One thing I learned about creating a good argument is to research both sides. Michael Moore apparently never learned this philosophy or, more likely, chooses to ignore it. SiCKO is his narrow-minded, one-sided argument for a nationalized health care system. He uses tactics that pull at your heart strings – and your gag reflex (beware the first scene in which a man is suturing his own wound).
Yes, the stories he illuminates are heartbreaking. He would have you believe that if any of those people had been in Canada, the U.K., France, or even Cuba, their stories would have turned out differently, with the miraculous health care systems that exist in those countries. But how would the gentleman who had survived four heart attacks over here have faired in one of those other countries, where the average wait to see a specialist, such as a cardiologist, can be four months?
I find his arguments interesting about how Americans have shorter average life spans than many of those other countries. It is not due to poor health care. Michael Moore himself is a walking poster boy for the biggest problem in this country – poor lifestyle choices. People in the U.K. and France all have more active lifestyles for one main reason – they walk everywhere. I lived in London for 5 months and can attest to that fact. People over there don’t drive everywhere – they take the tube, or the metro, and they walk. They also eat smaller portions. People in America spend an extra 20 minutes in the parking lot looking for the closest possible spot to their destinations – which always amuses me when they do it at the gym.
Mr. Moore would have you believe that if you are conservative, you only care about health care for the wealthy and making the rich insurance companies and doctors richer, and if you are liberal you would rather see America become a communist nation. Come on, Mr. Moore, surely there’s room for us somewhere in the middle?
Nationalized health care has its own set of inherent flaws, just like our own system. Neither is perfect. But I agree with Christine’s earlier posting – if our health care system is so bad, why are so many people so anxious to cross the border into America? Why aren’t more people trying to cross over into Cuba for health care?
#1 by Art Ruben on July 2nd, 2007
I have not seen his movie, but I can assume he is not objective. As I close in on retirement, I (along with others my age) worry about the cost of health care, especially during the 55 – 65 year period. It’s difficult to plan financially for a benefit that’s already expensive, and increasing in cost 10+% each year. As I’ve heard it stated, we all want state of the art care (MRIs for twisted knees) yet pay only for basic care. This I believe is the key reason the grocery workers went on strike three years ago for 4 months. Money was secondary, with benefits/costs the key issue.
#2 by jeepgirl24 on November 26th, 2007
People ARE sneaking into Canada for their healthcare. People come to America to avoid persecution in their own countries, not because their healthcare system is bad. It would be nice to see more facts cited on your site.