If you haven’t seen Michael Moore’s documentary “Sicko” yet, get off your keister and go rent it on DVD now. A warning to my fellow Americans, you’re going to be mad as hell by the time the end credits roll. Not to mention sad and ashamed that our once powerful nation continues to crumble in the midst of greed driven by the very people we elected and trust to protect us. And that is exactly why you should see this film.
“Sicko” doesn’t focus on the millions of uninsured Americans (that’s another story waiting to be told), instead, it examines the current American health care system for those with insurance, and compares it to universal free health care systems in Canada, Britain, France, and Cuba. Free systems that Americans have been warned about for decades, by our government, as being inadequate, costly, and inferior to our own. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth.
To date, I have visited 30 of our 50 United States. The beauty and diversity of this country holds its own with any other place on earth. People I have met during my travels have been kind and willing to help a stranger in need. Overall, I would say that the majority of Americans are smart and aware of what’s going on in the news. So why are these same people allowing themselves to be led to slaughter like cattle, instead of questioning the government’s refusal to create a national health care system? Better yet, why aren’t more of us fighting for one?
Insurance and pharmaceutical companies are literally killing us by refusing needed tests and treatments, keeping us doped up, and taking away the very things we have worked so hard to have, if we can’t keep up with our increasing deductibles and co-pays. Sure you’ll be taxed more for a national health care system that provides free care for every citizen. However, when the cost of supplemental insurance for family members, deductibles, co-pays, and obscene prescription prices in the USA are added up by the average insured American worker, the amounts are equal to, if not higher than, the tax percentage deducted by other countries for a system that ensures free health care, and low-cost prescriptions, for every citizen. The only losers in a set up like this would be the insurance and pharmaceutical companies, and any greasy-fingered hands in the health care industry or political office that prostitute themselves for a slice of the money pie.
We have seen our resources - people and product, our jobs, our finances, our possessions, and now our health care dwindle down to the point where they are no longer worth anything, or have been taken away completely. We have lost track of the “American Dream”, and struggle just to get by every day. We are sick, tired, and afraid that the little we have left could be lost if we don’t manage to stay afloat. Even if we do everything right, one major accident or illness could take us down for good. And we have no one to blame but ourselves.
It’s time to stop accepting what’s being handed to us and start fighting back. If you love America, then fight for it. Learn what’s going on, and how even one person (You) can make a change in the system. Get vocal - question your medical costs, your doctors, insurance companies, pharmacies, and fight back. Learn what your local, state, and national politicians are supporting, and how it affects you. Then use your voice and VOTE. Don’t leave it up to the next guy to do it for you - your one vote can make a difference. And the right to vote is there for all US citizens. Use it before you lose it because if it reaches that point, you will have already lost a great deal more.
Click on the word “Sicko” to learn more about the film and on Michael Moore’s name to link to his web site. You will find other Americans who are tired of this sick system and learn how they are starting to fight back.
©2007 Barbara Dolny