Continuing on the theme of my last few columns, I think
that income inequality is one of the largest societal problems we are facing.
If we can fix that then maybe we can make America great for all. Notice I
didn’t say great again? That’s because it’s never really been great for the
majority of us.
First
let me clarify, when I talk about fixing income inequality it doesn’t mean that
I think all incomes should be equal. It’s more about making it fairer for those
at the bottom because the reality is that the deck is stacked against them from
the get go. They are just in survival mode (as are many in the so called middle
class) so they never get the opportunity to succeed at improving their lives.
As a society I feel that
opportunity is the most important thing we can provide for our members. The opportunity
for quality education, affordable healthcare, decent housing, food security,
and the opportunity to not live in fear of those who profess to protect us. If
we can provide these things, then as a society we’ve done our part and its then
up to the individual to succeed.
So how do we get to this
utopian vision of America? Maybe we can use that “social capitalism” I was
talking about in my last column. But instead of just having socially conscious
businesses let’s try a radical approach and make the federal government a
corporation. I mean it’s already kind of a business with employees, income, and
expenses, it just needs to be restructured. All U.S. citizens of age would be
stock holders and each would get to vote for the board (congress) and the
executive officers. Wasn’t this one of Trumps selling points, that he would run
the government more like a business?
OK, yea I know it’s kind of
a pipe dream to think we could change the constitution to allow us to have a
USA, Inc. Especially considering we have all these Federalist Society members
trying to keep us running our country like it was still 1776 even though society
and the world has changed unimaginably since then.
Anyway, regardless of how the federal
government is structured let me give you my vision of a better and more
equitable America. Now obviously I don’t have all the answers as to how we can
get to this place and I definitely don’t know how we pay for it, but here goes.
Basic minimum living
standards: All our citizens will be provided a clean and safe place to live, food
for 3 meals a day, a basic cell phone, internet, and TV access. In exchange for
this they are required to work a minimum number of hours for either a private
company, for the government (workfare) or be enrolled in school or vocational
training.
Free primary, secondary, and
specialty education or vocational training: Everyone gets the opportunity to
learn and become whatever they desire or is best suited too. In exchange they
have to give back to the community a percentage of their skill, such as a
doctor has to volunteer at a free clinic or the skilled tradesmen have to help
maintain free housing, etc…
Affordable healthcare: This
is a tough one excepting the staffing of doctors, nurses, and their support.
That will be easier because without the burden of student debt more people will
go into the profession because they want to help people, not just to make
money. Also in exchange for their education they will need to volunteer some of
their time. The hard part is reining in the costs of pharmaceuticals, medical
equipment, and healthcare facilities. I think that can be done by using the
social capitalism model that would require them to be nonprofits. The
understanding being that a nonprofit can still make money to pay salaries and
do research and development they just have to charge and pay socially
acceptable norms.
So those are three of the
main areas that need fixing to improve our society. Financially I think they
can be achieved by cutting back on foreign aid especially military and by withdrawing
our military from the dead end conflicts we are now in. We should use those
resources to improve our crumbling infrastructures, creating jobs at the same
time.
Just to clarify, because we
are providing these basic opportunities to those who need it doesn’t mean we
won’t still have private education, healthcare, and housing for those that can
afford it. It’s just that we’re leveling the playing field a little so we can
all be happier, healthier, smarter, and hopefully friendlier to those different
than ourselves.
To view the column in it's original form go to page 13 of the following link. Winters Express 12/14/17
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