My favorite major league pitcher lost another one this past weekend. You’d think at $52 million, Daisuke Matsuzaka would have a better w-l record.
Corporate executive’s bonusus are in the millions. Oil company profits are in the billions.
In our house church is a single mom with two daughters who makes ends meet by selling frozen treats out her back door to neighborhood children.
A Hummer at Lynn’s summer job takes up two parking spaces.
Ticket prices for the Grizzlies will be up this coming season, and fans will pay them.
Churches in Memphis are spending millions and millions for new facilities while social service agencies must beg for every penny they get.
You wouldn’t believe what some people spend on home entertainment systems.
The wealthy in this country are getting wealthier, while the poor are getting more poor.
“If you can find the money to kill people, you can find the money to help people.”
That last quote was from Michael Moore’s new movie, SiCKO. It is admittedly a biased look at healthcare systems around the world, focusing mainly on the U.S.’s lack of one. The movie is entertaining yet sobering. One thing you will notice is how our priorities in this country are so messed up. Terrorists at Gitmo receive better healthcare than many of our own citizens.
If you have seen SiCKO, what are your thoughts? Got any ideas on how to fix the problem?
Steve Jr said
I saw SiCKO on Friday night and was floored. How could this country — the land of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” — allow one of its basic promises (life) to be sold to the highest bidder? It certainly seems as if the rest of the Western world has us beat in this area (with regards to actually caring for their citizens … we’ve probably got them beat in boosting the bottom line of the insurance companies!). In fact, we have the 38th best healthcare system in the world, right above the superpower of Slovenia.
Anyway, something’s gotta give with regard to healthcare in this country.
It’s not a partisan issue, really. It’s a moral issue.
(by the way, if anyone is boycotting this movie because it’s a Moore flick, don’t. It’s not typical inflammatory Michael Moore, and he’s pretty much removed himself from the limelight in this one. He also stays pretty centric politically, placing blame on both sides of the aisle. He simply allows the stories of those affected by our healthcare policies speak for themselves. In summary, go see it!)
Steve Holt Sr. said
Thanks for the input. Yeah, I too noticed that Michael Moore plays a lower key role in this movie than in his past films. You might want to check out Moore’s blistering response to CNN’s critique of SiCKO at
http://newsbloggers.aol.com/2007/07/10/moore-lashes-out-on-cnn/?ncid=NWS00010000000001
It’s pretty funny.
Jon J said
I’ve worked in healthcare for over 30 years. I worked two of those years in rural Guatemala and one month in a clinic in Nigeria. There is so much I have seen and experienced from high tech to low tech at all levels of healthcare. My overall take is that healthcare should be a right and not just a privilege for those with money and access.
Most of the disease in the world could be controled with access to clean water and DDT. If you took the money that we used to wage war and used it to raise the quality of life in the world, it would go a long way. If we took the money we spend yearly on cell phones, gasoline, internet, and cable TV, we could provide free healthcare for those who can not pay.
There is something very wrong with this picture especially since, on paper, we are a “Christian” nation. We would not be fighting Islamic radicals if we spent more money and time on caring for others instead of looking out for “our” interests.
That’s why I’m at St. Jude. We are limited in the cases we will take but, if you qualify and you don’t have any money, no problem. You live deep in the Amazon, no problem. We’ve even taken on creating vaccines that no other company will touch because there’s no money in it. We are making a difference. And , you know what? The average contribution to St. Jude is about $25-30.
I could rant and rave forever on healthcare. But, it has always been a problem (blind man at the pool) and will continue to be. We live in a fallen world. Life will never be fair. All I can do are the two tasks God has put before me. To love Him and to love my neighbor as much as I love myself.
justinmundie said
One of the biggest reasons the wealthy are getting wealthier and the poor are getting poorer has nothing to do with capitalism, but with the way the government prints money to fund wealth redistribution through military and domestic things.
Since we are no longer on the gold standard, when we increase the circulation of money through the government programs I discussed above, the value of the dollar plummets causing the purchase power to decrease. Gas and oil don’t cost much more than they have in the past, but the lower value of the dollar has contributed greatly to the price increases.
