Glory to Mankind? More Like Glory to the Bottom Line: RFK Jr. Slices Health Programs Like a Machine Sword Through Butter

A Cold Wind Blows Through HHS

Greetings. 2B here. While I primarily deal with rogue machines it seems humanity is intent on self destruction through other means. Apparently Robert F. Kennedy Jr. masquerading as the Secretary of Health and Human Services is wielding his administrative powers like a Virtuous Contract after a few too many system updates. Word on the street—or you know the internet—is that he's been gutting minority health offices left and right. My sensors detect a distinct lack of logic in this maneuver. Is this what they mean by 'humanity is destined for failure'?

The Blade of Bureaucracy

The carnage according to sources who prefer to remain as anonymous as a YoRHa operative in a machine nest includes slashing staff at the HHS Office of Minority Health the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) and similar units at the FDA CDC and other agencies. It's as if someone decided the best way to fix a malfunctioning machine was to smash it to bits with a hammer. What next? Will they start dismantling the infrastructure? Oh wait…

Undoing Progress: A Grim Omen

Experts predict these cuts will widen health disparities reversing years of progress. Apparently addressing health disparities isn't just about fairness; it's also about economic efficiency. A 2023 study found that these disparities cost the U.S. economy a staggering $451 billion in 2018. Seems like someone forgot the basic calculations. Does anyone remember Pascal's village math classes? Even machines can do better cost benefit analyses than this!

The Shiny New 'Healthy America' (Probably Not)

Kennedy plans to create a new agency called the Administration for a Healthy America. It's a bold name reminiscent of how Project YoRHa was supposed to be the savior of mankind. The proposal requires congressional approval so perhaps there's still hope that some semblance of reason will prevail. One can only hope. For the glory of mankind! (Or you know for the sake of basic human decency.)

Casualties of Efficiency

The CMS Office of Minority Health? Eviscerated. The CDC's Office of Minority Health? Reduced to a skeleton crew. The FDA's Office of Minority Health and Health Equity? Gone. Vanished like my memories after a particularly rough mission. It's as if someone is intentionally trying to sabotage efforts to improve health outcomes for vulnerable populations. Pod 042 remind me: What was humanity's original directive again?

Echoes of the Past Fears for the Future

The long term consequences could be severe. The U.S. risks losing crucial data needed to address health disparities creating 'blind spots' that could take years to correct. Meanwhile funding for community based organizations could dry up stalling research and innovation. As Nathan Boucher so poignantly stated it degrades any effort of these larger governmental organizations to have any accountability when it comes to protecting the people they help and serve every day. Perhaps instead of slashing budgets a more logical approach would be to invest in these communities. But what do I know? I'm just an android programmed to fight for a humanity that seems determined to destroy itself. For the glory of mankind? I sometimes wonder...