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Gypsy & Willy - The Original Libertarian Bloggers

How Can You Laugh at a Time Like This?

Gypsy & Willy

No. 433

SICKO

July 6, 2007

Yesterday, we attended a matinee performance of Michael Moore's latest movie SICKO. This documentary takes on the health care industry, in particular the insurance portion of it and to a lesser extent, the pharmaceutical companies. As a Blue Cross V.P. comments in a secret memo, "You would have to be dead to be unaffected by Moore's movie..." Indeed, as the movie came to a close, both of us had tears streaming down our cheeks and, at the end, the audience applauded something we understand to be happening all over the country. In short, it is a masterful and devastating indictment of our current health system and insurance companies.

We won't bother to go into the details of the movie. Both the aforementioned memo and the movie itself will tell you all you need to know about it. However, we would like to comment on some of the implications that are not so obvious. As regular readers of this column well know, we are libertarians, favoring both broad freedoms and minimal government interference in personal matters. However, what we are not is "religious" libertarians who believe that ANY government involvement in private enterprise is wrong on its face and must be opposed. Just as we do not favor private enterprise taking over police and fire department functions...even though it is arguable that due to simple capitalist principles these functions might actually cost less if taken over by private enterprise...we believe that it is high time that a society as rich as ours recognize that, since we can afford it, health care should become one of the basic "socialistic" rights due to all human beings in our society. For money is not the only "cost" of not doing so. The human tragedy, the fear and loathing engendered by denying basic...and drastic...health care to any one of us is also a cost, hard to measure, but rather highlighted by the fact that in our great democracy, fully half of eligible voters do not take part in elections...do not vote. Why not? "What's the use?" is the most common rationale.

What is the use? For one thing, it appears to be the only non-violent alternative available to the main mass of Americans for changing the system. But, is that really true? Are we forced every year or two to contemplate whether Tweedle Dee or Tweedle Dum will be better for us, when it is clear that as George Wallace famously declared, "There ain't a dime's worth of difference between the two major parties!"? We agree. That is why, in the next presidential election, we are favoring the drafting of Oprah Winfrey for the job, running as a third party candidate. We also frequently write about the need for revolutionary change in this country. As we have suggested in other blogs, these two things are not unrelated.

One other democratic event besides voting that we, the people, can initiate is a second Constitutional Convention. It would take a massive organizational effort to make this happen, and, even if a new Constitution is written, it would have to be ratified by 75% of the states to take effect. Lot's of work, lots of uncertainty. The forces that would oppose such an effort, claiming that our current Constitution is good enough, are hugely powerful, well financed and, if necessary, with the best armed standing army in the world. Formidable. In this regard, one line in the movie stands out. The comment concerned why the French people are so willing to protest. The answer: In France, the government is afraid of the people. In this country, it is the other way around. This MUST end!

Is it worth it? Consider:

The U.S. Senate is an archaic and undemocratic institution, similar to the House of Lords in the U.K.. We should get rid of it.

The power in the House of Representatives, though more diffuse than in the Senate, is still way too concentrated. Why not enlarge it to 3,000 representatives...one for evey 100,000 people...inorder to make it both more democratic and to dillute the immense power of its individual members? It would also allow third parties a much easier entrance into the governing body.

The Initiative...the power for the people to institute new laws...is long overdue. Many staes already have it and it works well to override wealthy and powerful intrenched vested interests.

The Recall...the power for the people to unelect disastrous leaders...is also necessary. Want to get rid of a Bush or a Clinton? This is the way.

Those aspects of the current Constitution...enshrined as amendments...could be specifically outlined in detail the main body of the document making them "perfectly clear" to even the most political Supreme Court.

We have suggested other alternatives elsewhere, but all have one thing in common. They all enlarge and extend democracy. At present, our country is dangerously close to becoming totally fascist. The first step in the process has already been accomplished, the marriage between government and corporations. If nothing else, the movie SICKO brings this message home. That is, the "partnership" between government and massive private enterprises...those monopolies that are so very good at extracting billions and billions of dollars from our tax receipts...could and should be permanently ended. Failure to do so is already driving us toward more and more erosion of our civil rights and toward disatrous imperial adventures. If we do not want to end up like Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan, we better act quickly and decisively.

Talk to you later...

To contact Willy or Gypsy and comment on what they have written...or anything else...write to willy@dreamagic.com or gypsy@dreamagic.com.

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