Sicko and SOPA

I know it’s not IT related, but I still had to write this.

Last night I watched Michael Moore’s film, Sicko. While it’s an older film (2007) I still found it quite good. While many people, particularly Americans do not like Michael Moore, and others find this film very one sided, he still raises some very interesting and valuable points about health care systems around the world. His critics accuse him of cherry picking facts, looking for the health care horror stories, and putting universal health care on a pedestal it doesn’t deserve.

“Too many OB/GYNs aren’t able to practice their love with women all across this country.” - George W. Bush.

Sicko has three major themes running through it:

1. The plight of un/under insured Americans and what the insurance companies will do once you have a major claim
2. A comparison of different Universal health care systems in Canada, England, and France
3. The plight of 9/11 rescue workers – he actually takes some of them to Cuba for treatment – and treatment they got

My Health Care Story

Last February a lump was found in my lung that was the size of a mandarin orange. I was immediately referred to two different specialists. I was facing the loss of the lower left lobe of my lung if the lump was found to be cancerous. By April, I was recovering from surgery, and the lump was found to be non-cancerous. Only a small piece of my lung was removed, and I was completely cured.

At no time did I have to do any of the following (unlike many Americans):

• Get approval from my insurance company for the procedures
• Pay any deductible to even see a doctor
• Fight with Sask Health when they dropped my coverage retroactively after discovering I had a sore elbow in 2002
• Fund raise with my neighbours so I wouldn’t lose my house to pay for everything
• Wait a life-threatening length of time
• Declare bankruptcy when the insurance company then simply decides not to pay the doctors.

Yet, for any major procedure waiting for people in the United States, they face all those challenges and more, and it will not change because people continue to vote the way they do. The power brokers in the US have the best care money can buy, they see no problem with waiting times or denial of coverage. They live under different rules then the rest of the country, and it simply won’t change until the American people decide to start voting for third parties – as long as the Republicans and Democrats have control control over the political system it won’t change.

Political Change

In Canada, the NDP will never form the government. I personally won’t vote for them because I’m not a fan of unions. However, I must acknowledge the valuable contribution they have made to Canadian politics. Simply by getting Canadians used to the idea that there are legitimate choices at the ballot box and asking the tough questions in Parliament is valuable\
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Change is hard, but it can be done. Tommy Douglas changed the debate in Canada about health care. SOPA and PIPA were defeated as a result of public uprising. The RIAA and MPAA called it undemocratic because the protestors didn’t meet in backrooms with Congressmen like good lobbyist do, but the backlash worked. It can work again for ACTA. It can work for health care. Popular dissent, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly all work. Politicians need to be afraid for their jobs.

So if Freedom of Speech, and popular uprising work, why didn’t Occupy X work? Simple – they didn’t have a clear message.No one could clearly articulate what was Occupy. Some were against the TARP bailouts, others said it was about affordable housing, others said it was about health care, and still others said it was about gay marriage. It made it too easy for the powers that be to simply ignore Occupy. They could not ignore the very targeted  message the anti-SOPA group put out.

Lessons


When looking for change, make sure you have a very targeted message. Successful leaders craft their message for a specific audience and do not attempt to be all things to all people. Make no mistake, the lobbyists always have a specific, targeted message when they speak to MPs, Senators, or Congressmen. For us to defeat ACTA a similar targeted message is needed. Just like with the SOPA issue.