As I was listening to news about the Chicago teachers' strike today, a seemingly obvious thought occurred to me. Why do we accept, as a society, the idea that all people deserve at least a basic education, and support that idea with our tax dollars, but we refuse to accept the idea that all people deserve at least basic healthcare, and then support that with our tax dollars?
It's a no-brainer that public education in itself is a good idea, no matter how you feel about the current state of our schools. At least we agree that we should have schools that are available to everyone at no cost, because we recognize that education is a right in America. So why not make the leap to healthcare?
I would argue, fairly easily, that healthcare is more important than education. I mean, you can't go to school when you're sick, right?
And we already extend this idea to the elderly. We provide them with Medicare because we believe they have a right to have their health tended to. So why not the rest of us? Why are the elderly more important as human beings than everyone else?
It justs boggles my mind that we can appreciate how important education is, but not how important going to the doctor when you're sick is. What is wrong with us?
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Let's keep it civil people.