Death by Misinformation: What Health Care Reform Is Up Against
July 31, 2009At a recent town hall meeting, a man stood up and told Representative Bob Inglis to “keep your government hands off my Medicare.” The congressman, a Republican from South Carolina, tried to explain that Medicare is already a government program — but the voter, Mr. Inglis said, “wasn’t having any of it.”
(Read the whole column by Paul Krugman in the NY Times.)
This is a great example revealing the lack of knowledge among the general public that allows the pundits to drive misinformation and fear of any change. Is there any way to stop the fear mongering that comes from our mass media? I suppose not, as freedom of speech allows for such ridiculous and damaging communications.
Thanks, Peggy, for the comment. I suppose each side has its relentlessly used “talking points” that distort and obscure basic information and the exchange of ideas, and in the end it gets very hard for most of us to even remember the real issues: the fact that increasing numbers of Americans are without health care coverage; the poor health care outcomes in the U.S. when compared to those of other industrialized nations; skyrocketing costs even for those with adequate coverage. Few would argue with these basic facts even among those who oppose health care reform of every sort–unfortunately, it’s a great deal easier to tear down than to build up, so this gives those who spread fear and doubt the advantage over those willing to undertake the effort to achieve something flawed, complex, but increasingly urgent.
–Jacob Molyneux, blog editor