I have never understood why people really give a shit about what movie stars say, especially Chuck Norris. I am sure he will roundhouse kick me so hard that my grandkids will be born with birthmarks of his foot on their faces for saying that, but whatever. The only thing worse than the automaton that spouts far left or far right propaganda based on their party’s most fundamental beliefs is the person who listens to it and thinks they are onto something.

I am probably in the minority of people that think that universal health care is a great idea in this country. It is not because I necessarily like the idea of socialist programs, but we already have several socialized programs in public education, defense, and government controls or oversight of the rest of it. The people that are worried about a New World Order have little to worry about in my opinion: free and global trade is a necessity today and will be in the future. As such, there is no place for true socialism. Any country that turns too far into itself these days will lose stake in this global economy. That is, any excessive government control will throttle the ability to “wage war” in the marketplace and will find themselves with a failed or injured economy. But don’t subscribe to the propoganda that by healthcare being socialized is going to be “just the tip of the iceberg,” because it won’t be. Most of the things our government cares about controlling, it already controls. I am still seething about people’s general acceptance of the Patriot Act. I am very concerned about the sheeple’s tendency to propoganda, and I think most people are smart enough to understand, should they turn off their TV and READ about what the F*** is going on in this country.

Do these fearmongers think that our insurance companies are doing a good job? They are some of the wealthiest companies in our country, which means they make money when they don’t provide service. They even pay doctors less than what the doctors ask to make profit. And then on top of all of that for the insured to have to pay co-pays to try to discourage people from “needlessly” going to the doctor. Who goes to the doctor’s office needlessly? Do these people just like to wait or something?

The most disturbing thing about all this is that health care is such a basic need. If one’s health is not a met need, then how can one get a good education or a good job? Look to Maslow’s heirarchy of needs and just about any other developmental model: if basic needs aren’t met, people can’t move forward. Education is actually a little higher up in the pyramid: perhaps we should privatize education and socialize medicine. That way, parents would have more of a stake in the performance of their kids in school. At any rate, they would at least be as healthy as possible.

I have seen socialist medicine in action during our visits to Italy. Picture this: you show up to the doctor’s office at 7pm. The doctor himself comes out and asks you back. Why? There is no insurance to file, so receptionists aren’t really needed. We waited less than five minutes. Then we went into the office and the doctor spent considerable time talking with us about symptoms and even asked us our concerns. Total time spent for a quality visit from beginning to end: about 30 minutes. And then he gave us some medicine (not a prescription) and we left. Compare that with your best visit here and it isn’t even close.

I don’t agree with much of what Michael Moore says and I know he uses “creative editing” and whatnot, and I find myself watching his videos for a laugh or two. I do agree, however, agree with his assessment in Sicko about the state of our country’s medicine: it is definitely not the best in the world. It could be, but it isn’t. And it will just keep eroding, and that is sad.