In an era where social media has facilitated overt lies and the ‘real’ media re-broadcast tweets and social media stories without checking for truth, it should not come as a surprise that the post-truth world has arrived.
In Canada, the Fraser Institute, a right-wing think tank funded by secret sources, has become the most successful group to propagandize main-stream media and the public at large with curated facts.
The Fraser Institute has one purpose and that is to move public opinion towards the values of an anonymous group of powerful and moneyed individuals and corporations.
Their recently released statistics on surgery wait times in Canada is a case in point. We all know our wait times are unacceptable and could be better.
Every year the main-stream media uses Fraser ‘facts’ to tell us how poorly our wait times compare to European countries (but never the United States).
CBC TV news further curated the Fraser ‘facts’ in an interview with a doctor, who would gain personal wealth if the private/public model was adopted.
He felt terrible that he could not serve his patients better and pointed to the European health care system and their efficient universal health care using private/public delivery.
CBC offered no context to the story and only told one side.
The select European nations, Netherlands, Switzerland and Scandinavian countries that rate high in health outcomes have, up until very recently, elected only socialist governments and their citizens accepted high income tax rates for the greater good.
They believed the ‘better’ society provided excellent and well-funded education, health and social programs to combat inequality amongst its citizens and that it had to be paid for by progressive taxes. Granted that is changing quickly as far-right politics rise to the top in much of Europe.
The European health care systems in those select countries ensure any private sector participation in health care equally helps all citizens. It’s very restrictive and controlled.
Excessive profit-taking by health providers or insurance companies is regulated and violators are prosecuted.
Why do I call the CBC presentation of this news false and misleading? Simply, if you’ve never studied or experienced European health care systems and you listened to this CBC broadcast, you may incorrectly believe that all we in Canada need do to achieve similar outcomes would be privatize more.
Unfortunately, further privatization of our health services would not bring about European outcomes. It would bring about American outcomes.
Specifically, extremely wealthy doctors and insurance companies, excellent care for the rich and those with company benefit plans and horrid outcomes for millions that wouldn’t qualify for insurance and couldn’t pay for anything approaching good medical care.
If the Fraser Institute were truly interested in providing relevant facts they would compare us only to the United States.
Canadians have not adopted European values, we have adopted American values—low taxes, everyone for themselves and a mean-spiritedness towards those who need a hand up.
Guaranteed, further privatization of our health care services would make it only better for a few and worse for the rest.
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