Like many other professionals in natural health, I'm not in favor of Michael Moore's solution for the health care dilemma. That may surprise you.
The angry little boy in me would like to throw rocks at the insurance companies that deny access to health care, or at the government when they fail to protect us, or at the pharmaceutical companies when they make too much profit. But that really isn't helpful. I think it actually retards the solution instead of promoting it.
What Michael Moore proposes is:
Moore's proposal assumes that access to the current medical system is a good thing. But, the existing health care system in the United States is killing many of us who are already covered by medical insurance. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, doctors and nurses are the third leading cause of death. Do we really want to expand the access to such a broken system?
Solving the problem of health care all around the world isn't just a matter of getting insurance coverage for those who need medical help. It must also address the wellness needs of all people everywhere.
Half the people in the world live on less than US$2 per person. Caring for them using pharmaceuticals or surgeries after they're sick is not an option; there's no conceivable way that extreme medical interventions can be provided at an affordable cost. Even if governments take it upon themselves to provide health services, the economics and logistics of serving the bulk of humanity will limit the success.
Even in rich countries like the USA, the economics of a one-payer health care system are impossible if our government only pays for expensive medical interventions and doesn't pay for wellness. Reducing the cost of pharmaceuticals and medical care as Moore suggests can never go far enough to solve the problem.
Wellness care is the answer. You change the oil in your car regularly rather than replacing the engine every few years due to lack of fresh oil. You paint your house rather than replacing the siding every decade or so. In many areas of life, including health care, it is more cost-effective to prevent problems than to solve them.
The medical establishment promotes their version of "preventive medicine." By this they mean going to a doctor to see if you're already sick. They do not mean educating patients about wellness. They don't mean preventing disease--they just want to find the disease early enough that it isn't too hard to remove the symptoms. This is not preventive medicine; it's just prompt treatment.
By wellness we mean actually assisting people to live a lifestyle in which they don't get sick. Wellness involves diet using the products of a food industry that provides sufficient nutrition without excess sugar, fat and salt. Wellness involves movement and exercise, proper rest and inspiring entertainment.
What we really need is the Golden Rule applied to every aspect of government and industry. Christ, Muhammad, the Buddha and Bahá'u'lláh have all said in one way or another, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Every agrobusiness, every school teacher, every grocer, every government regulator and food inspector, as well as every doctor and nurse must be looking out for the wellness of the citizens when considering the quality and content of the services that they provide. This requires a fundamental change in our approach to society.
Capitalism is a legitimate tool that provides business with funding, but the businesses can't ignore their moral responsibilities so as to promote capitalism. Capitalism isn't the goal, it is only a tool for the promotion of an effective and just society--that's the goal. In any society that puts wealth above the health of the population, economics has become a false god.
Wellness is a moral issue. Economical medical intervention when wellness fails is a moral issue. To decide that any human being will remain sick because they don't have money is a moral issue.
I don't have a quick solution to the health dilemma. I don't know how to change the morality of the thousands of companies and government officials who have a part to play in solving the problem. It seems to me that it is more of a spiritual problem than an economic one. Governments, by themselves, aren't especially good at solving spiritual problems.
Michael Moore's movie fails to rise above the simplistic solutions. There's an old saying, "If something isn't working don't do it harder." Sicko asks us to take a failed system and just do it harder.
I think the answer, whatever it is, will come from you and I talking about it to everyone we know and eventually the spirit of the Golden Rule will be stronger than the spirit of profit.
Dr. Ron
The angry little boy in me would like to throw rocks at the insurance companies that deny access to health care, or at the government when they fail to protect us, or at the pharmaceutical companies when they make too much profit. But that really isn't helpful. I think it actually retards the solution instead of promoting it.
What Michael Moore proposes is:
- Every resident of the United States must have free, universal health care for life,
- All health insurance companies must be abolished, and
- Pharmaceutical companies must be strictly regulated like a public utility.
Moore's proposal assumes that access to the current medical system is a good thing. But, the existing health care system in the United States is killing many of us who are already covered by medical insurance. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, doctors and nurses are the third leading cause of death. Do we really want to expand the access to such a broken system?
Solving the problem of health care all around the world isn't just a matter of getting insurance coverage for those who need medical help. It must also address the wellness needs of all people everywhere.
Half the people in the world live on less than US$2 per person. Caring for them using pharmaceuticals or surgeries after they're sick is not an option; there's no conceivable way that extreme medical interventions can be provided at an affordable cost. Even if governments take it upon themselves to provide health services, the economics and logistics of serving the bulk of humanity will limit the success.
Even in rich countries like the USA, the economics of a one-payer health care system are impossible if our government only pays for expensive medical interventions and doesn't pay for wellness. Reducing the cost of pharmaceuticals and medical care as Moore suggests can never go far enough to solve the problem.
Wellness care is the answer. You change the oil in your car regularly rather than replacing the engine every few years due to lack of fresh oil. You paint your house rather than replacing the siding every decade or so. In many areas of life, including health care, it is more cost-effective to prevent problems than to solve them.
The medical establishment promotes their version of "preventive medicine." By this they mean going to a doctor to see if you're already sick. They do not mean educating patients about wellness. They don't mean preventing disease--they just want to find the disease early enough that it isn't too hard to remove the symptoms. This is not preventive medicine; it's just prompt treatment.
By wellness we mean actually assisting people to live a lifestyle in which they don't get sick. Wellness involves diet using the products of a food industry that provides sufficient nutrition without excess sugar, fat and salt. Wellness involves movement and exercise, proper rest and inspiring entertainment.
What we really need is the Golden Rule applied to every aspect of government and industry. Christ, Muhammad, the Buddha and Bahá'u'lláh have all said in one way or another, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Every agrobusiness, every school teacher, every grocer, every government regulator and food inspector, as well as every doctor and nurse must be looking out for the wellness of the citizens when considering the quality and content of the services that they provide. This requires a fundamental change in our approach to society.
Capitalism is a legitimate tool that provides business with funding, but the businesses can't ignore their moral responsibilities so as to promote capitalism. Capitalism isn't the goal, it is only a tool for the promotion of an effective and just society--that's the goal. In any society that puts wealth above the health of the population, economics has become a false god.
Wellness is a moral issue. Economical medical intervention when wellness fails is a moral issue. To decide that any human being will remain sick because they don't have money is a moral issue.
I don't have a quick solution to the health dilemma. I don't know how to change the morality of the thousands of companies and government officials who have a part to play in solving the problem. It seems to me that it is more of a spiritual problem than an economic one. Governments, by themselves, aren't especially good at solving spiritual problems.
Michael Moore's movie fails to rise above the simplistic solutions. There's an old saying, "If something isn't working don't do it harder." Sicko asks us to take a failed system and just do it harder.
I think the answer, whatever it is, will come from you and I talking about it to everyone we know and eventually the spirit of the Golden Rule will be stronger than the spirit of profit.
Dr. Ron
