Sicko

I watched Sicko last night at Ryan's place. In the past I have recoiled in horror at the presumptuous and slanted nature of Mr. Moore's documentaries. Apparently, when faced with the sick and dying even the callous Mr. Moore has enough conscience to respect facts and correctly identify the proper victims. I think he may have even touched on some of the real causes here. Most importantly, I think this time he stumbled on a real problem that needs little sensationalism to demonstrate.

The most important thing I got out of this was the realization that our health care system is already socialized. And as such, Medicare and the prescription drug plan already suffer from the inevitable disastrous effects - government cooperation with corporations who suffer the irresistible temptation to screw the public for their own benefit.

This is an interesting situation. Our country was founded on the principle that we have a "right to life." If Mr. Moore isn't fibbing, our (socialized) system has actually withheld treatment resulting in death. I was terrified to see this. But, to what degree do we cooperate in order to make sure this never happens? Do we ban cigarettes because they sometimes cause death?

It's really all about risk. Do we allow people to take heavy risks in return for financial prosperity? That is, do we allow people to not pay for health coverage? If so, it seems to me we would be obligated to let the uninsured die and assume that is what they wanted. (The alternative requires taking money out of the pockets of the responsible folks anyway). Since we usually assume people do not want to die, it seems to me the rest of us are going to pick up the slack no matter what. So, maybe we should bite the bullet here and all agree not to kill each other after all.