What is Inflexibility

The author examines the politics of pain through various examples and stories that illustrate the overlapping of biopolitics and bioethics. Animal experimentation presents a contradiction between framing suffering as necessary while limiting unnecessary pain. The Tuskegee experiment in the US and the Guatemala study exemplify how decision-makers have used vulnerable populations for scientific purposes without regard for their well-being. The psychological inflexibility of individuals in high-income societies has contributed to a reliance on prescribed drugs and inadequate medical practices for pain management. These issues highlight how material progress and the politics of pain intersect, perpetuating a society of winners and losers.