(Gone bikin': I'm taking a personal day with full pay --that's $0.00 -- on Sunday. See you Monday morning. Keep those lovely cards and letters coming.)
The last time I attended a public screening of a Michael Moore movie, it was in 2004 for Fahrenheit 9-11. The crowd was feisty, the derision palpable, and undisguised contempt for George W. Bush heavy in the air-conditioned confines of the theater.
I loved it.
Tonight we viewed Sicko, Moore’s latest polemic, and although the demographic in attendance was much the same as for documentary filmmaker’s previous effort, the atmosphere was quite different. Ostensibly, Sicko makes the case for publicly funded, universal health care, citing models in Canada, Great Britain, France and Cuba as examples. The crowd expressed indignation when challenged and laughed when prompted -- like Moore's other films, there are ample moments of mirth -- but the overall reaction was muted and somewhat somber, perhaps because the root questions inevitably run deeper than the film's broad topic.
Is the profit motive compatible with considerations of health – of life and death? Why do we permit health care to be controlled by for-profit insurance companies and pharmaceuticals manufacturers? How is this “better” than control by much loathed government bureaucrats? Moreover, what does it say about Americans as a people when so many are uninsured or underinsured, and even those who are fully insured are subject to degradation and humiliation at the whim of corporate shareholders who reward their own bureaucrats to enhance return by withholding care?
Wikipedia offers a balanced overview of the film’s themes and includes links to opinions on all sides of the critical spectrum, and you may consult it for a more expansive look at the film.
But when you watch the movie, pay close attention to the testimony submitted to Moore by Tony Benn, the legendary left-wing British Labour politician, and later, to comments made by one of the American expatriates in France. Benn muses that historically oppressed Americans are too frightened, ignorant and demoralized to vote, when voting (“the ballet”) is in the end more powerful than money (“the wallet”).
Conversely, the American expatriate suggests that life is good in France precisely because of fear, in this case the government’s healthy fear of the French people, who’ve not forgotten what it means to take to the streets to seek redress for slights. Of course, Moore’s film was completed before the recent French presidential election and the victory of conservative Nicolas Sarkozy, who vows that there’ll be less fun and more work, although it is likely that Benn is correct when he predicts revolution as the likely outcome of any attempt to do away with current European health care systems.
Can it really be that Americans, seemingly the world’s most macho patriots, are too afraid to demand necessary fixes? Too depressed and demoralized? It’s not something that we’re accustomed to discussing or admitting, and in broaching this topic, I find Moore at his most controversial in Sicko – even more so than in staging the “9-11 workers go to Cuba” stunt that so far has attracted the most media attention.
Perhaps there is another explanation for why the United States is the way it is when it comes to health care, insurance and related issues. In a brief examination of the failed health care program early in the first Clinton administration, the list of contributors to lobbying efforts against Hillary’s reform brief scrolls past, and while it is no surprise to see the names of insurance and pharmaceutical giants, sizeable monies donated by the Christian Coalition surely elicits a double take.
Have I missed something? Is there something about being Christian that argues against a concept like universal, publicly funded health care, and in favor of the contemporary approach? If so, then why do I dread that the answer is almost certain to have far more to do with capitalism than with Christianity?
In essence, are we the only western democracy without some form of national health insurance because too many of us continue to embrace the superstition of “God’s will” as applied to ultimate fate, and to a sort of “the ill must be guilty of something” Calvinism? The people from Canada, the UK and France interviewed by Moore appear to a diverse lot, all of whom seem to share an attitude of secular commitment on the part of haves to help have-nots, sans religious sanction, which a French doctor summarizes as (gasp) “from each according to his means, to each according to his needs.”
Yes, I understand fully that a mere two hours of agitprop isn’t enough to explicate the many sides of the story. I know it isn’t that simple.
So, why am I feeling sick?
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8 comments:
I don't want to type too much here, because the type of work that I do is typically private. I can type this: I work with individuals that have, currently, incurable illnesses. Often, they do not have insurance. When life-saving medications are available, there are many times that they cannot afford them.
It is difficult to speak to a client that has a potentially deadly complication, a result of a compromised immune system, and explain that you cannot assist them with applying for state coverage because they cannot prove 1 year of residency. It is frustrating to tell a client that you understand that they have been off of meds for a year and they may have developed a resistance, but you have to apply them for private insurance (knowing that they will receive a rejection in several weeks), before you can get them on the waiting list for state coverage.
Sure, there are some things that we can do to cover gaps in medication. Sometimes the big drug companies will provide medications through assistance programs, but there are still hoops that clients must shimmy through. This is also assuming that they were able to get medications in the first place and that their prescriptions are still accessible or another physician is willing to assist them.
We are lucky, it feels wrong to type lucky, that there is a local doctor that offers to see clients without insurance. She is fantastic and kind, but incredibly overworked. Still, clients must drive in from 13 counties to see this woman. She is only available one day a week over here, because she has 10 times the number of patients across the Ohio Ocean. It is frustrating to know that there are many medical providers that will not see these clients - even when they do have insurance.
