Google Gemini was used to research this piece. This essay was posted on 9/3/2026.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, a key member of Donald Trump’s administration, said more than he realized when he suggested that the primary goal of improving American healthcare is to make people healthy and vibrant enough to voluntarily work an extra year before retiring. Understanding the full impact of Dr. Oz’s statement could use some background information.
Clara Mattei explains in her book, Escape from Capitalism, how governments manipulate the economic system to keep workers docile and increase the wealth of the super-rich. In the US, the 3 richest people have more wealth than 150 million Americans. This alone should concern us all. No one needs to be that rich.
The government helps the rich by cutting taxes and by making sure that workers keep their jobs. One way is to cut unemployment benefits. Another is to ensure a high enough level of unemployment. Both techniques keep dissatisfied workers on their lower-paying jobs. In 2022, the US unemployment rate hit a modern low, and it triggered a series of strikes by workers seeking higher wages. The super-rich weren’t happy.
Warren Buffett says there is a class war going on and the rich class is winning. Globally, the super-rich earned $1.7 million for every dollar earned by the bottom 90%. This class war is not just in the US. Dissatisfied workers are a majority throughout the world, making Warren Buffett’s class war huge.
Karl Marx defines the ability to work and do a job as a commodity that can be sold to a business owner, but Dr. Oz’s statement makes the worker the commodity, not the work. The last time workers were freely labelled as a commodity was during the Civil War.
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