We know from polls that people who primarily get their news from Fox TV News have some misconceptions about Iraq. Most of them believe that Saddam Hussein was involved in planning the attacks on 9/11/2001 and most of them believe that weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq. The rest of us know that these things are untrue and view the fact that people who watch Fox TV believe those things as a curiosity.
But what if all news sources reported about Iraq exactly like Fox News does? In that case probably most of us would believe those lies about Iraq. Why would we even question it if that is what all the experts said and what everyone believed? When questioned by someone from another country about why we thought Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11 we would probably say something like, “Everybody knows that.”
That is not the situation with news about Iraq, but what if all the American news sources told the same lies about some other subject? How would we even know that something all Americans accepted to be true was a lie? I just saw Michael Moore’s latest movie Sicko and I think my eyes have been opened to a subject on which all the news sources in America have been lying to us.
In the same way that most Fox TV News watchers believe that Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11 most Americans believe that the US has one of the best health care systems in the world. Most Americans believe that Canadians and Europeans are dissatisfied with their national health care systems because they have long waits for medical services, cannot choose their own doctors and hospitals and the care they get is substandard. Those are all lies, but most Americans believe them. By any objective standard Americans pay more for their medical care and prescriptions and receive less than any other developed country. Even the residents of some developing countries, such as Cuba, can be shown to receive better health care than Americans. The news of these facts come as a surprise to most Americans.
How could we have all ended up believing lies? Have our sources for news been deceiving us just as badly on the subject of health care as Fox News deceives their viewers about Iraq?
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6 comments:
i love the hypocrisy, not that what you say about fox isn't valid but how about the liberal based major networks such as nbc, abc and cnn? it isn't like they don't give the news their spin, quit being such a tool.
anonymous,
You did not understand what I was saying at all, did you?
Dave, you have serious issues buddy!
You seriously think that Canada does not ration medical procedures?
You think that CBS, NBS, ABC, CNN, etc. give you the full news without bias - you are dillusional my friend.
josh,
My whole point was that CBS NBC, ABC, CNN, etc. are not giving us the truth about health care. My whole point was that on certain subjects they all are all as biased as Fox News is about the War in Iraq.
Of course Canada rations medical procedures. But so do we in the form of treatment not being approved or covered by your private health insurance. Canada has better health care (as shown by measures of the health of the people such as life expectancy, infant mortality, etc.) because their rationing is done by medical professionals deciding on the basis of the greatest good for the greatest number. We are worse off because our rationing is done by non-doctors beauracrats in health insurance companines making decesions based on the greatest profit for their stockholders.
josh,
By the way, I agree with you about these being serious issues.
People do not believe that Saddam was behind 9-11 and Europe and Cuba do not have healthcare systems as good or better than the US -
You appear to be right up there with The Inside Dope...anyone that disagrees with your fringe beliefs is wrong, and if a TV network does, then it is a conspiracy.
These left-wing blog sites are a hoot!
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