Over the past six months, I have conducted an important experiment that could change the lives of many people who suffer from the same thing I suffer from: episodes of gout.
Until about 100 years ago, the disease, which is associated with the overconsumption of rich foods and booze, mainly afflicted the members of the upper classes. But with the generalization of the good life in advanced capitalist societies, it descended to the middle and lower orders.
Though gout, which can be terribly painful, affects six million Americans, one of whom is me, there is no sure cure. And the reason for this (I suspect) is not found within the state of science itself (if given the chance, medical researchers could eradicate it without much difficulty), but because of the moral attitude toward the disease.
