Michael Moore's Film Sicko and Jane Addams, Introduction

Addams and Sicko
I. Brief introduction of argument.
Jane Addams believed that the defining discovery of her time was that of “the power to combine.” The most obvious illustration of “the power to combine” is seen in an assembly-line style factory in which workers combine efforts in the form of departments to more efficiently complete work. An example more applicable to the application of Addams’ theory in the context of healthcare is the power to combine and form a social movement. While social movements can be entertained by sole individuals, the changes that Michael Moore, in his documentary Sicko, advocates for the institution of US healthcare will require the concerted action of a large group of persons. Addams would support and likely lead such an organization in working toward this cause because the notion of universal healthcare in itself promotes a greater social ethic. Equally as much, it is a tirade against the practice of belated ethics, specifically the family-claim and individual ethic.


References
Addams, Jane. 1902. Democracy and Social Ethics. Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press.
Lengermann, Patricia and Jill Niebrugge-Brantley. 2005. “Class Notes Jane Addams as a Critical Social Thinker, Spring 2008 American University, Washington D.C.” (https://blackboard.american.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_43370_1%26url%3D).