The impossibility of hope?
The human mind comes to truth about complex situations by organizing disparate data into a cohesive unit. When you realize the key to the interpretation of all of this complex data, there's frequently a moment of clarity: an "Ah Ha Moment" when it all clicks (Einstein talked about this when he came up with the theory of relativity, and I could almost feel it happening when I was working on my thesis). Sometimes the click signals a revelation of truth, and sometimes the click is overruled at a later date by new data.
Today, I had one such moment that I hope you can overrule, ironically when I was in conversation with some of the most compassionate people I know, at Multifaith Works.
Americans have as much opportunity, or more, as any other citizens on the planet. Our GDP per capita consistently ranks as top five in the world. We're as educated as anyone in the world. We're a democratic country, where decisions are made freely by the population, and our leaders are chosen directly by the people. Yet, 45 million people go without health insurance. The leaders we choose let children live in squalor. We're happy to let veterans live on the street without support. In every other industrialized country, people do better than we do.
The problem isn't an inadequacy of resources or freedoms. Ultimately, the way it shakes out, the problem is that we care at least a little bit less about other people than they do in other developed countries, and a little bit more about ourselves.
Today, I had one such moment that I hope you can overrule, ironically when I was in conversation with some of the most compassionate people I know, at Multifaith Works.
Americans have as much opportunity, or more, as any other citizens on the planet. Our GDP per capita consistently ranks as top five in the world. We're as educated as anyone in the world. We're a democratic country, where decisions are made freely by the population, and our leaders are chosen directly by the people. Yet, 45 million people go without health insurance. The leaders we choose let children live in squalor. We're happy to let veterans live on the street without support. In every other industrialized country, people do better than we do.
The problem isn't an inadequacy of resources or freedoms. Ultimately, the way it shakes out, the problem is that we care at least a little bit less about other people than they do in other developed countries, and a little bit more about ourselves.
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