I think that Michael Moore makes some good points.
Now that you're conscious again, let me explain.
Take his new movie, Sicko, for example. Now, I've basically been brought up to shudder at the very sound of his name or the mention of universal health care. And I do disagree with a lot of his points and the methods he chooses to employ in making them. But I do not view him as pure evil anymore after watching some interviews with him about his new movie. Say what you want about the man, but he has good intentions, and a bigger heart than most of us. He sees an imperfect system in which so many people in need of medical help go without it simply because they can't afford it and wants to do something about it. I know you're saying, "But universal health care would have so many problems of its own," but you can't pretend that the current system is without problems, as well.
It's a tough decision for me. I guess you could say I'm currently against universal health care, if only because that's where my thinking began and so, having not made a concrete decision, I am here by default. I guess I realize that both will have their issues.
Universal health care will be sub-par compared to ours, and would have things like women having miscarriages in waiting rooms because the lines are too long (which has actually happened).
But, one could argue that under our current system, things like that still happen, just not in hospital waiting rooms. They happen outside hospitals because the people know they wouldn't be able to afford the care, so they don't bother. Or they do try, but are denied.
One major benefit to our current system is that we've been able to use the great amount of money we've made to make incredible advancements in medical science. A lot of the free health care service that others enjoy may not even be possible were it not for people like our doctors and researchers. This is also why in America, far fewer people die from serious diseases like cancer than in countries that have universal health care. Again, it may not be free, but it's sooooo much better.
But you have to admit that the idea of everyone having access to medical attention no matter how much money they have is pretty attractive. And the idea that it is possible for someone to be too poor to be healthy in this great, filthy rich nation of ours seems borderline ludicrous, if not way over the line.
We all love it in Family Guy when Peter is describing how horrible their equivalent to our Chuck E. Cheese's is and the man behind the counter tells the little boy with 13 tickets, "I'm sorry, Timmy, but you need 15 tickets...to live," and opens a trap door beneath the kid. Well, replace the man with a doctor and tickets with money, and it's kinda scary how accurate it is.
I love what Michael Moore said during an interview on CNBC. A lady was asking him about his movie and said what so many of us have, "I would rather get sick here in America than any other country." And, to what may have been the surprise of many, Moore replied, "So would I." But then he continued, "But that's because people like you and me could afford it."
As I thought about it, it did seem a little odd that government is in charge of just about all public services except medical. I mean, they do security, fire, education, sanitation, public safety, etc. Why not this area? Again, we can go back to how private companies can make so many great developments not possible under a socialized system. This also made me think how kick-ass our fire fighting equipment would be if they'd been run by private companies competing for our attention. But then again, our military is obviously government-run, but is the most advanced in the world. Could our universal health care system be the same if it had enough money?
Everyone also talks about how inefficient government programs are because they cost so much more to do the same things that private citizens could do for a fraction of the cost. But apparently, our own version of socialized health care (Medicare) has a much lower cost for overhead and profits and such than private companies. Now, would that continue if nationalized? I don't know.
And that's how I'll end this. I don't know.
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8 comments:
I think the best solution would be to simply fix the problems in our current system. The reason why a significant number of Americans don't have health insurance is because it's so expensive. It's so expensive because everyone's out to sue the pants off of the private medical system whenever they get the chance, without any real cap on damages. As a result, medical providers raise their costs which get passed on to the insurers and ultimately the citizens. Limits thus need to be put on damages imposed from malpractice suits.
On the other end of things, availability of private health insurance needs to increase. Because the cost has continued to rise, fewer and fewer employers are offering quality health plans. Along with tort reform, employers need to be required to offer at least a minimum package of benefits - even if it just covers major medical expenses.
To simply socialize our medical system in its current state would be disastrous. With the current level of costs, expanded to cover every American citizen, you'd end up seeing very little of your paycheck after taxes.
Hm. Good points.
We need to take the federal government completely out of the medical field. The only thing the feds need to worry about is National Security in my mind. Everything else needs to be a state issue. I wonder if I'm in fact a Libertarian....hmmmm. Maybe I should work for the Libertarian National Committee.
We need free market everything dangit! Of course, the dems going away and never coming back would help things out a lot too.
If you like socialized healthcare then you can't be in favor of the Fair Tax, Mike Huckabee, tacos, Poland, stickers, cake...I think you get the picture
Perhaps you are a libertarian. Go vote for Ron Paul, you libertarian.
I'm actually not in favour of tacos. And what's the hell is Poland's deal? It's like a compromise between Germany and Russia. And like most compromises, it's not a very god Germany and not a very good Russia.
Friggin' former East Block.
Was Poland in the East Block?
Haven't you seen that commercial for Lil Bush?
While I believe Michael Moore is a great filmmaker and a shitty documentarian (and there is a difference), I'm glad he is bringing an awareness to the problems of our medical system. Working in my job, I see the proverbial shaft some of my clients are given if they don't get Medicare or Medicaid and even if they do they don't get the best options in terms of hospitals and doctors. I'm glad I have health insurance, but even with my health plan I still have to pay a signifigcant sum. I can't imagine a poor family with a really sick kid. If Robutussin can't cure it, he's fucked. At the risk of sounding like a compromise, maybe it might be good to provide guaranteed healthcare to young children and the eldery. I don't want Grandma to choose between food or her heart medication especially since her social security might be in danger. I'm just rambling now and I don't know any real answers and I just hope someone smarter than me can make something that'll at least be passable.
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