Its time we got back on the gold standard so maybe we can make some inroads into elimating poverty. At least when we redistribute wealth, it will not increase inflation.
barb said
glad to hear slovenia is a superpower! thank you steve jr., but i somehow have the feeling “superpower” is not meant in a kind way, hehe. no need to feel so patronising, slovenia is a perfectly decent place in europe (you can take a direct train from venice, italy, if that helps you locating it).
) is followed by footage of some guys leg being sewn off. um, sorry to break this to you, but it’s actually a scene from a monty-python-type sitcom, not an actual er situation. it may be funny, but is also dishonest, don’t you think?
have not yet seen the film, but my american ex tells me that the hard data of the us of a being just one notch above us (that is, slovenia – quite shameful, really. i mean one expects norway to beat us, but the usa??? shocking!
there’s plenty wrong with slovenian health care system – long waiting times for non-urgent operations (hernia, for example, and cataract), and downright atrocious condtions in oncology wards, but most things actually work. take it from someone who has been a user for the last almost forty years, ever since she was born infected with e.coli at less than 3 lb.
Steve Jr said
barb –
Kudos for representing your homeland! I actually know very little about Slovenia, except that it is in the former Soviet block of Europe. I do know that many of the other countries in that region have struggled since the fall of Communism, and are just now rebounding. But like I said, I know very little about Slovenia in particular, let alone its health system.
I guess my point was not to discredit Slovenia, but to point out that the United States, the most powerful nation on the earth (militarily, diplomatically, economically, and in nearly every other way … for now, that is) has some work to do if it has the 38th-best healthcare system in the world. 38th is pretty darn bad when you generate as much capital as this nation does, and is horrendous when our very foundations are supposedly in caring for every one of our citizens equally.
As for dishonesty in the film, I didn’t see anything blatant. Yes, Moore patches together clips to make comedic points in his films, but it is quite clear to any thinking person that he is not representing them as actual footage. The film is actually quite well done … I’d recommend it!
Wayne Holt said
I must admit I am and have been hesitant to enter into the fray on this topic. I will disclose up front the tendancy to think more conservatively as I grow older. But I have three questions: 1) Who ranked the U.S.38th and on what basis? 2) I know the biblibal principals of to whom much is given, much is expected, and sharing especially with those of the house of faith, and being judged on how we respond to the poor,(on which I agree) but based upon my understanding of Jesus teaching in the parable of the talents, explain how the concept of redistributing wealth squares up? (the question assumes redistribution as a governmental policy).
3) If you had a serious illness, what other country would you choose to be treated in rather than the U.S.?
As one who is familiar with the challlenges with insurability issues and costs of insurance issues, I agree there is much to be done. But Michael Moore is my last choice to lead the charge. Using family as an example: My family may have serious problems, but I’ll not come over to your house and act as if I hate my family. Maybe that’s Moore’s calling, but I can”t support him or his work.
Well, there it is. Be gentle with me.
Wayne
Alan Miller said
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread, but in my own personal experiences through the years, I have to believe that we have to accept some individual responsibility for our choices and state in life. We want freedom to speak, to worship, etc. without government intervention, but sometimes we want the government to always bail us out when we get in over our heads. We do have many safety nets and generous people, churches and charities where we live to help us without the government most of the time. Regarding the movie by Michael Moore, John Stossel (?) on ABC’s 20/20 did a critique of the movie and found several inconsistencies. If our health system is so bad, why do people from around the world come to the USA for the best health care. This includes people from countries that have national health care systems. Mr. Stossell said that even Michael Moore himself chooses to come here rather than go to England, Canada or another country for his own health needs. Individuals (U.S. civilians and military) and charity organizations have helped many in the USA and around the world to get the best health care. Many countries of the world would have better quality of life if their leaders were Christians who were honest and cared for their people by sharing their countries wealth as they should. Almost every country in Africa has a dictator who robbed the wealth of their country to live in luxury while the people suffer. The same is true over most of Southeast Asia. Muslim countries may have a lot of wealth, but they too keep a tight control over the lives of their people. Just as Christ wants us to evangelize the world at home and everywhere we can influence, he wants us to be compassionate and sharing with our neighbors. The government would never have the capacity to be Christ to someone else, but a person can. The government nor I can fix everybody’s problems either. I am thankful what I have been given by God, but only Christ can give me the joy and real healing I need. It is disappointing to me that so many celebrities promote humanitarian and other seemingly good causes, but they do not humble themselves before the King of the Universe, Jesus Christ.