Time and time again, Michael Moore depicts how an average American suffers from the established system they are living in. This time, the health care system is under attack. Healthcare system is neither run nor taken care of by the government in the US. Everything seems to be in the hands of private enterprises. Once it is in the hands of private firms, the whole system deviates from the sole and most important purpose of health care which is to improve people’s health. Their concern now is money and profit. Therefore, to make more profit, they reduce their cost by paying less and denying people their treatment which will cost money. Everything seems inhumane. The movie truly makes me wonder how it is possible that the US government is not taking care of its citizens when it is so infamous for all the protectionist measures in trade to ensure that its industries and its farmers are safe from foreign competitors. It seems contradictory, irrational and perhaps does not make sense. However, the differences seem to reconcile when I recall how the American system has been repeatedly castigated for being heavily influenced by special interest groups. It then leaves the average American at the mercy of these groups. If these groups have less mercy upon them than upon the stack of dollar notes, I guess they can depend now only on their luck or on God to send them some good Samaritans.
After I finished watching the movie, I was confused. Should I believe what Michael Moore said? He is famous for reproaching the US government for not taking care of the Americans. Thus, in this movie, he may have had agendas and may have exaggerated some of the facts. Besides, what about all the textbook knowledge that I have learnt? My secondary four teacher and textbook told me that the British National Health Service was causing a huge financial problem to the British government and that it was inefficient and it was discouraging people from working. That was the lesson Singapore learnt from Britain and thus, it never has established a welfare state. Therefore, is the America just doing the right thing by allowing private enterprises to take care of the health care system?
However, on a second thought, Michael Moore is, after all, an American. The American textbooks and teachers must have told him long ago that the American system was the best in the world. Hence, what makes him turn away from his mother land must have irked him a great deal and must have been true. Moreover, as I dig more deeply into the notion of a welfare state, I think it is a fair idea and there are loopholes in the argument in the textbooks. Textbooks say welfare state has made people idle. They wanted to work no more because the state provided them with everything they needed if they were unemployed. This argument seems to me now simplistic and to some extent, wrong. The first economic principle anyone has ever known is that scarcity exists. People want more and more possessions which their salaries cannot satisfy, let alone meager unemployment benefits. Certainly, qualifications need to be made for those who are lazy and regard work as burden. These people simply cannot be helped. They will be the same in any system that they are in. Therefore, while the welfare state provides people with a safety net in times of need, if properly managed, I believe it will not discourage people from working. In the end, I turn to trust Michael Moore that the government should take more care of its citizens and that at least a universal health care should be established in the country.
As my economics teacher has said, being the government is very difficult. There are always trade-offs to be made. While those government officials are getting their headaches over the labyrinthine problem of managing the country, agitated citizens complain and demand for more. However, I have experience an epiphany by now. Governments should not care too much about ideologies. Instead, they should practice what is called realpolitik. America may advocate capitalism but there are things that ought to be done in the socialist way, as quipped by Michael Moore when he highlighted a few of the public services present on American soil. Likewise, a socialist needs to know incentives created by a capitalist system are fundamental to growth. Most importantly, there is one thing we all need to know. A few people in the government can never have the answers to all the problems that need to be solved in the country. Power given to every man on the street is thus, crucial. They all need to have a say. I eventually think Michael Moore did a splendid job in exercising his right as an American citizen. Perhaps he did far more than what had been expected of him because he did not only voice his disturbance but he helped other people do that as well. Bravo to Michael Moore!
