SHOULDN’T WE JUST BE RESPONSIBLE?

As I spent another sleepless night after the Democratic debates on Thursday, perhaps bored into insomnia. Seriously, I was trying to make sense out of the leadership crisis we face in this country. As Democrats are wont to do, they speak to policies and programs. Each has a solution for healthcare, climate change, immigration, and so on, maybe even the common cold. But what about being the right leader to bring us into a sustainable and resilient future go to sleep as in the previous day all candidates. As in the previous debate, all the candidates complimented one another; almost agreed that the primary issue was healthcare and then promptly got into the weeds about the details. Whose plan was better? Did it cost millions billions or trillions? Who did it include? Ad nauseam

The fact is, as one of the commentators mentioned, the president does not implement policies programs or plans, the Congress does. They control the purse strings and should be representing the people in all their diversity. They should sort out the details and provide comprehensive cost-effective solutions.

What then is the job of president? He or she is the commander-in-chief of our Armed Forces. By implication either he or she is a leader of this country. So, which Democrats is the leader who we should elect and follow? I can’t figure it out because my head is still spinning about all the policies and the ranting of the statisticians and pollsters. If the candidates all agree that healthcare is a crisis and a human right that must be provided by the federal government. Let’s get on with it. The program will be worked out and determined by the Congress the president needs to exert influence on that broad goal and sign the legislation when offered. End of story.

The president as a leader needs to provide guidance and inspiration for us to solve or deal with problems of race, inequity, social justice, economic prosperity, environmental threats and the list goes on. Bottom line, we need leadership, we need to be inspired, we need to be challenged and we need to be held accountable for casting an informed ballot. We just might be responsible for solving these issues among ourselves at the community level. The government is not responsible to solve every problem we come up with. In fact, some legislative solutions just create additional problems – unintended consequences.

But I digress.

what is on my mind is a comment offered by candidate Yang.

“Democrats are talking about health care in the wrong way.… If we say, look, we’re going to get health care off the backs of businesses and families, then watch American entrepreneurship recover and bloom.” That’s the argument we should be making to the American people. To me this is a discussion about who is responsible for what. First, we should be responsible for ourselves. This includes our own health and well-being. It is not about being able to go to the doctor of our choice. It is about being responsible for how we treat our bodies and how we remain healthy in a challenging environment. We need to make good food choices and exercise the wonderful biological machine we are. Certainly, there are people who have maintained a healthy lifestyle that get injured, that have a biological weakness that through no fault of their own become ill. (I can speak to this very directly) This is what healthcare should deal with. It should encourage wellness and provide the resources for those who have suffered catastrophic life-threatening health crisis.

When I look back on the 25 years I was responsible for my two sons, I think how fortunate they were not to have suffered no major sickness or injury. Oh there were visits to the emergency room but I could count them on one hand. However during that time I saw several of their friends depart much too soon stricken by cancer. My thoughts at that time were that all children should be given the best healthcare that we have to offer, and no parent should have to worry about the cost of that care. If you were my social circle in the 70s and 80s you may have heard me say that. That was not an unique vision. I wouldn’t want to step on Bernie Sander’ s toes. In my mind it just made sense. Like my responsibility to myself to remain healthy, it was also my responsibility to provide a healthy environment for my sons to grow up in. And they now face the challenge of doing so for my grandchildren. Unfortunately, one of my grandsons was not so lucky. He was as healthy and active a kid that you could wish for. For whatever reason he suffered a combination of biological and mental issues. Hard to understand and even more difficult to deal with. Over 3 to 4 years his condition was resolved by extraordinary medical means I could not comprehend having to deal with his treatment and the costs today let alone at that time. His father was fortunate to have the resources to deal with the health costs. He was responsible for the care of his child. But in my mind my grandson should have expectations of being cared for. That is the responsibility, in my mind, of our society.

Returning to Yang’s comments, Is it really the responsibility of business to provide insurance benefits as part of an expectation or even a requirement of employment. Yes, and incentivized compensation package may include employer covering health costs, but should the employer be legally responsible to provide insurance to cover those costs. Is that the expectation of the job? No, in my opinion, responsibility of the business is to provide a fair and inequitable wage that can support their employees living needs including healthcare. And this is where I believe a government “for the people” should step in and provide an universal system of healthcare that removes the burden “off the backs of businesses” and perhaps balance responsibilities of individual business and government. Here’s where the debate lies. What is the contract between employer and employee? What is the social contract between the government and its citizens? I don’t have those answers and I really don’t believe that any of the candidates for the presidency do either. Certainly our current president does not. They have identified a need raised by their constituents; they are trying to provide a solution to that need. But do we need the details at this point, or do we need a discussion about how we the people and our elected representatives can be led by a president into a solution to resolve this health crisis. Let’s not debate details or even costs, let’s agree that there is a problem, define that problem and evaluate solutions to that problem, implement those solutions within a transparent and accountable system.

Let’s elect a leader that in our opinion can facilitate this process and develop consensus as to the solution. The upcoming election is not just a fight for the “soul of America” as candidate Biden states, is a fight for the mind, body and soul of America