Tea at Trianon: Healthcare in America

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Healthcare in America

Michael Moore's Sicko. I do not care for him and do not plan to see his latest film, but it is always interesting to read the reviews. Share

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: After Gulf War part 1, my wife got out of the Navy during the builddown, and though she could have stayed in she opted to be discharged to the ready reserve and follow her vocation of nurse and mother. As we were in the Jacksonville NC area, she found a position with NAVCARE, the Navy/Marine Corps civilian health care system. There are many ways a civilian can get health care if they are married to a service member. NAVCARE is free. No copays, free meds, doesn't close until the last patient is seen.
Anyone who wants to see the evils of nationalised health care should spend a day at NAVCARE. Women would bring their children in everyday (literally) for headaches, and anything else. Why did they do this, because it was free. This "repeat" business affected the way that a truly sick person or child was seen. The system was strained to the point that the wait for some patients was very lengthy.

I have not seen any of Michael Moores films, and I have avoided his tv specials. However I know is political leanings, and therefore I question his motives.

Incidentally the NAVCARE ended up changing it's policy. After three visits for the same malady a referral was initiated to an outside provider, (who would charge) this significanlty reduced the strain on NAVCARE.

So much for universal health care.

de Brantigny; August 7, 2007 at 1:50:00 PM EDT
Anonymous said...: de brantigny, you are so right. i spent 10 years as a "navy dependent" and couldn't wait to get out of that system!!! cordelia.; August 7, 2007 at 11:47:00 PM EDT
Anonymous said...: I have not seen Michael Moore's film, but I know there is lots wrong with our health care system, one being the executives walk away with enormous salaries while most of us are hard put to afford health insurance, even through our places of employment.; August 8, 2007 at 8:57:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: The system needs reform, but is socialism the answer?; August 8, 2007 at 9:01:00 PM EDT