I think most people have heard about the #welovethenhs hashtag. It’s come into effect in response to the recent coverage in the US about the British National Health Service and some of the… interesting… views that have been promoted in refutation of President Obama’s move to offer social health care to the masses.
One of the stories that I’ve seen retweeted today has been this one from Fox News. Now I’m not a fan of Fox, or it’s UK sister station Sky news either, and this sort of spurious logic always confuses me. It’s up there with the idea that “10% of the population are Gay, 10% of the population are left handed, therefore all gay people are left handed” The gist of this news bulletin is that the terrorist attack in 2007 was performed by Muslim doctors who work for the NHS. Because the NHS is underfunded we need to “import” doctors from Muslim states and so they will recruit terrorists to attack the west.
The logic is fundamentally flawed, obviously, but there are a couple of issues in particular that worry me. I am sure that there are people out there (and I don’t think it’ll be one or two) who believe it. But there’s also a few people out there who don’t seem to have noticed that this article was from TWO YEARS AGO. so those people who are using this to show current ignorance to the story may also have missed the point somewhat.
My opinion on the NHS/Social Health Care issue is probably quite obvious to anyone who knows me. I think the NHS is a fantastic organisation and the idea of free medical treatment for all is the only humane option for any caring nation. To expect only those people rich enough or well enough insured to be the only people entitled to full health care is a monstrous and heartless concept. Come on US, care for your citizens, sort out your social health care, and those people who want to feel superior can carry on using the private system.
