Challenging the national arrogance

Last Monday, the New York Times began a paid subscription requirement for those who want to read the Times' op-ed columnists. (There are other benefits to the subscription, such as access to their archives.) Some folks are having a bit of a fit over this, but I subscribed right away. I did so because I believe that section of the NYT is one of the very few places in the mainline US media where the truth is told in plain, unvarnished, hard-hitting language.

Just one example, in today' edition, from Nicholias Kristof's article, "A Health Care Disaster":

"In both Mississippi and Louisiana, infant mortality is worse (for every 1,000 babies born, 10 die in their first year of life) than in Costa Rica (8 die per 1,000). For black babies in either state, the picture is still more horrifying: 15 die per 1,000. In poor, war-torn Sri Lanka, where per capita medical spending is only $131, babies have better odds, with 13 dying per 1,000. So let's rebuild the levees, but let's also construct a health care system that works. A dozen years after the last, failed attempt to reform health care, the system is more broken than ever."