I found a statement in our
reading, “we are a nation of resources but not a nation of social services
aimed at preventing poverty and poor health” this statement supports a lot of
what we discussed in class this evening when Susan asked us where does the US
rank in social welfare. I believe the two correlate, in most cases than none
someone in poverty is likely to have health concerns due to lack of funds,
education, and resources. Our country life expectancy is below most other developed
nations. The U.S spends the largest amount of money on health care. My question
is where does it go? Yes we have great technology, as Mahria mentioned during
our discussion but why is our infant mortality higher than other countries? There
are resources available many which were presented this evening, SNAP, WIC, and Medicare,
etc. Our government puts a lot of prominence on the wealthy, allowing for
breaks with taxes for employment, home ownership, and education. Those funds
could be used in lower income communities, providing accessible resources for families.
In some low income households it is difficult for a single parent and in a few
cases a two parent household to afford transportation other than to work and
home. Funds could be used to provide mobile serves to identified areas in need;
I believe this could improve our rating. If all U.S. citizens were treated fairly
we could decrease the gap between the rich and poor and improve poverty and
poor health.
Octavia, we are dealing with a government that is influenced by the right. I agree with most of what you are saying, it's not fair for a country that's so resourceful to yield such little turn-around in terms of health, equality among the classes and tolerance towards each other. One thing I noticed is that our political leaders always talk about the middle class hardly anyone focuses the poor or needy. It's like a stigma for politicians to even mention them. Not everyone fits into the middle class group especially with our wages being so low. It's a pity that our arguments these days are non-inclusive of every American citizen.
ReplyDeleteI agree Marquita - and I think that has a lot to do with placating to their audience....they know the lower class are not the ones who are turning out to the polls. They are often uneducated and unaware of the issues - and a lot of "middle class" workers feel resentment towards resources being used to take care of people who aren't "pulling their weight".
DeleteHi Octavia great points! I think you are so right about the lack of transparency in the way money is spent and how policies are funded.
ReplyDeleteMy feelings about the medical system is that the liability issue really adds a lot of costs to all healthcare. As I mentioned last night the idea about personal accountability and holding doctors to a superhuman standard is very costly for us as a nation but it is something that is so ingrained in us - I don’t think people would want that to change?! Also, as Charisse pointed out the prescription drug market is very costly and poses a lot of issues for so many.
One thing that I think would be very valuable in making effective change would be doing away with the two party political system. The fact that neither side is willing to compromise and work together is so disheartening and frustrating to so many Americans. There is no reason we accept a system that works as poorly as our, yet we do! There has been third party candidates who have run on very valid platforms, yet they are immediately discredited and chastised.
I also think there is some real validity in looking at a flat tax option for federal income tax. I know many argue that that is not the perfect answer and it is not - but it would allow for less corruption and a more straight forward approach to something that many people are overwhelmed by.
I agree. I feel that the United States is spending too much money in certain areas. There is no way we spend so much money on health care but aren't at the top of the list for the best health care around. It's like if we are spending so much money only in this area and it's proven to not be #1 or at least great, when will something change. I feel that America is just greedy. We plan a lot of things after things then happened. A change really needs to be made!
ReplyDeleteGreat Post Octavia,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your blog, I think it speaks volumes about wealth distribution and inequality in America. Over the past 50 years we have seen the wealth disparity between the classes grow greater and greater, I believe that the 2008 housing market crash defiantly woke a lot of people up to the issue and made many question where exactly our money is going.
I am still disturbed that in the United States we have a growing class of people known as the “working poor”, it’s shocking that in the country with worlds highest GDP that controls 25% of the worlds resources, can work a full time job and still have in income that puts them below the poverty line.