Upton Sinclair Saw This Back in the Early 1930’s

Back around the turn of the 20th Century, there were a lot of problems with working conditions in certain industries. The author Upton Sinclair wrote about the meat packing industry in particular in his book The Jungle.

Later Mr Sinclair wrote a book about his failed attempt at becoming the Governor of California called I, Candidate for Governor, and How I Got Licked. In that book he had the quote:

This quote keeps coming into my mind often when I think of healthcare. Upton Sinclair's observation cuts to the heart of a human paradox: we struggle to see truth when acknowledging it threatens our livelihood. This insight proves particularly relevant in fields where economic incentives and professional judgment collide.

Sound familiar?

It’s a timeless conflict between institutional interests and genuine inquiry.

Consider a patient who recovers from chronic pain through acupuncture, meditation, or dietary changes instead of expensive pharmaceutical interventions.

We’ve all heard stories like this. YouTube is full of them. However, many physicians dismiss them as anecdotal or placebo effects—even when the evidence accumulates. Haven’t you heard of many people putting their disease into remission? Then they go to tell their doctor and the doctor is pretty apathethic.

Why the resistance? The economic structure of modern medicine creates powerful disincentives for acknowledging alternative therapies.

Physicians often profit from prescriptions and procedures.

Hospitals benefit from surgical interventions.

Pharmaceutical companies depend on drug sales. When alternative approaches succeed, they threaten this entire ecosystem of financial interests.

A cardiologist whose patient reverses heart disease through lifestyle modification represents lost revenue from cardiac medications and interventions.

A rheumatologist whose patient achieves arthritis remission through dietary changes represents reduced office visits and prescriptions.

This doesn't suggest intentional deception—most physicians genuinely want to help patients. Rather, it illustrates how institutional incentives subtly shape what professionals are motivated to investigate and acknowledge.

The tragedy lies in potentially valuable treatments remaining marginalized, not because they're ineffective, but because they're economically inconvenient.

This dynamic extends far beyond medicine.

One of the most egregious examples of this hit me this weekend. I’m not here to start any political arguments about former Representative Marjorie Taylor-Greene. But she interviewed a guy named Joe Bannister in the last several days.

Joe was a CPA and IRS fraud investigator. However, when he started doing some digging and really learning about the tax code, he found that normal citizens can opt out of paying income taxes.

When he showed his bosses that people could opt out of the Federal Income Tax system, his bosses didn’t argue with him.

They just fired him.

Then his previous private sector accounting firm hired him back. When he explained to them what he had found, the accounting firm fired him.

It would not be in the interest of the IRS or accounting firms for people to opt out of taxes.

He opted out of paying taxes. That was around 1998. He was hauled into court and acquitted. He has not paid taxes since then and is not shy about telling people.

You can see the interview here:

I have found a lady who teaches people how to do what Joe has done. She has a community for it. I have joined and am learning a lot. If you’re interested in potentially not paying any more federal income tax, take a look at her community. She hasn’t paid taxes since 1999.

We’ve been brow beaten our whole lives to believe everything someone in a white lab coat or with a government badge tells us. But those people are not going to tell us something that might make them unemployed.

It seems like these days the tide is turning. People are waking up.