Olympic tribute to Britain's National Heath System

By Richard K. Barry

I will admit that I watched some, though not all, of the London Olympics opening ceremonies. I completely missed the tribute to Britain's National Health Service (NHS), the country's publicly-funded system that offers care to all Britons. Pity.

As the Mail Online reported: 

[The] spectacular $42million [show], the brainchild of Oscar-winning British director Danny Boyle, included a segment where dozens of skipping nurses and children in pajamas leaping acrobatically on massive hospital beds, with a large 'NHS' displayed. 

It was a celebration of Britain's national health service, which has provided free taxpayer-funded health care to everyone in the country since its foundation after the Second World War.

The Mail also noted that some commentators, including Mark Sappenfield of The Christian Science Monitor, have suggested this was a shot at the U.S. Although Dany Boyle called the NHS an "amazing thing to celebrate," I'm not sure how that would be a shot at the U.S.

As an American who has lived in Canada for years, it never ceases to amaze me how self-absorbed some Americans can be. Yes, we have universal health care in Canada and we like it quite a bit, thank you very much, but our pride in it has nothing to do with sending a message to America. No, it's not always all about you.

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)