SiCKO, etc

Jayson, my mother, and I went to see SiCKO this afternoon. It was an interesting movie to say the least. I didn't really learn anything that I didn't know before, but then I think I'm better informed than the majority of people in the country. What I did enjoy was the really cogent arguments that Moore put together using real-life stories to make the points. He painted a pretty sad and bleak picture of health care in this country which is something I've known about for years. Even more interesting than the movie was the reaction of the people in the audience. At various points throughout the movie there was scattered spontaneous applause when a very strong point was made. There were also audible gasps several times from people sitting nearby at various times during the film. It's hard to really break it all down into a couple of paragraphs, but it IS really sad what level the condition of health care in this country has sunk to. It's so often only about a few people making obscene profits at the expense, and sometimes lives, of people who are relying on the insurance companies to keep them healthy. There was an excellent point made in the movie that the government also benefits from everyone except for the top 1% being in debt, worrying about losing their jobs (and therefore their insurance), and worrying about keeping themselves healthy. If we're so concerned with these things, we're not going to even consider rocking the boat or trying to affect major changes in the system. We're too concerned with our own issues and making sure we keep our heads above water. As a person being interviewed in the film says, people in debt are desperate and desperate people don't vote. It's obvious that it's not going to get any better as long as the insurance companies and drug companies keep controlling the government. The insurance companies lobby, and pay off, government officials to keep they system in place and the system keeps the government officials in power. There was also an amazing comparison between a US doctor who had been employed by the insurance companies and a doctor currently employed by NHS in the UK. The US doctor pointed out that bonuses were paid to people who denied the most claims while the UK doctor said he receives extra money by keeping people healthy with smoking cessation programs, etc. What a difference and it really showed that we don't have health care in this country. If anything it's only health repair, and then not always that.

In other news we've been having fun with Mom. Had a great dinner tonight and lots of stimulating conversation, as always. She and I are driving out to Roslyn (where the TV show Northern Exposure was filmed) and will make a stop at Snoqualmie Falls on the way out or back. Should make for a nice day trip and she's wanted to check our Roslyn for a while now. I'm going to enjoy simply having three days off work next week! Sadly I'm not getting any time spent with the violin this week, but that will be up to my instructor to work on come Wednesday.