It's pretty amazing to me just how much material I've written for the online world throughout my time as a citizen of this digital frontier. I had been writing a Livejournal for a majority of my high school career and a Xanga before that. I even spent some time blogging on my myspace page. It's amazing to me just how much "blogging" has entered the mainstream and is now largely profit driven (either by the author or the host site, which lovingly makes ad revenue from your writings).
Quite frankly, I miss the days when people openly shared their thoughts and ideas to an audience without thinking about the causality of posting those writings to unknown readers. So much emotion was injected into people's daily posts that it took the impersonal traits of the internet and knocked them aside.
To hark back to those days I thought it'd be interesting to share one of my myspace blog posts from last summer. It was just after I had seen Sicko in the theaters and I was deeply moved. Reading this over again and returning to those feelings, I can't help but be distressed that we haven't gone anywhere since then to resolve the explosive issues in our country the film brought up. I definitely will need to rewatch this movie soon.
(from http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=2721736&blogID=282676961)
Sunday July 1st, 2007
Power to the People
Note: this isn't light-hearted irrelevant banter about insignificant things. If your not the type to critically read or become inspired by written words I suggest you move on from this little post and continue with your average life. I hope you'll read this and be persuaded to see Sicko with an open and thoughtful mind. I hope you do this because it isn't just a propaganda film or a film filled with lies, but rather it's a film that will seriously make you think about the conditions we allow ourselves and our neighbors to live in in this country and (for me at least) provokes thoughts on how we must change this way of life.
So I just got back from seeing Sicko because I was bored out of my mind and didn't have plans and felt like seeing an engaging movie. I was not only engaged, but thoroughly devastated and impacted by the stories about our current American health system. I will not hide that I cried quite a lot throughout the movie. I cried when I heard the story of a little black girl with a 106 degree fever that didn't get the appropriate health care she needed and died due to her illness. I cried when the stories of 9/11 volunteer rescue workers were told. They weren't given insurance coverage because they weren't on the payroll of the NYFD or NYPD and were suffering with lung, heart, and emotional problems caused by that tragedy.
These people, who spent weeks of their lives searching through piles of broken concrete and twisted metal in hopes of finding a living survivor, have been ditched by our system because they don't comply to the misleading legal text and guidelines our health system lives by.
The movie also shows us life in other countries with socialized health care like Canada, France, and the UK. I'm sure it was a tad bit glamorized, but the truth is still there. Citizen's in these countries receive government-payed health care whenever they need it. They do not undergo a review to see if they are qualified under a certain coverage plan. They walk into a hospital, fill out paperwork, and see a doctor/specialist.
Why do we bicker and argue over socialized medical care? In these countries left and right, old and young, rich and poor, all (well an extremely large majority) are happy with their health care. They're not paying disabling taxes (of course they do pay taxes) or having the government tell them what doctor to see. They simply get free health care.
There's an obvious reason why our great country refuses to accept this ideal and that's simply put: money. These HMOs and health insurance companies are making massive profits (the film cited MSNBC reporting double and triple annual profits for 2 health insurance companies) by simply denying health care to people through ridiculous reasoning. That's their goal. They are a capitalist company that naturally seeks an increased profit. Why are we allowing ourselves to put our lives into the hands of companies that don't care about our health, but care about how much money they can make from us?
It seems completely contradictory to buy into a health care system that isn't caring for your health.
What I think is the strongest argument in this movie though, is the argument that in other countries the governments are scared of the people. They will loose their jobs if they don't show competence and the people demand things from their governments. In America this is a radical and far off concept. Very few people care, even less protest and allow their voices to be heard. We spend our time arguing with each other instead of thinking about what's best for everyone and demanding our government do it and do it quickly. We're consumed in, to be frank, conceded self-centered lives. This way of living and governing is un-patriotic, un-democratic, and slowly destroying our country. It's the kind of living and thinking that leave the poor to stitch their own stitches. The kind of living that throws the unhealthy out of hospitals if they are uninsured and poor. It's absolutely devastating to know that we the people have control over our lives and the lives of others. We have control over the government, over the laws that are governing us, over the people who sit in power in this country. And we take this power, we take this freedom, and we bicker about it. We toss it out of our minds as we seek material pleasures and plastic happiness. We give in to lives that are uninspiring and condemn our entire lives to a system that requires us to work till we're dead just to continue to pay to live.
Why?
This probably sounds like peace-loving hippie bullshit that will never and cannot ever be applied to the American way of living.
But why not?
I'm not asking you to believe every single fact that is presented in this film, or to become a die-hard supporter of socialism. Nor am I asking you to support a leftist agenda or vote for a certain candidate. All I ask is that you look at America critically and look at the poorest of poor, the helpless and dying and ask yourself, "is this the country I want?" Because if you're not completely happy, why not get up and change it? As much as we've been programmed to think we have no power in the inner-workings of America, in reality we have complete and utter dictatorship over it. All we have to do is stop hating and fighting with each other and come together as a "people" and make change happen. Does it hurt to try?
Please comment this post if you agree or disagree, if you hate my philosophy on American politics or if you are in love with it. If you have suggestions or criticisms.
Because caring and thinking about problems usually results in some form of a solution.
**PS- if you've seen the movie and feel the facts are bloated or false, or maybe you won't see it in fear of this being the situation, please read this analysis by CNN on what the movie brings up.
And PLEASE remember this is a movie meant to move masses into action. Of course it is going to cite the worst stories of our health system and show you the best of other countries. But it is undeniable that our health care system is fundamentally flawed and other countries have developed much better systems. The World Health Organization really did put the US at number 37 in health care in it's world health care ranking And France does have the #1 ranking. Although this IS a year 2000 report it's still relevant. You should be critical, but don't disagree simply because it's a Micheal Moore film. That would be ridiculous and unintelligent and would fuel the corruption that continues to seep into our government and way of life.
***PSS- I want to point out a quote from a blog I posted over a year ago about the conditions in Africa.
"I seriously cannot see how we can close our eyes to the destruction that's taking place on that continent.
History will remember our ignorance."
What's ironic is that a year ago I was opening my eyes to the problems in Africa, and today I am just beginning to open my eyes to the problems that lie at home in our country. I'm not saying we should divert our full attention on our own, but we must start devoting ourselves to fixing these problems both at home and abroad.If you are religious, this is what Jesus and other prophets and gods have preached and what you should be commiting yourself to.
If you're not you should have equal commitment for the health and well-being of your fellow people because what else in this world has more meaning or significance?
History continues to watch with judging eyes.
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