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We Are Family |
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As Obama appoints his cabinet and prepares to take office, much is being said about which specific programs and initiatives we should push first. But before we jump headfirst into the task of developing recommendations and crafting potential legislation, perhaps we need to take a deeper look into our collective soul and decide just what type of nation we are trying to be in the midst of all this “change.”
As I see it, we have two basic choices. On the one hand, we can see ourselves as a “boarding house.” A boarding house is a group of people who live with the same roof over their heads, but who do not necessarily share anything else. They might be friends, or they might not. They might look out for one another, or they might not. Above all else, they are careful to respect each other’s privacy and independence. The boarding house, then, operates under a conservative philosophy.
On the other hand, we can see ourselves as a “family home” - as a group of kinspeople who share a lot more than a roof. A family shares a common name, a common purpose, a common history, and a common dream. A family is much more than a group of friends or acquaintainces. A family always takes care of its own. And above all else, a family sticks together and makes sure each member is safe and has what it needs. The family home, then, operates under a liberal philosophy.
Think about the current health care situation in the United States. Are we more like the boarding house or the family home in the way we deal with those who are sick? At a boarding house, if someone feels ill, they will be helped. They will be given an aspirin or some Ginger Ale. They will be driven to the hospital, if necessary. The immediate need will be met.
But what if someone at the boarding house is diagnosed with cancer and needs an operation they can’t afford? What if they become disabled and need someone to care for them around the clock? At this level of need, the other residents will step aside, saying that it’s not their responsibility. But in the family home, the members pull together and take on that responsibility. They make sure that the sick person can get the operation, and they make sure they have the care they need - no matter what it takes.
In recent decades, our health care system has functioned more like the boarding house. Some help is available, but we don’t take responsibility for the care of all of our citizens. 47 million people without insurance is not indicative of a nation that thinks of itself as a big family.
And the same is true for all of life’s necessities - not just health care, but also food, housing, clothing, and education. In the boarding house, the residents don’t feel obligated to share their suppers with one another. They might give a piece of pizza to their neighbor out of the goodness of their heart, but it’s not expected. In the family, no one goes hungry. No one is turned away at the dinner table, even if they have been a lazy slob and have sat on the couch watching TV all day instead of looking for a job. The lazy slob who has no job might not get to enjoy many luxuries in life, but he does know that, since he is a member of the family, he will be able to get what he needs.
So the question, then, as Obama prepares to take office, is do we as a nation want to be a boarding house or a family home? Throughout our history, we’ve managed to fall somewhere between these two ends of the spectrum. Lately, we’ve been drifting toward the boarding house . I, for one, would like to see us become more like a family that takes cares of all its members, rather than a collection of acquantainces who don’t feel as much of an obligation toward one another’s well-being.
If a lazy slob sits on a couch all day instead of looking for a job, he should starve to death. Don’t want to work? Don’t eat. Easy as that.
We’re a Nation, not a family.
Jim,
You make a great and heartfelt point, and yet I fear that it will echo in an empty room somewhere. I think Obama is extremely astute in the way that he approaches this problem; he couches it in patroitism; we will ‘rise and fall as one nation’ is much less threatening to people than the concept of a ‘family home.’ I believe as you do and I will take it further and say that this country has no future if we don’t turn this around because when a society as large as ours begins to split down the middle it won’t survive. Ultimately those at the top will need to rely on those at the bottom to work in their companies and factories and to buy their products and they can’t and won’t if they’re sick, broke, and uneducated. The upper class will be sitting on a Utopian step stool as the legs rot underneath them. If the middle class becomes the lower class and the lower class becomes poverty-stricken, our country will destroy itself from the inside out.
It’s criminal, in my opinion, to send men and women to die in Iraq for a cause that we can’t even uphold on our own soil. We need to lead by example, and we need to do it now.
Thank you for your comment, Lori. My hope is that a progressive tide is building that will be resonant with this type of message - although I fear progressives are getting too bogged down in policies and details and not concerned enough with laying a solid philosophical framework. We need to know why we are doing what we are doing, not just how.
ha, my worry is almost the opposite. I worry that the longer Obama spends on the ‘why’ the quicker the Right will spring to tackle the issue and reframe it the way they want to see it. If Obama waxes philosophical, the Right will have the ‘in’ they need to frame the race for 2010 because they don’t have anything else to run with. Obama is much harder to diffuse when he waxes professorial. It confuses the Right and puts them to sleep. That’s why I like him. lol.
If only it were that easy… And if we’re not a family, how come we’re asked to die for each other?
