I truly don’t get the mindless hatred being directed at Michael Moore across certain segments of talk radio, cable news and the blogosphere. I especially loathe when people claim that by making “Sicko,” Moore is demonstrating that he “hates America.”
Here’s how I view “Sicko”:
1. Everyone in this country who isn’t a millionaire should know that our healthcare system is broken; and
2. Michael Moore, by virtually all accounts, has toned down the political rhetoric in his newest film so it can serve as a touchstone for finally achieving long-overdue reforms; therefore
3. Thank God someone — anyone — made this movie.
Now look — I am not a “liberal” by anyone’s definition. I am a conservative person. But just because a person is conservative doesn’t mean they shouldn’t want to make things better.
If you’ve ever had to go without insurance, or have seen your elderly parents struggling with Medicare, you know something’s wrong.
If you’ve looked at the outlandish bills that come from the hospital and the pharmacy before insurance reimbursement, you know something’s wrong.
If you’ve watched the insurance and pharmaceutical industries grow to become among the most profitable — and politically powerful — entities in our country, you know something’s wrong.
You think it’s good for our economy when a small handful of pharma and insurance companies make hundreds of billions of dollars? These profits somehow justify the regular Joe having to choose which severed finger he’ll have reattached?
Let me explain something to you; our quality of life is not defined by our country’s Gross National Product.
You know what? As Adbusters puts it:
1. Every time a forest falls, the GNP goes up.
2. Every oil spill, the GNP goes up.
3. Every time a new cancer patient is diagnosed, the GNP goes up.
I’ll add a few of my own:
1. Every time Big Pharma makes a drug that treats a disease but doesn’t cure it, the GNP goes up.
2. Every time Big Pharma cures a disease, it kills an important revenue stream and the GNP goes down.
3. Therefore, for all the billions it supposedly pours into research, you’re unlikely to see Big Pharma cure anything in our lifetime. If it did, in fact, there’d probably be shareholder lawsuits!
Do you really think the healthcare crisis can be solved by leaving the system in the hands of companies that are trying to make a buck off you?
Personally, I think the post office works pretty well.
I think the public school system is the backbone of our country’s success.
And I think that creating a healthcare system that works is more important than allowing Big Pharma and Big Insurance to continue raking in greater and greater profits at our expense.
That’s the irony that exists in this country. If you question its operation, you are unpatriotic.
Yet this will only be the land of the free as long as it is home of the brave.
Be a catalyst for the benefit for others.