A Movie Review: SiCKO
A few days ago, I went to a nearby movie theater to see Michael Moore’s latest polemic, SiCKO. (He calls it a documentary, but it seems that his previous documentaries have not always been accurate, as at least one website has noted.)
As with its filmed predecessors (as well as the books he has written), this movie is a well-timed criticism of the serious flaws in the American system generally. Previous films have dealt with the American addiction to guns (Bowling for Columbine) and the abuses of the “War on Terror” (Fahrenheit 9/11).
Suffice it to say that I felt that Mr. Moore had unintentionally become a propagandist for the Communist regime in Cuba. He fell victim to one of the oldest Communist tactics: the “Front.”
The movie itself was an exposé of the disastrous mess better known as the U.S. health care system. Much of the movie was accurate, including comments (by Canadians and others) about the need to be insured before visiting the U.S., even if only for a few hours, as well as the general superiority of Canadian and European health care systems over the mess in the U.S. [The movie itself starts with a disclaimer that it does not discuss Americans who do not have health insurance, but some of its scenes do refer to the un-insured in the U.S.]
Where the movie fails, however, is in discussing the various possible alternatives to the current privatized situation. While the British health care system [NHS] is described, it is not mentioned that the British were merely following in the footsteps of their neighbors in Europe. It is also not mentioned that Canadian Medicare was actually invented by the Canadian provinces (who still run it); the Canadian federal government became involved in Medicare only at the end of the 1960s, as paymaster and regulator. It also does not mention some of the more serious flaws in both Canadian and British health care systems, such as the fact that all Canadian (and almost all British) dentists “opted out” of the system, and dental patients therefore must have their own insurance or pay up front. Likewise, it does not reflect the fact that Hillary Clinton ignored the aforementioned Canadian precedent of de-centralization. I strongly suspect that trying to create a centralized Medicare system would have been doomed in advance; one of the strengths of the Canadian system is the fact that it is de-centralized and the subsequent reduction in administration costs. [The British NHS has had a serious problem with excessive administrative costs, and has begun a de-centralization program in recent years as a result.]
While the poor treatment of the firefighters and others who fought to save lives and clean up the damage at the 9/11 disaster site (and who subsequently developed many serious health problems) is shameful, Mr. Moore’s exploitation of the issue (by trying to bring them to Guantanamo Bay, then by having them treated by Cuba) was a serious error. Make no mistake about it, Castro’s regime has not hesitated to score a propaganda coup out of Mr. Moore’s actions. Did it ever occur to Mr. Moore that his worthy efforts to obtain better treatment for these people might be exploited by those who wished to further besmirch Americans generally? Both Castro and President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela have gained considerable amusement as well as propaganda triumphs out of that. [To be fair, the health care mess that caused these heroes to be neglected was the real shame in this mess, and Mr. Moore insisted that he was only trying to seek treatment for them.] Nevertheless, I still feel that Mr. Moore was careless, and that carelessness may make it harder, not easier, to guarantee better treatment for these people. [However, I also doubt that prosecuting Mr. Moore for violating the “Helms-Burton Act” is any solution. That law was an attempt by Cuban exiles to reclaim assets they lost back in Cuba; it seems silly that an American law should be used for a problem that should be settled by Cubans themselves, without American input. The Cold War is over, right?]
What do others think? As always, inquiring minds would like to know.