Are 'They' Going To Privatise Our Public Health System?

No. Just, No.

This is going to be a very short post. Fittingly so, as there is nothing to this conspiracy and trying to argue against a conspiracy theory without any merit is like wrestling a pig - you end up covered in mud and they like it.

I have seen multiple posts arguing that the current government is preparing our public health service for privatisation.

So is there any truth to this?

No, not even a slither.

It has not been discussed publicly or privately by any parliamentary political party, it would benefit no one, and would be impossible to implement.

To put it bluntly, it is as logical and likely to be true as Q-Anon's ‘storm’ - the one which was meant to lead to the mass incarceration of Democratic politicians and Hollywood celebrities.

So why are otherwise sane people spreading such an obviously fake narrative when the same people would scoff at other conspiracies like lizard people?

Conspiracy theories prey on people's limited knowledge by providing a simplistic answer to a complex situation. One that conforms to their own biases and, most importantly, creates a villain that is beyond logic.

The “beyond logic” part is key to this conspiracy, in order to take such an idea seriously you need to be able to easily dismiss the lack of means, motive, or opportunity behind such a move.

You would need an entire Cabinet of Joker-esque bad guys, who only want to ‘watch the world burn’, to ignore the practicalities (we don't have a private health sector capable of taking over our many complex systems or the billions it would suck up without profit, not locally or internationally) or the political realities (this would be incredibly unpopular with voters and the resulting lawsuits would be endless, beyond costly, and would dominate our media for years).

It's not realistic, it isn't real, and it wouldn't actually solve any issues we have as a nation.

If there isn't a grand evil plan behind our public health systems woes - the ‘intentional under-funding designed to destroy the service and soften the way for a New Order led by Big Business, the Rand Corporation, in conjunction with the saucer people, under the supervision of the reverse vampires are forcing our parents to go to bed early in a fiendish plot that Milhouse Van Houten warned of’ - why doesn't anything work?!

In the words of Robert J. Hanlon, “never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”

Hanlon's Razor is ignored by conspiracy theorists as it makes errors human and not the work of ‘bankers’, but it is very useful when trying to understand why a complex model reliant on people (we glorified animals) to function well can end up under performing.

We have an under-performing health system, but one that remains amongst the world's best and that couldn't easily be monetised.

We have under-invested, but we have also selected public health leaders based on personal relationships rather than competence or knowledge of the health sector.

We have a flawed system with a dozen levels of bureaucracy between patients and its highest echelon of power.

None of this is new, or sinister. It is the realities of bloat, under-funding of some functions, over-funding of others (mostly middle-management roles), and a lack of overall vision.

So no, we won't see privatisation of our public health system in my lifetime (I'm 36 years old, a Maori non-smoker, which puts my life expectancy at around 74 years). People waiting for 'the storm’ that will make this ludicrous fantasy a reality will be waiting for a least another 38 years, likely longer.

To those who disagree, who may think I am being unduly harsh on people for just being fearful, I say nothing - there is no point in arguing with people who think the world is flat, who are sure sinister things are happening in the basement under THAT pizza place.

If only there was an organisation dedicated to combating disinformation locally, maybe one that had received funding from the Prime Minister's Office to do exactly this, but in the absence of such a group I am reluctantly manning the breach and calling this out for what it is: fake news.

Don't tell me the earth is flat, that colloidal silver will cure all ills, or that our health system is going to be privatised ‘any day now’. I don't suffer fools.