It is disheartening to realize that once clients are enrolled in state coverage that there is no funding available for vision or dental care. Thailand has a complicated health system, but in many ways health care is accessible for citizens. Currently, many people are able to access generic meds. I am not sure how long this will be true. There are many issues with patent laws concerning the big pharmaceuticals, but I will save this rant for another day.
Everyone has different opinions about Michael Moore. Mine vary. I appreciate that his films always inspire discussion. There is little chance for change when we all remain silent.
I am grateful that, over the years, when people in my family, and for me as well, we have received excellent health care and we do have very good health insurance. The United Church of Christ has an excellent plan for its clergy and the churches have been very good about supporting their ministers. So I am very grateful and feel very blessed by this. I do have a lot of concerns, however.
For one, I am painfully aware that while have have the good fortune to be well covered, many people are not. Frankly, over the years, our coverage has gotten worse. It's more expensive and covers less than it used to. We now have more out of pocket expenses. And we've got it good. Sadly, many people are under-insured or have no insurance. People each day make difficult choices on whether to see a doctor and whether to purchase expensive medication.
The dilemma for me is that this is increasing a have or have not kind of thing. Many people who have do not feel a sense of responsibility towards those who do not have. Those who have zealously defend what they have even at the expense of others.
You ask a really good question:
Is there something about being Christian that argues against a concept like universal, publicly funded health care, and in favor of the contemporary approach? If so, then why do I dread that the answer is almost certain to have far more to do with capitalism than with Christianity?
The short answer to this is, 'no.' Christianity has NOTHING to do with capitalism. NOTHING. Because we are a capitalist nation and because Christianity has been so successful in the United States, it is presumed that the two go hand in hand. They do not. Many social conservatives liked Pope John Paul II because he was so anti-communism but they fell out of love with him when they realized that he was also anti-capitalist.
What passes for modern day conservative thought is not really conservative. The concept conservatives used to come with is that you helped the poor through means other than the government. But you helped the poor. People did not go without.
The modern day conservative movement is a bastard blend of the philosophy of Ayn Rand which believes that altruism is a moral evil, and Christian fundamentalism which, in large part, cherry picks Gospel passages. Ironically Rand was an atheist and when Christians follow her non-altruism star they are not following the path of Jesus or anything Jesus taught. I really don't care of people are Randian, but people must not confuse her lack of altruism with anything remotely connected to Christianity.
If one takes the time to read the Gospels in their totality and read them as they were written, without chapter and verse, one would find that Jesus spent the majority of his time doing two things:
First, Jesus spoke contemptuously of money and the wealthy. If you were to ask Jesus directly he would, I'm sure, state that Christian Capitalism is an oxymoron. I'm not going to cite a chapter and verse other than read Luke from start to finish and you'll see what I mean.
The second thing Jesus spoke of was helping the poor. In modern days we seem to have come to believe poverty is an ethical issue with the poor being to blame. Jesus would have seen poverty as an ethical issue with the wealthy to blame.
Whether or not people like Michael Moore is not that important. He really is, as Socrates would call it, a gadfly in society. He's the one calling out that there is an elephant in the living room and we, the most prosperous nation in human history are not taking care of the poor and our ill.
Thanks to both of you for thoughtful comments.
I'm afraid to see Sicko. But I don't really have to, I'm living it's premise in more cruel ways than I care to recount. The good news modern medicine is keeping me alive past my natural expiration point. The bad news is it's nearly as debilitating struggling to access quality timely care in our system as it is being critically ill. I couldn't afford my private insurance when i got sick and the premiums skyrocketed but was able to get Medicare so I have the "safety net" program but I don't feel that safe.
Another point raised in the film by ordinary people and medical staffers from Canda, the UK, FRance and Cuba is this: Imagine the boon to healing and wellness afforded by the absence of stress over how one will be able to pay for it.
Where's HB when we need him?
Also imagine the potential creative and economic boon. How many people remain in unproductive and unsatisfying jobs and situations simply to keep health benefits?
The inability to pay for health care stifles entrepreneurialism and progressive risk taking, especially amongst those whose medical records tag them with a preexisiting condition.
And why should we that do not go to the doctor per a couple times of year for tick removal or some other need to seek immediate care, but pay premiums year in year out not be compensated for being healthy and practicing true wellness instead of those whom are over weight and practice vices that harm their bodies such as smoking and bad food choices, etc. Not disrespecting others choices in lifestyle mind you.
My wife and I have really thought of just doing the out of pocket thing for our petty visits, but then what about major medical when it my be needed, hopefully never...
Ed...your health can be good for a long time, or you could get lucky and live a long illness free life, but when something does happen, you'd be amazed at the cost, the options, the costs, astronomical because we have all this fancy miracle medicine available in this country.
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