All you need is time

Yesterday, I forwarded copies to friends of an exchange I had with my friend, Dov, which included a description of the Australian health care system known as Medicare. He wrote in response to my forwarding a description of the German health care system. In this morning’s New York Times, for those interested in these international comparisons, is Roger Cohen’s attempt to put right some of the misconceptions over the French system.

It’s a fascinating time for the exchange of information on health care. Unfortunately, there are two pretty severe stumbling blocks – one, along with the information comes a ton of misinformation. And two, it’s only information if people actually read it and discuss it.

America, alas, has an awful lot of folk waving signs and marching on Washington, calling into talk shows and watching Fox news, who don’t.

Another good source of information on health care reform is Bill Moyers. He’s been running one program after another on Bill Moyers Journal on various aspects of the problem.

This week he had Dr. Jim Yong Kim on.

Just as I was wallowing with Dov in despair over the fact that Americans don’t read, don’t think, don’t bother to check their facts before speaking, this interview with Kim comes across my screen, reminding me (he’s an anthropologist as well as a medical doctor) of what Margaret Meade once said:

Never doubt the capacity of a small group of committed souls to change the world. In fact, that's the only thing that ever has.

Maybe we can do it even despite the tea-baggers.



P.S. Margaret Mead also said:

I was brought up to believe that the only thing worth doing was to add to the sum of accurate information in the world.

P.P.S. Sorry to continue to repeat the obvious, but anyone who wants to can even take a course at MIT on comparative health care! No kidding. Online at: http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Political-Science/17-315Fall-2004/CourseHome/

All you need is time.

P.P.P.S. All one ever needs is time.