Friday, August 21, 2009

Trying to Converse about Health Care

I really think Jon Stewart's interview of Betsy McCaughey reflects the difficulty, or perhaps impossibility, of trying to have a conversation about Health care between those with opposing views.

No one is shouting or screaming in this interview, which is nice, but understanding remains scarily elusive. No matter which point of view you relate to I would love to hear any ideas you have about how we can fix our inability to effectively communicate.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Exclusive - Betsy McCaughey Extended Interview Pt. 1
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political HumorHealthcare Protests




The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Exclusive - Betsy McCaughey Extended Interview Pt. 2
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political HumorHealthcare Protests


Of course we shouldn't forget Congressman Frank's entertaining response to illogical accusations!

7 comments:

kc bob said...

Maybe if we just take one issue of healthcare at a time.. maybe a list of the pros and cons of Medicare would be a good place to start.. it is govt health insurance after all.

Heather Ann said...

Do you mean fix each issue separately? I can see some logic in that, but I think we need change ASAP!

Or did you mean discuss each issue separately? Because that would be a good idea if people would stop chanting, "Socialist Nazi" long enough to hear an entire sentence.

kc bob said...

Sorry for the confusion Heather. I was trying to say that we already have govt provided healthcare insurance for about 40% of the country (Medicare, Medicaid, Military, Veterans and govt workers). I think that we should take Medicare and ..

1) evaluate its effectiveness;
2) improve it;
3) rescale it and
3) roll it out incrementally to the uninsured.

Don't think that we need to create a whole new govt agency. What do you think?

Happy Sunday!

Dade Cariaga said...

I agree with Kansas Bob. A Medicare option for all makes the most sense. But, of course, that option is not even being entertained in Congress.

As far as how best to try to conduct conversations with people about health care, I don't know the answer there. There has been a lot of fear-mongering out there. I don't know how you get past people's fears after they have labeled you "the enemy."

Sad.

Heather Ann said...

I really don't have an answer to this issue, today's blog is the closest I have found.

Joe said...

Our debates are not succeeding because one side is not being honest about their motivation. Instead they raise issues that might happen like the death panel. If the GOP's motivation is to protect corporate profits, they are not going to admit that so that their justification can be challenged. If the GOP thinks that health care is a privelege and not the right of all citizens but won't admit it then we cannot succeed in our debates.

Joe said...

We will never agree about health care if we do not agree about social justice for all.