Fair

As I get older, I realize that, in a way, I haven't changed all that much. There's a line from a Pearl Jam song: "I change by not changing at all." I know, but I'll let you figure out, the song. I've always just wanted what's fair. I don't want people to get less, nor more, than their fair share. The problem always lies in determining what is fair. But I think for basic needs, we all have some intuition about this. I don't think people should have basic health care because it is their 'right'. That sounds like a religion. -"it's only right." -"because I said so." -"because that's what God or some other authority wants." No. I require more than that. The minimum I require is good reason. There are many good reasons. But think it's entirely possible for us to all decide that we want to support basic, minimal sustenance for our fellow citizens. We need to keep in mind that it is not without the cost of people contributing. It is completely reasonable to limit the amount any individual or family gets. But it seems reasonable to agree to contribute to some level of sustenance for, say, health, shelter, etc. for a family with up to two kids. This could be run like a consumers union. Just like Walmart leverages its size to bargain with suppliers, so could a federal government, to drive down prices of health care, down from being some of the most expensive (yet not proportionally highest quality) in the world. With the basic structure of our government, with middle men/women (representatives), as easy targets for powerful special interest lobbies, rather than a more direct democracy approach, I have doubts as to whether this is likely to happen. But I have little doubt that if we the people can agree on some basic values, and work together to force those issues, this could get done.