Work Ahead

Regardless of today's work list, much remains to do. I offer this blog to provide perspective on what we think ails us today. There is always much more for us to manage. Balancing many important issues at the same time should give us pause. Pause to weigh just how important things truly are.

Schooling: for a long time we have loaded up our public schools with tasks parents ought to have done. Then too, courts have added more assignments. Public health measures are part of the scene as well. Soon the kitchen sink and animal husbandry will be added. When will we get back to teaching our kids what they need to know to become self-sustaining adults, capable of adapting to many needs and changes they will encounter throughout all of life? Isn’t it about time we focused on how to do this job better and allowing teachers and schools to excel at their special talents?

Healthcare Delivery: there are doctors and nurses and medical technicians. Then there are the medical labs and researchers. Medical colleges, too. And hospitals; let’s not forget hospitals and all the clinics that dispense medical services at the moment of need. Emergency responders, too, are in the mix and pick up the ailing wherever they are and deliver them to hospitals in a flash. This is the work of the healthcare industry. Not included here are insurance companies. They soak up millions of people and their salaries, plus balance sheets and income/expense reports, lawyers, accountants and actuaries. Lots of overhead to keep the insurance companies in business and healthy. Yet they do not produce one speck of medical assistance to the patient. Or nation. Only function they have is spend money, our money, and inflate the cost of medical care. Isn’t it time to eliminate this waste and provide universal healthcare via the central government?

Open, Fair Elections: democracies rely on an informed electorate with full access to voting on election day. All adults have the right to vote. There ought not be any hurdles in order to vote. Open, free and fair access to the voting booth. John Lewis was right. Voting rights should be guaranteed. No exceptions. In time, let’s do this electronically so weather, illness and age do not impede voting. Until then, eliminate all blockages to voting.

Infrastructure: physical infrastructure allows society to work efficiently and safely. Dams where they ought to be. Electric utilities up to the job and unhackable. Roads and bridges where they need to be and in the condition to safely allow people, goods and services to travel through all conditions. Telecommunication systems including computer connectivity to all wherever they live and work. Full systems in full working order and maintained as such. Replacement with new technology and materials when such are available. This is what a modern, fully functioning society requires to be competitive with the global village. Isn’t it about time we built a process to maintain our infrastructure without wasting years arguing about it politically?

Free Markets: America claims to be a free market society. They say this is the foundation of capitalism and democracy. This may be true in principle, but it is not true in action. America has tweaked and twittered with free markets for so long that they are anything but free. If we truly believe in free markets, let them be free to set their own price by the law of supply and demand. Labor, utilities, goods and services, even government. Let the free market determine what prices should be. Right now we have government of, by and for special interests. It needs to revert to government of, by and for the people. We The People are the creators of our nation and government. Isn’t it about time we got back to being that? How is that done, you ask? Well, by providing tip top schooling, healthcare, fair elections, up-to-date infrastructure and guaranteed free markets.

Surprising, isn’t it? How far we have strayed from original principles and intentions. Thank special interest groups and sick politics for that. 

The time for change is now. The pandemic is important. But it is not the only task on our plate to do.

July 30, 2020