As i was relaxing here at home on this christmas eve, having just tucked in my son and finished watching my nightly dose of stargate sg1, I was flicking through the channels and saw the movie Sicko, by Michael Moore on. Now I have never seen this but did see his appearance on oprah when he brought it out, but I have seen his other movies, and I must admit I do not know why many americans hate him so much, he only shows you the bare naked truth of what is going on under the skin of your country.
So I decided to watch it, and as I watched it I cried, I cried for the 98% of americans who are not taken care of by their government.. I cried for the vets who defended the so called freedom of america and yet are dying with no health care, I cried for the 911 responders who had to go to cuba to get free medical help..... I am still crying.. I once thought america was the greatest nation on earth, however, after the events of 911, the iraq war, the bush administration and all of the many many many horrible things that occur because of the u.s government, I had began to doubt this, however there was still this nostalgic belief that the U.S was still somehow a magnificient country..... Sicko has just brought that fantasy crashing back down to earth.
I am so sorry if this hurts any of our american freinds here on this site, sometimes the truth of something does hurt when first realised.... but yours is no longer the greatest country on earth, it is far far from it, you live in one of the worst countries in the world...
I have the privelledge (sp) of knowing that no matter how sick my child gets, no matter what time of the day or night, I can call an ambulance (paid for from an extra $2.00 per quarterly bill added to our electricity bill which every australian household pays, so every australian no matter where they are gets free ambulance) have them take him to the hospital and recieve the best care he can be given and then take him home when he is well and recieve no medical bill.
Our medicare system is paid for jointly by the governement and by a percentage of each persons wage, a levy each year, depending on how much you earn, which is part of our taxes. This comfort, I took for granted, until tonight... it may not be as good as the french medical system here, they even pay for preventative measures, but at least I do not have to worry about having health care for the basics (private health insurance is for the preventative stuff and alternative treatments like accupuncture, massage etc and for elective surgery, things that are non life threatening) Yes there are waiting times for some treatments and certain surgeries, but its free and if its an emergency its taken care of.
My children can go to university without me or them having to go into massive amounts of debt, our system of paying for education gives them a loan to go to uni, then when they become employed in the feild they studied then they start to pay it back, the percentage based on what they ear. If they dont get a job in that field straight away they dont start paying it back.
Why is it that so many countries around the world with way less populations than america, can the government afford to give its citizens free quality healthcare... here in australia we have some of the leading doctors in their fields in the world.. you have around 400 million people, we have around 30 million, yet you cant get a free inhaler for athsma and we can.... there is something wrong with your country, something very wrong..
If you have not seen Sicko by Michael Moore and you are an american, I suggest you do so, and if its been a while since you watched it, i suggest you watch it again.... and then I suggest, after you stop crying, that you start to make some noise in your country... start demanding healthcare from the government.... THEY WORK FOR YOU..... not the other way around... and try to bring america back up to the top of the world list.
My heart is so sad for every american citizen who is being treated worse than a terrorist in gitmo, they at least get full medical treatment, state of the art in fact, at the expense of the american government, which, oh yes, gets its money from you!... the very citizen who cant afford to take their child to the doctor.... ITS DISGUSTING
My christmas wish this year will not be for peace on earth, but for courage and determination to arise in the hearts of american citizens so that they may stand up and demand that the government that works for them finally starts to take care of them... I wish for you the peace and the comfort that I go to bed with every single night.. because without that, how can you be healed spiritually, how can you lead the world, how can you be an example to others....... this is my wish for you this christmas...
and if that doesnt work you can always move over here.. we have plenty of room and you are most welcome :)
