Unforgiveable but true
So, I've just finished watching Michael Moore's Sicko, and I've had three glasses of fine French Pinot Noir while doing so, so this may be a bit of a rant.
This country is seriously f*cked up. I'd caught glimpses of it previously, such as back in August when I had to sit through the virtually incomprehensible explanation of MCB Quantico's health care system, and last Christmas, when I paid a visit to the emergency room in Washington. But it took Mr. Moore's movie for me to fully appreciate the extent to which the f*ckedupedness permeates.
There is something fundamentally wrong with for-profit health care. How Americans do not understand this boggles my mind, as I am sure it does the minds of most Canadians/Socialists. (Yes, in case you didn't get the memo, Canadians, along with the French, British, and citizens of virtually every other industrialized nation, are socialists. Right up there with Lenin, we are.) The idea of putting the stock portfolios of anonymous, faceless stakeholders before the health of fellow citizens, any of whom could be me or my loved ones, is foreign to me. But then, as a foreigner, that's hardly surprising. What shouldn't be surprising to Americans is that their government hasn't just lie to them about Iraq's WMDs. Their government has lied to them about the cost of socialized medicine, and it's done so for decades.
As a happily tax-paying Canadian, I have to say that I resented the clips of Fox News and MSNBC pundits declaring that for a negative endorsement of universal healthcare, one need only venture over the 49th parallel. (Sure, I've complained about the length of time I've had to wait for an X-ray to be read at the Ottawa General Hospital, but I'm Canadian. That's what we do. We live in one of the coldest, most sparsely populated countries on the planet. Complaining is one of our cheapest sources of entertainment.) The notion that doctors are mandated by bureaucrats to practice in specified areas, or that the government needs to approve treatment before it commences is categorically false. In my 29 years of being treated under the Canadian health care system, both internationally and in two different provinces, the only time I've ever had to call ahead to make sure I am covered or had to deal with an administrator of any sort was when I got sick in the United States.
Sure, our system has problems. Problems that might even threaten its sustainability as it currently exists. But I trust that my fellow Canadians believe as ardently as I do that health and well-being are basic human rights.
Comments