A nation as a society forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society.
- Thomas Jefferson
A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.
- Greek proverb
I know there are those who will look at the list above and pass it off as “Socialism”. After all, why should anyone have to foot the bill for someone else too lazy or inept to fend for themselves? They’ll say this as they travel down roads, obey traffic controls, and wave to policemen all paid for by tax dollars- OUR tax dollars. We already pay for things designed to benefit the Greater Good and the rule of law…so how is it that caring for our fellow Americans can be described as “Socialism”?
There’s a pronounced disconnect these days within American society these days about the things we choose to do together- which is the functional definition of “government.” We’ll agree to fund two seemingly never-ending wars…and yet we decry the idea of universal health care as “Socialism” and “government overreach.” We’re OK with paying for blowing up villages halfway around the world, but funding programs designed to benefit the elderly, the poor, and/or the disabled are examples of the “nanny state” coddling those who wish only to “suck at the public teat.”
I’m not going to argue about the definition of the term “right” and whether or not Americans have a “right” to those things detailed on the list above. What I will argue that if we can afford to kill and destroy with the awesome power and efficiency we do, then we should be able to devote that same energy to making life here at home better for all of us. If we can spend trillions to wage two wars, there’s simply no convincing moral argument to justify 45 million Americans (full disclosure: myself being one of them) having no health insurance. If we can fund nation-building in Iraq and Afghanistan, there’s no credible argument to be made for the proposition that doing the same thing in America is “Socialism.”
We’ve created the cold, impersonal, dispassionate America we now live in, and we can change that. We can do this by electing politicians who put people before profits, and constituents before corporations. We can do this by demanding that the American homeland get this same attention and commitment to nation-building that Iraq and Afghanistan do. And we can do this by demanding that the interests of the poor and middle class are not placed below those of the upper 1-2% of earners. Occupy Wall Street is spreading nationwide, and perhaps this movement might be a step towards redressing the inequities and restoring balance. The reality is that we can succeed together…or we can sink as a collection of self-absorbed, self-interested individuals.
WE DESERVE BETTER.
