Spin Doctors Part 3

When it came to propaganda, Joseph Goebbels was Da Bomb!

For those historically impaired, Goebbels was the ‘Minister of Propaganda’ for Adolph Hitler, that despicable bastard with the funny mustache.

Pre-war Germany was in a sorry state in the 1930’s. Economically, the entire country was in the toilet, and the German people were looking to their government for answers and finding none. Fortunately for the Nazis, they had Joseph Goebbels – and Joseph Goebbels knew all about propaganda techniques. Most importantly, he knew about ‘The Big Lie’.

‘The Big Lie’ is the piece de resistance in the propagandist toolbox. It follows a very simple formula: 1) Tell a Lie 2) Make it Big 3) Repeat it Often and 4) The general public will accept it as the truth. It works every time.

Joseph Goebbels had a brilliant idea for a ‘Big Lie’ – blame the nations’ problems on a small group of people thereby taking the heat and focus off of the government where it belonged. In other words, ‘Blame the Jews for everything’. It worked, and as a result, we faced one of the absolute lowest points in human history.

Today, the major players in the health care game – the insurance carriers, the pharmaceutical companies, and the trial lawyers – are playing the same card with great effectiveness. They tell us that the blame for the system’s financial woes should be placed upon another small group – the physicians and providers – and thereby divert our attention away from where the problems really lie.

Time and time again, like the Jewish shopkeepers in pre-war Berlin, the successful, financially secure physician is targeted as the root of the problem. They gloss over the fact that most physicians dedicated many years of their lives, worked long hours, and lived in abject poverty just to get to where they are today. Even successful, established physicians still work long hours, in and out of the office. They work long shifts covering the ER, often without pay, sacrificing sleep and family time. And let us not forget the emotional toll that many physicians face when dealing with life and death decisions with their close patients and the patients’ family members. In truth, there are easier ways to make money then practicing medicine. This is why most physicians I speak with never want their children to follow in their footsteps.



But the modern day propagandists – the Spin Doctors – never let this dark side of the physicians’ life become known. The dedicated men and women in healthcare - who actually drive the system, and are fundamentally and integrally key to it’s functioning – are reduced to the role of scapegoat.

Herr Goebbels would be proud.

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