We just watched Michael Moore’s Sicko. I am about to put the house up for sale and move the family back to my homeland where there is free healthcare for all. Or France, or Cuba where healthcare is paid by tax-dollars as well. No copays, no deductible, no one turned away because they don’t have insurances, no pre-existing conditions! Sure, there are cons to universal healthcare system but are the cons really as many and as serious as those in our system here in the US?
If you haven’t seen this film I encourage you to rent it! Let me know what you think. I’m ready to vote for the first candidate that comes as close to healthcare for all as there is!
I could say so much more but I need to get to bed.
Comments 4
Jason,
We just watched “Sicko” last weekend also, and it was great! People who hate Michael Moore need to see this film and adjust their attitudes. He is really self-depricating and funny — even in the midst of talking about this incredibly serious subject.
The scariest part for me was discovering the origin of the current HMO system, the secret Nixon tape! Wasn’t that just evil? You realize how messed up our system is compared with Canada, the UK, France, or these other countries.
You know I’m a Barack backer, and he’s got a universal health care plan, so check that out
Peace,
Posted 12 Feb 2008 at 12:43 am ¶Steve K.
Steve - I agree everyone needs to see this film! I also especially liked the comments of the British fellow who spoke about democracy and how fear and demoralization keep people from voting. I can’t help but wonder what could happen if the poor rose up and voted.
As I commented on your blog you make me think hard about these issues and for that I am thankful. I’m just now starting to read the various candidates views on the issues. I figure that’s the best place to start. How many people vote without really knowing what the candidate stands for?
Posted 12 Feb 2008 at 8:51 am ¶Hey Jason, My sister who lives in Central America insisted I watch Sicko, and as one who is truly skeptical of most documentaries, I was hesistant. After I watched it though, I was very disturbed, wondering how we got to where we are with our healthcare system, and how to get to something that might actually work.
My 11 year old niece has been in the hospital 3 weeks, suffering some bizarre infection in her brain. In the midst of praying for healing, I wonder how this will affect her down the road…if she gets a brain tumor in her 40s, will ‘big insurance companies’ tell her it was pre-existing because of this?
Universal health care sounds good, and insurance that actually works FOR its policy-holders sounds good, too. How do we get there, though, without compromising? I keep on praying for an answer (I’m thinking France).
Posted 12 Feb 2008 at 10:56 am ¶I have to disagree here, mate. After living in Ireland, and hearing the horror stories of the socialized healthcare system there, I want nothing to do with it.
A man in our church had knee problems so bad, he couldn’t continue working at his life-long career of being a painter, because he couldn’t stand for very long, much less get on a ladder. He was on a waiting list for knee surgery, and wouldn’t be able to have it for another year and a half. That’s because of the socialized system. There were many other stories of people who had to have things done, but couldn’t get them for a long time.
You also can’t choose your own doctor. You have to go to whoever is available. I can’t imagine if my mother would have had to do that. She got such personalized care from her oncologist, and he knew everything about what she was going through, and even took time for personal stuff to be there. It tore him up when she passed away. The social healthcare system wouldn’t do that for anyone.
There are flaws in all systems, and I’m far from saying that our system is perfect. None is. When you think about it, we are one of the youngest civilized nations in the world, and we think we have everything right. Capitalism is going to fall one day. One day, we will end up like Europe. And I don’t think that’s such a bad thing. Just consider the people under socialized healthcare who dream of having the healthcare we get in America. People dream on both sides of the Pond.
Posted 18 Feb 2008 at 7:48 pm ¶Post a Comment