Response essay of 'Sico' by Michael Moore

Word count 711

Michael Moore has made a career of producing films that make political statements. Sicko, his latest film was meant to address the health care crisis that is a hot topic in America today. Mr. Moore chose a light-hearted approach peppered with seriousness, sadness and anti-American sentiment. He crossed the globe to make the point that the universal health care system, used in other countries, is a far superior system than what is used in America. Questioning citizens from Canada, Britain, France, and even Cuba, Moore’s objective was to establish that the wait, quality, and cost of health care under those countries’ systems were to be desired and adopted here in the US.

Without much delay Mr. Moore tried to connect with lower class Americans. Identifying the lower class white male without health insurance who severed two of his fingers, Moore explained how the man had to choose which fingers he wanted to save because he was too poor to pay to have both reconnected. If that story does not pull at your heart strings, then the story of the older couple, who had to file bankruptcy and move into the storage room of their unwilling grown daughter, because they lost everything due to medical expenses, will. The assertion that super expensive medical care opposed to free medical care is preferred is almost a nonissue. Unless you understand that nothing is truly free. Socializing medicine is not the only alternative.
In the film we, the viewers, watched as Mr. Moore accompanied a French doctor as he made house calls. What a revolutionary idea! In fact, home visits are not a new idea and would strive better under a free market system rather than a socialist one.

Doctors and patients would have the freedom to determine pay, and demand would keep doctors competitive. This point leads me to an organization that Mr. Moore mentioned in the film- the American Medical Association. This group deserves a little credit for the “health care crisis” that we find ourselves in. What with capping the number of students that medical schools will take makes the ratio of doctor-to-patient unbelievably skewed. No matter how noble doctors are the law of supply and demand works in the medical field just as well as in any other field. Raise your hand if you want to be a doctor. Mr. Moore also documented a conversation where President Nixon seemed to be selling the American people to a greedy business man who started the HMO mess. I don’t cast much doubt on the point that he was making, yet his argument is so laughable. His argument is that the “government” screwed us over so we need more “government” (universal, national, controlled by the government healthcare) to rescue us from the mess that the “government” got us into. I’m a little dizzy trying to stay on that merry-go-round. I will give him credit for pointing out that the government does a crummy job helping people.

It was apparent to me from the beginning of the film that Michael Moore did not share my ideas. I have friends who: sew their own stitches, change their own radiator and toilets, work several jobs, pay for their own health care, and would think it an insult if someone were to tell them that they “should be kicking back on a beach somewhere”-both woman and men, young and old. I would ask my fellow Americans who would desire to go to France so that the government nanny could cook the food and do the laundry, are you truly comfortable with laying your life wide open for the government to look in? A better question would be; would you like an IRS official cleaning your house? Or perhaps having a DSS worker babysitting for you would be more appealing? Unlike others that I know, I am for trading with Cuba, and Moore was right to bring to light how inexpensive medicine is there. Was there a sleight of hand involved? I’m not sure; however I do know that the value of currency plays a big role. To my American friends who would envy the life in Cuba, I would issue a warning. CUBA IS NOT FREE PERIOD.