Sicko and the Partnership perspective

 Sicko and the Partnership perspective

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Sicko is a very powerful movie. It is so compelling because it works to raise questions on issues on many levels. As I pointed out earlier, I find Riane’s framework of partnerships very helpful in terms of looking at the larger picture. I would like to discuss the material presented in Sicko from a partnership perspective.

In her book, The Power of Partnership – Seven Relationships That Will Change Your Life, Riane states that "part of partnership with ourselves is taking care of our health. But here too we have to pay attention to the invasive beliefs and institutions that work against us". When I think about partnerships in general, there really isn’t a more fundamental partnership than the one we have with ourselves. So to look at the state of the health care is to look at how we view and value our health. To me health is a universal right, more essential than the universal right to education. But in our world, somewhere along the road, that right has become more of a luxury. The commoditization of health and its consequences for the individual is really profound. How much money is our finger worth to us, what about our eyes, our lungs? Unanswerable questions… Yet when faced with an emergency, in the current state of affairs we are forced to make such choices. That is a highly developed dominator scheme if I ever saw one.

Because the health of our partners and our family affects us very deeply, the health care crisis as it pertains to our loved ones can have equally strong ramifications in our lives. Moore weaves one story in the movie about a woman and her ailing husband that certainly made me cry. The helplessness one feels when they know that there is something they can do for their loved one yet they are prevented from doing it is just heart breaking. And to know that it boils down to a mechanistic cost saving decision that completely disregards the individual is infuriating. That to me is lack of caring in the highest sense.

Caring in our community is exemplified by the very publicized trip Moore made with three volunteer workers at the World Trade Center and also a few other people he encountered while creating the movie. Moore is famous for his gimmicky techniques in his movies that sometimes antagonize even his fans. Yet in my eyes this gesture was genuine in intent. While filming these sick people, Moore probably wanted to do something for them. That is the human thing to do, the caring thing to do, the natural thing to do. While watching this endearing and uplifting part of the movie, seeing the caring and warm feelings developing between people who are supposed to be "sworn enemies" by dominator logic, the message sinks in. When it comes to health, the decision is pretty simple, help the sick get better. The juxtaposition to the highly complicated health care "industry" in the United States brings out one prevalent response in people: "It just doesn’t make sense".

The last point I would like to make is regarding the middle of the movie when Moore visits France and Britain and examines their health care systems. A number of people after the movie said that they seriously thought about what it would be like to live in those countries. The difference in approaches between the two European countries and the United States is staggering. Again Moore himself had what I felt was a transformative experience when he spoke with Americans living in France. His eyes blinked in amazement. In our partnership with international community we have an opportunity to learn about what others nations are doing to make the lives of people a little easier, a little less stressful while caring for their health. Those lessons are as valuable as what we make of them. And they are free for us to examine and learn from. So much for the economic saying "There is no such thing as a free lunch".

Comments

[Nancy]

Rossi

Thanks for this. Your writing touches me deeply. As a woman I have a very hard time with accepting that my relationship with myself must come first.

As you say: In her book, "The Power of Partnership – Seven Relationships That Will Change Your Life," Riane states that “part of partnership with ourselves is taking care of our health. But here too we have to pay attention to the invasive beliefs and institutions that work against us”. When I think about partnerships in general, there really isn’t a more fundamental partnership than the one we have with ourselves."

As I read Rossi's thoughts and feelings and heard Riane's use of the term "invasive, I think of medicine and I think of bosses and those with power over my life and body.

I am also remembering how the NY Times recently ran a huge cover story on the Return of the Gilded Age and Robber Barrons and how almost all of these folks felt they had "earned" all that they have on their own, not in relationships, not off the backs of others. And most had little sense that they "owed" anything back to society. They did though, seem to have a really strong sense of entitlement and relationship with their "self."

From the sound of Moores' film it seems to me that other countries understand quantum physics, relationships and interdependence so much better!

What will it take for each of us to feel the kind of inner support Riane's and Rossi here are speaking of. We do not live like islands; we are all indeed, interconnected.

When I feel the arrogance of the dominator model, which Sicko seeks to compare and contrast, I weep.

I feel our government has under gone a coup de tat. And a revolution, at least on the social level, must occur if there is to be hope.

I am glad we are reading Real Weatlh.

Thanks, Rossi, for sharing your views. Maybe I will get up the guts to go see it, too. I know it is important.

[Rossi]

Dear Nancy,

Thank you for your wonderful heartfelt comment! :) Indeed Michael Moore's film is transformative, just like Riane's Real Wealth book is. Anything that helps us take a fresh look at a negative condition we have emotionally felt resigned to is a great gift!

Just like you, I have been socialized to put relationships with those around me above the one I have with myself. Yet ultimately the moments of truth come when we have the courage to be with ourselves, to be ourselves, and have pure compassion. I would like to make a distinction that I have lately been meditating on. A relationship with oneself can be a very selfish and self-centered action, especially if it arises out of a dominator "me me me" logic. Yet a true relationship with oneself, or even more so truly "being oneself", arises out of a deep consciousness of our real nature as beings interconnected with everything in the Universe.

Thank you for all your loving kindness :)