We need to face the issues
The twin opposing arguments of “it costs too much” and “it’s too much government” have been with us since our country’s founding. They continue to be the foundation for our divisions, even as multiple unresolved issues are reaching the breaking point.
From climate change, to structural racism, to a polluted environment, to overwhelming immigration, to dysfunctional health care financing, to crumbling infrastructure, to the outsourcing of jobs, to unbelievable student debt, to inadequate child care, to insufferable poverty, to under-resourced pandemic preparedness, our society is coming apart.
What President Biden is saying is true: We have neglected these problems for far too long, and they are now well beyond what profit-driven private enterprise can fix on its own. Real solutions that “insure domestic tranquility” and “promote the general welfare,” to quote the Constitution’s preamble, are expensive and require assertive government leadership, as Europe figured out ages ago.
That means creating a government that is no longer under corporate manipulation from private campaign financing and highly paid lobbyists, and is fully funded and motivated to do what is needed for the common good. It means that large corporations and the wealthy must be forced to financially contribute their fair share while scaling back profits in the interest again of the common good. It means that nonprofit organizations will continue their socially vital work, but with more support.
And then someday, if we survive, everyone can be thanked for service to their country, not just first responders and those in the military!
Cris M. Currie
Mead