Whatever you think of Michael Moore’s documentaries (“Fahrenheit 9/11”, “Bowling for Columbine”), they do get you to think about important issues that affect our country.
I just finished watching “Sicko” and I am fuming over the inadequate healthcare system we have in America. Why are we so afraid of a national healthcare program, similar to the ones in all the developed countries? We have a socialized fire department, a socialized police department, government provided education, free library – so why can’t we have socialized medicine.
Moore interviews Tony Benn, a former member of the UK Parliament.
Benn:
I think democracy is the most revolutionary thing in the world. Far more revolutionary than socialist ideas, or anyone else’s idea. Because if you have power, you use it to meet the needs of your community. And this idea of choice which capital talks about, “you’ve got to have a choice,” choice depends on the freedom to choose. If you’re shackled with debt, you don’t have a freedom to choose.
Moore:
It seems it benefits the system if the average working person is shackled with debt.
Benn:
People in debt become hopeless, and hopeless people don’t vote. They always say everyone should vote. But I think if the poor in Britain or the United States turned out and voted for people who represented their interests, it would be a real democratic revolution. So they don’t want it to happen. So keeping people hopeless and pessimistic . . . See, I think there are two ways in which people are controlled. First of all, frighten people, and secondly, demoralize them. An educated, healthy and confident nation is harder to govern. And I think there’s an element in the thinking of some people, “We don’t want people to be educated, healthy and confident, because they would get out of control.” The top 1% of the world’s population own 80% of the world’s wealth. It’s incredible that people put up with it, but they’re poor, they’re demoralized, they’re frightened. And therefore, they think perhaps the safest thing to do is to take orders and hope for the best.
Moore interviews some Americas living in France about the free healthcare they are receiving. One woman says, “ One of the things that keeps everything running here is that the government is afraid of the people. They’re afraid of protests, they’re afraid of reactions from the people. Whereas, in the States, people are afraid of the government. They’re afraid of acting up. They’re afraid of protesting, afraid of getting out. In France, that’s what people do.”
If you want free healthcare, you might consider crossing the border and marrying a Canadian. Check out: http://www.hook-a-canuck.com/
Personally, I keep hoping for change. Just another reason to vote for Barack Obama.
(NOT paid for by Obama for America)
I just finished watching “Sicko” and I am fuming over the inadequate healthcare system we have in America. Why are we so afraid of a national healthcare program, similar to the ones in all the developed countries? We have a socialized fire department, a socialized police department, government provided education, free library – so why can’t we have socialized medicine.
Moore interviews Tony Benn, a former member of the UK Parliament.
Benn:
I think democracy is the most revolutionary thing in the world. Far more revolutionary than socialist ideas, or anyone else’s idea. Because if you have power, you use it to meet the needs of your community. And this idea of choice which capital talks about, “you’ve got to have a choice,” choice depends on the freedom to choose. If you’re shackled with debt, you don’t have a freedom to choose.
Moore:
It seems it benefits the system if the average working person is shackled with debt.
Benn:
People in debt become hopeless, and hopeless people don’t vote. They always say everyone should vote. But I think if the poor in Britain or the United States turned out and voted for people who represented their interests, it would be a real democratic revolution. So they don’t want it to happen. So keeping people hopeless and pessimistic . . . See, I think there are two ways in which people are controlled. First of all, frighten people, and secondly, demoralize them. An educated, healthy and confident nation is harder to govern. And I think there’s an element in the thinking of some people, “We don’t want people to be educated, healthy and confident, because they would get out of control.” The top 1% of the world’s population own 80% of the world’s wealth. It’s incredible that people put up with it, but they’re poor, they’re demoralized, they’re frightened. And therefore, they think perhaps the safest thing to do is to take orders and hope for the best.
Moore interviews some Americas living in France about the free healthcare they are receiving. One woman says, “ One of the things that keeps everything running here is that the government is afraid of the people. They’re afraid of protests, they’re afraid of reactions from the people. Whereas, in the States, people are afraid of the government. They’re afraid of acting up. They’re afraid of protesting, afraid of getting out. In France, that’s what people do.”
If you want free healthcare, you might consider crossing the border and marrying a Canadian. Check out: http://www.hook-a-canuck.com/
Personally, I keep hoping for change. Just another reason to vote for Barack Obama.
(NOT paid for by Obama for America)
2 comments:
Amen! What's so wrong about providing a basic service to all of our citizens??
The part I found so revealing is the incentives for physicians when the gov't is their boss - reduce the number of smokers in your patient pool, for instance. When the insurance co is their boss (and make no mistake, they are our physicians bossess!), the incentive is to treat with minimal care in hopes that the patient gets on another insurance plan when the problem comes back.
Of course, the hard part for Americans, and the reason I think we'll NEVER have a nationalized health care system, is the choice to have expensive interventions. I forget the numbers now, but the majority of health care expenses occur in the first few and last few months of life. That is something I don't think Michael Moore wanted to touch with a 10-foot poll, although I thought the movie was still pretty good.
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