We finally watched Sicko. We were left deeply moved, speechless,

and incredibly saddened and disturbed by the America that was depicted. In many ways, it belittles and makes cheap and meaningless much of what is debated here with regard to infighting and bickering on this and that candidate - it reaches to the very depths of decency and life. I fear, after watching the film, that rearranging the deck chairs is all that politicians can possibly do going forward, and that meaningful, deep change will never happen in this country. The lobbyists are too powerful, the politicians (both parties) either too corrupt or too indebted to those very lobbyists.

I know that this feeling will pass with time, the very thing that really stuck out - that in the UK, in Canada, in France, the governments fear the people, for the people will still rise up for what they need, wish for, and believe in. I think that it was the older Brit that said that you can keep a populace under control using fear, and desperation. And that is the tune that is being played so very well.

Whatever happens in this coming election, the best outcome for all would be a wakening and empowerment of the people. If countries should be measured by how we treat those who have the least, then we are in deep, perhaps irreversible, trouble.

Remember why we are in this.

:thumbsup:

Very moving.. very disturbing

here in America.

I think that all TV all the time, the 24 hour news cycle, Britney and Lindsey fatigue, all 911 and fear all the time....has taken its toll. There is a toxic mixture of having too much (a few), not paying attention (many), and a combination of fear, desperation, isolation, and apathy (lots and lots). Change is going to be tough going...it always is, but now, perhaps, much much harder to accomplish.

Hi NRaleighLiberal -- I teach at a college in Canada. One of the topics I'm covering this term is the issue of security -- how the concept goes beyond military defense, but basic issues like being afraid you won't have enough to eat, or that you'll get sick. Things that guns and tanks can't protect against. I showed my class some of the stats from the movie -- how much money Americans spend on health care compared to other countries, yet so many people are underserved, and stats like infant mortality and life expectancy are just not what one would hope, for the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world.

The students were floored. Some of them were saying that they just didn't know -- they didn't realize. We see lots of American TV shows up here, and even for Canadians who do visit the States or who have friends or relatives there, a subconscious belief that all Americans are well-off (like the "beautiful people" on American Idol or the OC) still exists. I told them about people I know, people just like them, who have gone to college and have careers and even have private health insurance, and are having nightmares about getting sick and losing everything.

Our hospitalization system could use a lot of improvement, but when I think of my friends and co-workers who have had serious illnesses but have not had to worry about crushing debt, I am very grateful we have it. My uncle died recently, and the public system covered everything -- even the home care at the very end. His wife and son are strong people, but if they'd had to worry about medical bills as well, it would have been overwhelming for them.

I believe that the politicians, and the corporations that are basically acting as parasites and getting rich off fear and despair, are themselves terrified of what the American people will do once they get public health care. Imagine not being able to intimidate workers by threatening to fire them (and take away their job-related health insurance) if they blow the whistle or want more benefits or better working conditions. They already call Social Security "the third rail" of politics, because messing with it can lose you the election -- that would be nothing compared to how sensitive people would be about protecting Universal Medicare!

Canada got its Medicare system in the 1960s. Within only a couple of decades it had altered Canadian society. When asked what defines this country, a majority of us identified social programs such as this. I think Moore was right when he said that it obliged Canadians, across the political spectrum, to think about collective values and social equity. Even the right-wing politicians feel obliged to pay lip service to it, because any suggestion of going to a US-style system sends their supporters fleeing to the opposition! The thing is that Canadians and Americans did not start out as being radically different from each other (and drew from similar founding populations in fact). As you say, I think that some people in the present government fear what might happen if people rise up and start demanding things. They tried to terrify the population by talking about "commies" (and now, "liberals"). They are fighting dirty (just like the same kinds of "leaders" tried to do in Canada earlier). They are getting desperate because they know that they could well lose, once people wake up and start acting together.