I\u2019m not a Communist. I\u2019m not even a socialist, really. I believe that America can be a caring nation, one based on a foundation of basic rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The Declaration of Independence is not the sole possession of one political party or the other. The American people own it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The definition of life is simple: the right to live and be healthy. This is particularly relevant in our current COVID era. In our modern society, it means that every person in America needs to have access to health care. It shouldn\u2019t be based on how much that person earns, or can afford. Health care is a basic human right, one that we need to guarantee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And from a practical standpoint, we do guarantee some level of health care to everyone. But we do it in the most expensive way possible, pushing the impoverished to use Emergency Departments for routine health maintenance. And don\u2019t think that those costs \u201cgo away\u201d. Nothing is \u201cfree\u201d. The high price of all of our medical care includes the cost of caring for those who cannot pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A national policy that provides for everyone to have access to health care would reduce costs for everyone. That\u2019s not the same as \u201cfree\u201d health care. We all realize that someone has to pay. Whatever you want to call it, from universal health care to Medicaid to an expanded Affordable Care Act: any of these will make health care LESS expensive, and fulfill America\u2019s responsibility to care for everyone. Everyone includes undocumented immigrants: we can\u2019t let them die in the streets either. And, regardless of Republican talking points, we don\u2019t let that happen now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That isn\u2019t communism or socialism. It\u2019s the mandate that our Founding Fathers gave us. It\u2019s what every industrialized nation in the world does now, except the US. And it\u2019s what we should do as decent human beings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Liberty means that we can do what we want, within the limits of not hurting others. A national health care mandate would grant us that liberty, instead of the outdated and ridiculous concept of tying health care to employment. American capitalism should include the freedom to take a chance on a new business, without giving up basic health care protections. No one should be locked into a job just to keep health care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Liberty and the \u201cAmerican Dream\u201d means that people should be able to advance based on, as Dr. King said (and Senator Tim Scott quoted), \u201cthe content of their character\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0But that isn\u2019t happening right now.\u00a0\u00a0For black men and women it is as basic as being treated fairly by a common symbol of our government, the police.\u00a0\u00a0It doesn\u2019t take much digging to see that \u201cblack lives don\u2019t matter\u201d in far too many cases.\u00a0\u00a0We are being asked by some to pretend that this isn\u2019t an issue, that the \u201cDream\u201d is available to all.\u00a0\u00a0That’s simply not true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This isn\u2019t communism or socialism. It\u2019s basic fairness, rooted in the Declaration and the Bill of Rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thomas Jefferson was a careful author. He used language like an artist, describing his thoughts with precision. John Locke was one of Jefferson\u2019s philosophical predecessors and described the \u201cnatural rights of man\u201d as life, liberty and property. Jefferson adapted those terms to his own thinking. He added a \u201cCreator\u201d (\u2026endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights) and changing the term property to happiness. It wasn\u2019t an abstract error, nor was it just a euphemism to avoid discussing slavery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jefferson saw beyond just having enumerated possessions as the key to \u201chappiness\u201d. He looked to his own life, where he followed his passions, in science, in government, and in agriculture among others. What made Jefferson happy was inquiry, and he saw the pursuit of knowledge as an inalienable right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In our world, financial well being and established position in society does make some happy. But the Declaration of Independence, unlike Locke\u2019s Natural Rights of Man, does not circumscribe happiness as only ownership. In a nation where everyone has the right to find happiness, then obvious differences like race or gender shouldn\u2019t restrict that quest. Neither should the incredibly wide financial inequity of our nation, where the few own most, and the many own little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If that sounds socialist or communist, then blame Jefferson. He was a member of the landed class, and yet he saw that there was more to achieve than just possessions. And so should we.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a nation where we are dedicated to human equality, and making sure everyone has the basis for life, then it is incumbent on the government to provide and protect for that equality and basis. As part of the process of making \u201cA more perfect union\u201d, we have historically included more groups into our \u201ccircle\u201d of equality. It is time to recognize that there are still some \u201coutside\u201d the circle, and take definitive action to bring them in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Education has always been a key to the American dream. Yet the financing of our public schools is often based on the wealth of those living in the school\u2019s district. So, in education, as in some many other facets of our nation, the rich get the best education that \u201cmoney can buy\u201d, while the poor are denied the resources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here in Ohio twenty years ago, we came to the precipice of leveling the field and providing equal funding for education regardless of the financial status of the district.\u00a0\u00a0In the\u00a0DeRolph Case,\u00a0<\/em>the Ohio Supreme Court ruled for financial equity.\u00a0\u00a0But the pressure brought to bear by the wealthy soon caused the Court to step back from its own decision, and the inequity drags on.\u00a0\u00a0The rich continue to get richer and the poor are left to suffer.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Instead of solving the problem, some offer a solution:\u00a0\u00a0let the poor buy a private education, with some government help.\u00a0\u00a0They call it \u201cschool choice\u201d, but it sounds suspiciously like \u201clet them eat cake\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It we are truly a nation defined by our Founding Fathers, then we must move past the old arguments of the 1950\u2019s. No political party is offering Communism or even Socialism as a choice in the 2020 election. One party is offering a way to expand the American Dream to include more of our citizens. And one is saying, \u201cstay the course\u201d, and let the chasm in wealth grow wider. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s clear what Jefferson would want.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Expand the Dream<\/h3>\n\n\n\n