Imagine you were an alien from outer space who came down to visit the U.S. and went back to your planet’s leaders to explain what was going on. “Well,” you might say. “They have this really weird system. Mostly they produce stuff to make everyone sick, then they produce stuff to make them well.”

“That is weird,” your wise and all-knowing leader might concur. “Why don’t they just stop producing stuff that makes people sick in the first place?”

You shrug. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s because they haven’t figured out a way to make any money keeping people well.”

You don’t have to be from outer space to know something is messed up here. Read one observer’s opinion in “Big,” this month’s The Drift.