Choosing Civility – If only wishing could make it so.
I wanted to say how much I appreciated the civil and compassionate comments exchanged here over the last few days on the subject of the recent health care reform vote in America. Looking at my stats from Monday, about 350 or so people stopped by to read, Life After Cancer – Now. Of those 350 people, 24 left a comment and several sent me private emails.
Reading them, I saw people with similar feelings and in some cases, similar experiences with the American health care system and insurance companies. While we did not all share the same opinions, the civil exchange of ideas helped buffer some of the animosity I keep seeing on American news.
While there is no way the American people will agree on every issue regarding health care reform, choosing civility when dealing with the difficult decisions ahead will go a long way in accomplishing something positive with lasting results. Sarah Fain had this to say over at her place on Monday. It’s short and sweet and links to a great article at the New York Times that outlines what this new law will mean to consumers..
If you have not had a chance to read through the comments from my post on Monday, I encourage you take a minute to see what others are saying. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts in the way you have around such an explosive topic.
Gifts Of The Journey 
I will have to read those comments. I agree about civility. It greatly disturbs me – all this hatred and harsh language. It accomplishes nothing, and I believe it weakens the argument.
At the moment, the Republican party has neither ideas nor leadership. So, what they have resorted to is to incite hatred, anger, and fear. They found a willing partner in a television network (Fox) owned by a man who made his fortune in tabloid journalism. Rupert Murdoch owns such a wide variety of media (from print news to radio to television) that while his tv network is ranting about the legality, morality, and sanity of an issue, one of his newspapers will report on those same rants as widely accepted fact. The pen is mightier than the sword.
Reliable and honest journalism in the U.S. is hard to find, unfortunately. The news depts of the major networks are being slashed and print news is close to dead. It is an absolute tragedy that tabloid ‘news’ attracts the most viewers and therefore the most advertising dollars. Rupert Murdoch is laughing at the American people for being so gullible all the way to the bank.
I absolutely commend President Obama for staying the course on health care throughout this whole ordeal. This is not an exact quote, but it’s close: ‘It was not an easy thing to do, but it was the RIGHT thing to do.’ One cannot help but admire the patriotism of a man who stays with his convictions in the face of abhorrent adversity.
One of the next issues that President Obama will tackle will be immigration. Rupert Murdoch is himself an immigrant. Although he is a legal immigrant he has done more to damage the U.S., in my opinion, than many who are here illegally. And, again in my opinion, we should throw the bum out. And Fox ‘News’ with him.
Well, I think you are kind, in your very civil way. I didn’t think I was that civil in hindsight, and for sure not concise….
Interesting insight into the numbers that visited and the exchange. Thanks for sharing!
I hope you won’t mind me quoting from Wikipedia, below and noting that much of the anti NHS bias comes from Murdoch owned media in the UK !
“Although the NHS has a high level of popular public support within the country, the national press is perceived to be highly critical of it. This may have affected perceptions of the service within the country as a whole and outside. An independent survey conducted in 2004 found that users of the NHS often expressed very high levels of satisfaction about their personal experience of the medical services. Of hospital inpatients, 92% said they were satisfied with their treatment; 87% of GP users were satisfied with their GP; 87% of hospital outpatients were satisfied with the service they received; and 70% of Accident and Emergency department users reported being satisfied.”
“Arguments about reform of the United States’ $2.4 trillion healthcare system have led to the British NHS being represented among critics as “evil”, and “Orwellian”.This has led to a vigorous defence of the NHS in the UK.Much of the US criticism was not based on facts but on prejudices. One source said “people such as scientist Stephen Hawking [who suffers from the crippling motor neurone disease] wouldn’t have a chance in the UK, where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless”; Professor Hawking, who is a British citizen and resident, remarked “I wouldn’t be here today if it were not for the NHS; I have received a large amount of high-quality treatment without which I would not have survived”
It was in reading Wikipedia a few weeks ago that I saw the appalling incredible list of all Murdoch owns. And, I thought William Randolph Hearst was dead.
The worst part is that if there wasn’t a market for tabloid journalism, Murdoch wouldn’t be printing it. It’s to our shame that there is.