Originally posted by Diki:
Unfortunately, the education of its' citizens and the health of the nation is in the hands of private 'for profit' corporations. And what is the PRIMARY goal of a corporation..? Yep. PROFIT. If it is more profitable to only cover the few the proud, the rich, that is what will happen. If it is more profitable to only educate the rich, that is what will happen (and has).
I disagree on education and health care being in the hands of private corporations. Most of the US born and raised members of this forum, I'd wager experienced public school education. Further, many of us have received post HS degrees from Public Colleges and Universities. I think you're referring to the "best" education experiences being private, which many would agree with you on.
The basic problem we have with the debate is pride. The lists of where we stand in the world with regard to life expectancy, access to health care, literacy, infant mortality, and a plethora of other categories up to and including 'quality of life' have us WAY down the list. Yet, you ask just about ANY American where he THINKS the USA is, and you will hear a universal 'USA... #1! Hell yeah!'
You and I are singing the same song when you refer to the many different metrics that show the US system in a very poor light. We divert when it comes to the basic problem of the debate. You say its Pride and perhaps blinding Nationalism. I think its moreso ignorance and gullability. People still believe there will be death panels. People still believe that Gov't is going to "takeover" all health care. The din from mostly the right has acted like feedback out of a Bose L1 system. The very clear signals are still there, but the overwhelming shrill of the feedback has mostly drowned it out. People won't often take the time to educate themselves about issues. There seems to be a malaise in our country. People know some things aren't the way they should be, but won't act in a thoughtful manner. If a guy like me, with a 2 yr. Associates of Arts in Theatre and Music from Allegheny Community College and a BSBA in Marketing from Robert Morris College in Pittsburgh can muddle through this stuff, asking questions when I don't understand something and read/watch content from both sides, well...anyone can.
Maybe we're not earnest enough anymore. People find comfort in crowds but not necessarily accurate info. I think too many people in the US think party affiliation or favorite talk show guy and then develop their thinking from that point outwards, which of course is just not an efficient way to develop a thought or understand an issue.
Look at the outrage at Michael Moore and 'Sicko'... Rather than indignation at how he MIGHT be not showing everything in its' BEST light and a grudging acknowledgment that there MIGHT be some things in it that actually ARE true, why is the indignation not there for the things that ARE true? Surely there are sufficient for even the most patriotic flag-waver to reevaluate his unquestioning acceptance of the status quo?
Because its easier to make fun of some fat-ass than educating yourself on the pros/cons of his movies. Checking his statements, verifying his allegations, etc. Who wants to do that? People want entertained. They don't want to have to do 20 hours of research to decide if they liked the movie or not, right?
Moore f*cked up. He wanted his work to be considered in a serious way, but he has not carried himself as such. To most people, I think Moore is known as, "Oh yeah...that fat guy with the baseball hat who makes movies and pissing people off." Mostly accurate, its his fault they view him that way. His movies are cheap efforts at viewing various problems in the US. He does it on the cheap and very sensationally. Cherry picking the sexiest examples he can find and then portraying those in less than a fully fair context.
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Bill in Dayton
[This message has been edited by Bill in Dayton (edited 09-20-2009).]
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