Sometimes, as a nation, we forget how we look to others around the world when our antics take centerstage on the nightly news. How do these town hall meetings appear to the countries that have national healthcare, such as Great Britain? Especially when it’s their healthcare that is being denigrated?

Tony Benn, Great Britain’s longest serving Member of Parliament, had this observation while appearing on DemocracyNow last week: “It’s amazing. I think most people in Britain just regard it as being uncivilized for a great, rich country to ignore the health of 47 million people. And I don’t say that as an insult; we just don’t understand it,” Benn said.

I find it interesting that at the healthcare rally held in Rhinelander a few weeks ago, when of one of the speakers referred to those  47 million without healthcare, the remark elicited a snicker from those not supporting a public option. I didn’t understand that reaction.

Further, I didn’t understand the cheering and clapping of those against healthcare reform when it was stated we rank 43rd in the world for low infant mortality! What is so cheerful about this statistic? Many of the countries with lower infant mortality rates have national healthcare: Great Britain, France, Sweden, Norway and Germany to name a few. And unexpected places, such as Cuba and South Korea, also have lower rates that the U.S.

When asked about the disparaging remarks Americans have made about the British healthcare system, calling it “socialized medicine,” Benn had this to say: ”I suppose it’s really basically a question of, do you regard the health of the nation as a national interest? Now, in the U.S., taxpayers pay for the education of children. Does that make it socialized education? The police are paid for by the taxpayers. Does that make it a socialized police force? The fire services are public services. Does that mean they are socialized fire services? You see,” Benn said, “this is just the language of very, very rich people who don’t want to make a contribution for the healthcare of others.”

Benn didn’t realize that ideology has cut across economic lines in the U.S., as evidenced in the signs at the healthcare rally here.

When asked about the interview Fox’s Sean Hannity had with Daniel Hannan (the British member of the European Parliament who declared the British healthcare system a terrible mistake), Benn responded, “this member of Parliament has been denounced by his own leader. And Mrs. Thatcher said the ‘Health Service is safe in our hands.’ And when she said that – and she was the most  right-wing leader we’ve had in Britain for many years – when she said that about the Health Service, that gives you the clearest recommendation I can think of for a right-wing American audience.”

Amy Goodman, host of DemocracyNow, asked if the current U.S. debate was reflective of the debate prior to the inception of the British healthcare system. Benn responded, “we took the view that a government had a responsibility to focus on the needs of a nation in peacetime in the way in which it does in wartime. And if that principle is followed, then all the ideological language can be set aside.

"You’ve got to judge a country by whether its needs are met and not just by whether some people make a profit," Benn added. "I’ve never met Mr. Dow Jones, and I’m sure he works very, very hard with his averages. We get them every hour. But I don’t think the happiness of a nation is decided by the share values in Wall Street.”