Repo Men Posted on Wednesday, March 03 @ 21:18:19 EST
Topic: Media
Looks like a pretty good flick doesn't it? I think I might go see it. Every once-in-awhile I like seeing a good action flick. Good special effects, a little ass-kicking, witty one-liners - it'll get me all pumped up.
But we could easily replace the cliche 'evil corporation' in this story for an evil government. A government that says that you have the right to health care and gives you everything for free - that is until your life depends on it. Then they take you to stand before the board of the "Health Care Fairness Assurance Commission" and they decide your fate by a majority vote. How old are you? The time you have left might not be worth the investment. Some politicians on the board would rather give an old guy a pill rather than allow them into an already overburdened system. Are you disabled? You may have a long life ahead but you might not have the ability to contribute much to the greater good of society. If you've already served out your 8 years in the Citizen Corps there's even less incentive to give you the thumbs up. Are you a supporter of 'The Party'? A Party man might be given leniency. Yeah, you used to be able to go across the border and pay to get your treatment if the board gave you the thumbs down, but when droves of people began pouring out of the country to avoid the long wait just to stand in front the the Fairness Committee they outlawed that. These days if you're on the waiting list and they catch you trying to cross the border the Federal Bureau of Population Retention tracks you down and volunteers you for the organ donor program.
Naaa, that wouldn't make a good movie. It's not historically accurate. Historically it has always been the businesses that become corrupt, tyrannical and end up exploiting the people. Like in North Korea, China, the U.S.S.R., Cuba, Iran, North Vietnam, WWII Germany and Japan, the European dark ages...
Huh? Of course we all know there is no historical context for this whatsoever! It has always been the government that fills this role and throughout history never once has business had this kind of totalitarian power! As a matter of fact the truth is the complete opposite of the common narrative! It is impossible for a business to have this amount of power without the blessing and the legal enforcement of the government. And in a free market system that welcomes competition a competitor with a customer friendly business model would quickly run any such abusive 'corporation' out of business. In this case again, only the government that has the power to reinforce a monopoly and perpetuate a business that would otherwise fail (like Fannie Mae, Freddy Mac, AIG, General Motors, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs...) could make the existence of such a business even possible.
But isn't the fact that this film is coming out right now, right as the Democrats are about to Rahm through health care legislation that will pave the way to total government control of health care industry just a little convenient? Could it be that Hollywood is in bed with the government and is putting out propaganda pieces just at the right time in order to promote a system that is more than a little controversial?
Naaa, couldn't be.
March 4, 2010 - Update:
Wired magazine has also taken notice of this curious coincidence and tends to agree with my assessment of the timing of this film's release. As a matter of fact, they say that Universal Pictures sped up the release date for the film because of the worsening economic circumstances. They refer to Universal's move as 'good capitalism' which I guess I can buy as long as you are including crony-capitalism in the general use of the term. Wired of course being a mainstream zine written by mainstream elitists also appears to buy the baseless narrative of the film and signs on to the idea that 'corporate greed' is the cause of all ills. It is one of life's common grotesqueries, isn't it, that often times the people pushing the notion of 'corporate greed' belong to a corporation of some sort.
March 4, 2010 - Update:
