A-Infos (en) US, Anarchist journal, Intersections #5

Common Action announces the fifth issue of our quarterly newsletter Intersections. Read 
about a new free health clinic in Olympia that challenges the top-down approach to fixing 
health care. Also in this issue, reflections on the anti-globalization movement, a review 
of a certain British wizard, and notes on the increasing criminalization of sex workers. 
This issue's contents include: ---- Towards a Free Health Clinic in Olympia: Anarchism in 
Action by Brooke Stepp -- 10th Anniversary of the WTO Protests by Josh Neuhouser --- Harry 
Potter Review by Ariel Wetzel ---- Craigslist Killer: An Excuse to Attack Sex Workers by 
Greg A - Intersections is available as a PDF http://nwcommonaction.org/intersections_5.pdf 
for reading and single page printing, and 11" x 17" printing. To get a hard copy, or to 
let us know what you think, hit us up at nwcommonaction@gmail.com

Towards a Free Health Clinic in Olympia Anarchism in Action By Brooke Stepp

On May 21st, the Olympia branch of
Common Action hosted a forum on
health care with the hopes of someday
establishing a free or affordable medical
clinic in the downtown Olympia area.
This forum came at a much needed time
when the only other free clinic in the
area, the Neighborhood Free Medical
Clinic in Lacey, had shut its doors, and
other clinics that serve low-income
populations had so many patients that
they were forced to turn people away.
The economic crisis and the trajectory of
global capitalism in the last 40 years
has affected access to health care.
Traditionally, many people in the
United States had health insurance
coverage through their employers.
However, with the changing economy of
the post-WWII era as well as the
exporting of manufacturing jobs
overseas, this has become less and less
true. The economic crisis has affected
even the middle class, which previously
survived booms and busts of the
business cycle. As it deepens, more and
more Americans lack jobs and health
insurance.
Fundamentally, we believe that
everyone has the right to affordable and
accessible health care, and the
knowledge it takes to prevent illness
and disease. However, the economic
events of the last year and the failed
promises of politicians including Barack
Obama have shown us that in order
to make this a reality, we need to
come together as a community, and
do it ourselves from the bottom up.
Art by Joamette Gill
Because of this need, a group has
been working toward developing a
vision for a free clinic in Olympia.
The project is an example of creating
the world we want to see in the here
and now: a world based on
cooperation, mutual aid, solidarity,
and direct democracy.
To make this a reality, we must
create spaces for people to meet their
needs for health, safety, and a sense
of belonging and empowerment. We
will need to focus on health at every
level, from the individual to the
societal level. To achieve a healthy
world, we must also heal ourselves
and our communities, and we must
challenge corporate and state power
over our lives.
 From its inception, the free clinic
project has been an exercise in
grassroots and direct democracy,
uniting diverse groups of people from
throughout the Olympia community.
As the project evolves and grows,
Common Action members will
continue to be involved and push for
a clinic that not only meets
immediate needs, but also helps
people to empower themselves and
others.
What is the Common Action vision
for the clinic? First and foremost, the
clinic must be accessible to all
members of our community. This
means that it must have evening and
weekend hours for people balancing
the demands of work and family.
The clinic must also be accessible to
marginalized groups such as the
houseless, women, people of color and
those who identify as LGBTQQ.
Oftentimes, the allopathic medical
paradigm disempowers people and
separates us from our bodies, giving
us the idea that only highly trained
and educated professionals know how
to treat our ailments. This paradigm
has disproportionately affected
marginalized groups.
Two examples are forced sterilization
and a refusal to treat transgendered
folks among many practitioners.
Therefore we must recognize the
value of allopathic medicine, but we
must also move beyond its limitations,
and give people the knowledge to listen to
their bodies and prevent future disease
and illness. There is talk of nutritional
workshops and counseling, a lending
library, and a community garden as
approaches to broadening the scope of
services beyond traditional allopathy.
Also, if we want the clinic to be a truly
democratic institution, there must be
widespread community involvement and
support in the project with an emphasis
on building connections between existing
community institutions and groups.
Furthermore, those who use the clinic
must have a stake in decision-making. In
the traditional hierarchical non-profit
structure, educated professionals
determine services and people in need
passively receive them. However,
Common Action wants people who use
the clinic to be active members of this
project who have a say in what
happens at the clinic.
One way of doing that is to encourage
clinic users to volunteer as "payment"
for their treatment. Volunteering could
include many different activities such
as doing street outreach, speaking
about the clinic at a church or
community group, doing paperwork,
sending out mailings, answering
phones, or cleaning up at the clinic.
This type of work would help people to
feel like they are fundamentally a part
of the day-to-day operations of the
clinic and that they have a stake in its
existence beyond their own individual
needs.
Furthermore, it is evidence that when
we come together, we can find real
and lasting solutions to our problems
that work better than those imposed
from the top by politicians, bosses or
corporations. In an era when we have
seen an upsurge in faith in these top-
down solutions with the promise of
"real change" from Obama and his
supporters, projects like the Olympia
free clinic are particularly powerful in
demonstrating the importance and
necessity of collective action.
To get involved, or to learn more,
contact olyfreehealthcare@riseup.net.
_________________________________________
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