“Luigi mentioned you in his manifesto. That people should listen to you. Will you come on our show, or talk to our reporter and tell them that you condemn murder!?”
It’s not often that my work gets a killer five-star review from an actual killer.
And thus, my phone has been ringing off the hook which is bad news because my phone doesn’t have a hook.
Emails are pouring in. Text messages. Requests from many in the media.
Hmmm. Do I condemn murder?
That’s an odd question.
In Fahrenheit 9/11, I condemned the murder of hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi people and the senseless murder of our own American soldiers at the hands of our American government.
In Bowling for Columbine, I condemned the murder of 50,000 Americans every year at the hands of our gun industry and our politicians who do nothing to stop it.
In my 35 years as a filmmaker, have I said or done anything that has implied I condone murder?
As a teenager during the Vietnam War, I was required to register for the draft at the local draft board.
There was a box on the form asking me if I had a problem with killing Vietnamese people.
Actually, it just asked me to check the box if I was going to file for Conscientious Objector status
— meaning, if given the opportunity, would I swear that I would never kill a Vietnamese person.
I checked the box. Throughout my adult life, I have repeatedly stated that I’m a pacifist.
In fact, I have never struck another human in my life.
In the United States, we have a whopping 1.4 million people employed with the job of DENYING HEALTH CARE,
vs only 1 million doctors in the entire country!
That’s all you need to know about America.
We pay more people to deny care than to give it.
1 million doctors to give care, 1.4 million brutes in cubicles doing their best to stop doctors from giving that care.
If the purpose of “health care” is to keep people alive, then what is the purpose of DENYING PEOPLE HEALTH CARE?
Other than to kill them?
I definitely condemn that kind of murder.
And in fact, I already did.
In 2007, I made a film
– SICKO
– about America’s bloodthirsty, profit-driven and murderous health insurance system.
It was nominated for an Oscar.
It’s the second-largest grossing film of my career (after Fahrenheit 9/11).
And over the past 15 years, millions upon millions of people have watched it including, apparently, Luigi Mangione.
After the killing of the CEO of United HealthCare,
the largest of these billion dollar insurance companies,
there was an immediate OUTPOURING of anger toward the health insurance industry.
Some people have stepped forward to condemn this anger.
I am not one of them.
The anger is 1000% justified.
It is long overdue for the media to cover it.
It is not new.
It has been boiling.
And I’m not going to tamp it down or ask people to shut up.
I want to pour gasoline on that anger.
Because this anger is not about the killing of a CEO.
If everyone who was angry was ready to kill the CEOs,
the CEOs would already be dead.
That is not what this reaction is about.
It is about the mass death and misery
— the physical pain, the mental abuse, the medical debt, the bankruptcies in the face of denied claims and denied care and bottomless deductibles on top of ballooning premiums
— that this “health care” industry has levied against the American people for decades.
With no one standing in their way! Just a government
— two broken parties
— enabling this INDUSTRY’s theft and, yes, murder
-- Michael Moore
https://www.michaelmoore.com/p/a-manifesto-against-for-profit-health
What I would like is for everyone reading this to watch my movie, SICKO,
and then, when it’s over, join me in condemning this murderous health insurance system.
Here it is… YOU can watch it right here, right now, for FREE
(and please, please share this with your friends and family):
Best trolley problem ever.
@Mikal I see no problem there, there's only one option available. @msbellows @cdarwin
@cdarwin also available on Peertube : https://videos.parleur.net/w/anMR7d9SCyB5cghaS1VwWs
@cdarwin so there’s the same number of people working in ‘denying’ healthcare in the US as there are working for the entire NHS in the UK? Wow.
@cdarwin that was a lot of words when he could’ve just said “I’m on team luigi”
[ @cdarwin >> that was a lot of words when he could’ve just said “I’m on team luigi” ]
Except he didn't say that, or take a side on what LM did.
Instead he wrote a brilliant essay about the situation and a response to the people asking him to take a side on LM, because that's the only thing the media wants to focus on instead of the actual problem.
@cdarwin praise the killing of the ceo
One party passes the ACA and loses control of Congress for it. This sets in motions forces that led to the Trump presidency that altered the Supreme Court that has hobbled both the ACA and Voting Rights Act.
Now, after one party had a candidate that would strengthen healthcare, the other had the “concepts” of a plan and now with Project 2025, intends to gut the entire social safety net.
But *both* parties are broken.
That folks, is but one reason, why Trump won a second term.
@cdarwin My take on this #healthcare and other similar situations:
if we, and especially our children, do not have a seriously sized nest egg aside for the slings and arrows of misfortune, then we are for ever victims of cash flow problems and greedy capitalism: even seeking legal redress is not an option due to lack of funds. We all need a contingency saving fund - to fight back the system on its own terms where only money talks: and so "buy" security. Sad situation. I think China is similar.
"In the United States, we have a whopping 1.4 million people employed with the job of DENYING HEALTH CARE,
vs only 1 million doctors in the entire country!
That’s all you need to know about America.
We pay more people to deny care than to give it. "
The movie "Sicko" by Michael Moore is absolutely worth it to watch, probably no matter in which country you live.
The comparison of health care systems of different countries throws a dark shadow on the USA!
And while some other countries -- not mentioned in that movie -- charge for insurances or health care, no country is known to have those exorbitant high bills like the USA.
https://www.michaelmoore.com/p/a-manifesto-against-for-profit-health
Indeed, and no other country in the world has the same obsession with guns and the level of carnage caused by guns.
The two my seem unrelated, until you are a victim of gun violence and need emergency medical treatment.
The American obsession with guns and the health care system are related to each other additionally to eventually required treatment after a shooting insofar that laws for health and guns just serve profits but not the people. It's indeed the "wild, wild west" without systemic empathy or social ambitions.