There is a distinction between health care as a right (open to all regardless of employment or income status) and the current conflation of health care with disability, welfare, and work, which perpetuates the idea that some people are more deserving than others.

The book appeared with 'uncanny timing' at the start of the 2016 primary season, making it an urgent historical intervention into contemporary politics—Eisenberg's 400-year history provided a frame for understanding the 2016 election.