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span><span> </span>speculation in the area of production.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- Subordination of corporations to banks and
speculation on stock and commodity </span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>markets.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- Exacerbation of the worse traits of
capitalism.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- Weakening of the status of nations;
globalization.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- Nature at its limits.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- Humanity in danger of extinction.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- Greater uncertainty; the future is a crystal
ball.</span><span style="color: black;"> </span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;">The Washington Consensus:</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- The state is the problem. Deregulate.
Liberalize. Open markets.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- Free markets are the solution and are
‘rational’.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- Minimalist, focused and temporary social
policies.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- Dominance of the financial system.<span> </span></span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;">Consequences
of it are economic, social, political, ecological and an expansion in the numbers
of the excluded groups in society.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;">Towards a
new discourse:</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: black;"><span> </span></span><span style="color: blue;">- Again, do
we live in an era of change or are we witnessing the change of an era?</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- Returning to common sense; returning to the
same basic questions, but to arrive at</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span><span> </span>new responses.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- A new way of understanding the world and
humanity is needed.</span><span style="color: black;"> </span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;">The
transition:</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- New historical anti-neoliberal blocks are
joining in and coalescing.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>-What Unites us: a confrontation with
neoliberalism, decolonization, a new culture of</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>equity and solidarity together with a
re-insertion in nature, defense of the national </span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>productive apparatus, direct democracy
and participation as protagonism.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;">Three
major tasks facing us:</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- Disengage countries from the neoliberal
locomotive.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- Address the historically accumulated social
debt.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- Advance towards a greener and better
future.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;">Transition
towards what? Need to clarify this.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;">How does
health fit in this scenario and in the transition?</span><span style="color: black;"> </span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>-We have to make our discourse succeed and
become the lead paradigm.</span><span style="color: black;"> </span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;">Struggles
for health during the transition:</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- Recognize the complexity of the task ahead;
recognize the consequences for theory </span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>and for practice.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- Dealing with very different and
heterogeneous groups.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- Contesting neoliberalism is fighting against
capitalism. </span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: black;"><span> </span>- </span><span style="color: blue;">Contesting
neoliberalism is actually much more, i.e., defending the national state,</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span><span> </span>defending the public sector (the common
interest as opposed to the private interest),</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span><span> </span>regulation of the agents of the market through
public economic, social and institutional</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>policies, through democratization, through
fostering the free determination of </span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>people, through having politics taking an
interest in the every day life of common</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span><span> </span>people.</span><span style="color: black;"></span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>Setting the stage to advance towards a new
form of state and a new society:</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- confront neoliberalism in its financial complex
version as applied to health.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- Pay back the historically accumulated social
debt.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>- Foster and coach new social actors to be
mobilized as protagonists of change.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: black;"><span> </span>- </span><span style="color: blue;">Democratize,
decentralize and strengthen local government; move towards direct</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span><span> </span>democracy.</span><span style="color: black;"> </span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;">Some
common objectives of health policies:<span> </span></span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>-Health as a human right, universal
coverage, inclusion, equity….</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>-Comprehensive social policies pointing
towards quality of life, towards social</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span><span> </span>solidarity and full citizenship rights.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;">Escape from
the trap of single-track thinking: </span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>-Creativity and diversity; the new paradigm is
not arrived at through bureaucratic</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span><span> </span>decisions.</span><span style="color: black;"> </span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;">An open
future: </span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>-Uncertainty, need for legitimization and for
the resolution of contradictions in the</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span><span> </span>neoliberal system and also within our
anti-neoliberal groups. The latter can only be</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span><span> </span>resolved when we set it as a priority to resolve
our internal conflicts; otherwise we</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>play into the hands of capitalism.</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>-Empowerment of social actors. Participatory
management style. Participation and</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span><span> </span>mass mobilization.
Foster the creative energies and a creative anger of the people as</span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: blue;"><span> </span>political actors towards a truly new
historical wo/man.</span><span style="color: black;"> </span></font></p><font size="4">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><font size="4"><span style="color: black;">xxx</span></font></p><font size="4">
<br></font>