RFK 's plan to make America healthy again? Round up people with mental health conditions in camps

[marmar]

RFK 's plan to make America healthy again? Round up people with mental health conditions in camps
Robert F. Kennedy wants to replace standard psychological care with unpaid labor on "wellness farms"

By Amanda Marcotte
Senior Writer
Published February 19, 2025 6:00AM (EST)


(Salon) Robert F. Kennedy's "make America healthy again" motto is meant to convey that he is sincerely interested in helping Americans avoid getting sick in the first place. During his Senate confirmation hearing for Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, all Kennedy and his newfound Republican supporters could talk about was how in love he is with "prevention." "We should be moving to value-based care, which includes prevention," Kennedy confidently declared. The committee chair, Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Ida., described Kennedy as "passionate" about "preventing and managing chronic disease, improving health outcomes, and reducing health costs."

....(snip)....

On Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that echoes Kennedy's lie that he wants to "make America healthy again." HHS is ordered to "assess the prevalence of and threat posed by the prescription of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, stimulants, and weight-loss drugs." But it's clear from the context that no good faith assessment is intended, as the order repeatedly cites a preordained conclusion that there is an "over-utilization of medication" and an "over-reliance on medication and treatments."

....(snip)....

Instead of letting people have drugs that keep them healthy, Kennedy's "solution" looks very much like punishing them for perceived personal failures by putting people into labor camps, which he euphemistically calls "wellness farms." As Mother Jones reported in July, people would be relegated to these "farms," where they would be denied their prescription medications. They would also be barred from having cell phones, computers, or other means to contact the outside world. They would be put to work full-time, presumably for little or no pay, growing organic food. He claims this process would "reparent" supposedly broken people, again framing mental health issues as not a medical issue, but a personal failure.

....(snip)....

The racism underlying this vision of labor camps isn't just vibes, either. Kennedy has explicitly argued that Black kids need to "get reparented," ideally in a "rural area" where they are denied most contact with family and friends.

"Treating" Black youth by making them do unpaid agricultural work isn't exactly subtle, as far as racist fantasies go. This is why it's so frustrating to see mainstream journalists, as Reuters did Friday, blithely argue there's a "clash" between Kennedy's "long to-do list" and Trump's alleged eagerness to cut back on federal spending. When it comes to Trump's fascist inclinations to "purify" a country he repeatedly describes as having "bad genes" and "poison" in its "blood," price is no object. Trump has been bragging about his plans to create a concentration camp in Guantanamo Bay for immigrants he wishes to purge. While money is being illegally slashed from research, foreign aid, and regulatory agencies, Trump openly seeks to boost funding and other resources to his plan to deport millions of immigrants, both documented and undocumented. .................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/02/19/rfk-s-plan-to-make-america-healthy-again-round-up-people-with-mental-health-conditions-in-camps/

[milestogo]

1. Absolutely terrifying.

He should be in an inpatient mental health facility.

[Initech]

6. This whole worthless fucking administration should.

[Lovie777]

2. And the cost?...................

and will they be dropped off in other countries.

[PortTack]

3. This is ethnic cleansing...period!

[aocommunalpunch]

4. RFK is another rabid dog.

Seeing a lot of them these days.

[Initech]

5. So basically free labor for billionaires? Holy fuck.

Fuck RFK Jr to the hottest circle of hell!

[iemanja]

7. There is no limit to the appalling things they want to do.

[Kid Berwyn]

8. Pol Pot Playbook

Rounding up people with illnesses and making them work it off is crazy.

[Initech]

10. It is truly, unquestionably beyond evil as fuck.

[Johnny2X2X]

9. They will take my family members away to these camps over my dead body

I will be waiting with a shotgun. Not going to happen to my loved ones.

[Passages]

11. Insane.

[C0RI0LANUS]

12. Only a true, compassionate humanitarian could come up with an idea called "wellness farms."

Soviet labor camps AKA gulags







Southern US chain gangs