(Trying again: perhaps it doesn’t like the link I tried to put in):
While I think your analogy is interesting, I think you’re selling the US short. Have we forgotten about Medicaid, Medicare, and many other welfare programs for providing healthcare and other services to those who can’t afford it. In my state, for example, you can get free speech therapy for children who are even marginally below average even if you are significantly above the poverty line. It seems to me that Obama (perhaps strategically?) pretended that these programs don’t exist during the election. See http://sovereignmind.wordpress.com/2008/11/01/does-limbaugh-have-a-poi nt/.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not going to give you the typical conservative argument that we need to cut back on these programs. We do have significant problems with healthcare in our country, and I would not be opposed to measures to try to improve things as long as they are well thought-out and based on facts and not ideology. But I just take issue with your statement that, at least when it comes to healthcare, we are more like a boarding house than a family.
Jimm Admiro su forma de escribir, la profundidad o claridad que hay en sus art?culos. No me refiero a la gram?tica, sino a los claros conceptos de Amor y Familia.
Soy nacida y criada en Chile, un pa?s que, en mi opini?n, considera a su naci?n como hermano mayor, lo que nos influye mucho en todo ?mbito en la econom?a y la cultura nacional.
Me atrevo a decir que su concepto de Filosof?a Liberal es un concepto que deber?a ser mundial. No estoy hablando de un partido pol?tico, o de un candidato en especial, sino de humanidad, de fraternidad, de familia como t? dices, porque he aprendido a no poner mi esperanza en los hombres pues siempre cometemos errores y no todos nacen con sabidur?a.
?Conoces algo sobre Chile?
Tal vez haz o?do sobre Augusto Pinochet o Gladys Mar?n.
Bueno, el tema es que Derecha versus Izquierda han complicado las cosas como en cualquier familia que est? dividida, pues en la Biblia dice que una casa dividida no permanece para siempre, ?cierto?. El asunto es que no se ve Derecha e Izquierda como dos manos que forman parte de un cuerpo y que juntas pueden lograr un maravilloso objetivo propuesto, sea material o espiritual.
Creo que todo proviene del olvido de Dios como Padre, pues Dios es el verdadero amor, y sin amor es dif?cil amar al pr?jimo como a un hermano en una familia y, si consideramos a Dios como nuestro padre ser?amos una gran familia no solo en su pa?s, sino tambi?n en Francia, Jap?n o Chile%u2026 en el mundo.
Con un concepto de familia como el suyo, todos los ciudadanos trabajar?amos por el otro, pero el mundo est? cambiando y tambi?n el concepto real de familia. Las familias ya no son como antes pues ahora ambos padres trabajan y los hijos sobreviven en las calles y otras familias est?n compuestas por madres solteras y padres solteros o de parejas homosexuales.
No quiero ser pesimista, realmente no quiero, pero la Realidad Irreal, como yo le digo, me aterra todo el tiempo. ?Qu? enfrentar?n nuestros hijos si esto no se frena?.
Yo soy una profesional de la infancia y puedo decir que los ni?os ya no son como antes, casi no respetan a los adultos ni ancianos, pues los padres de familia no tienen tiempo de educar sino de trabajar para sostenerles.
?Conoces a lgs, ?l fue mi profesor de Ingl?s Conversacional en Chile, tal vez ?l pueda ayudarte a entender lo que escrib? en espa?ol? Espero ir a tu pa?s y perfeccionar mi ingl?s.
Jimm I admire the way you write, the depth and clarity that exists in their articles. I am not referring to the grammar, but the clear concepts of Love and Family.
I’m born and raised in Chile, a country which, in my opinion, believes his nation as an elder brother, which we greatly influences the whole field in the economy and national culture.
I dare say that his concept of liberal philosophy is a concept that should be global. I’m not talking about a political party or one candidate in particular, but of humanity, of brotherhood, of family as you say, because I have not learned to put my hope in the men always make mistakes and therefore not all born with wisdom.
Do you know anything about Chile?
Perhaps beam heard about Salvador Allende and Augusto Pinochet.
Well, the issue is that Right vs. Left has complicated things as in any family that is divided, because the Bible says that “a house divided not stay forever, right?. The question is who is not and Left like two hands that are part of a body and that together they can achieve a great objective, whether material or spiritual.
I think everything comes from forgetfulness of God as Father, because God is the true love and with love is hard to love our neighbor as a brother in a family and if we believe God as our father would be a great family is not alone in your country but also in France, Japan or Chile … in the world.
With a family like yours, all citizens would work on the other, but the world is changing and also the concept of real family. The families are no longer as before because now both parents work and children survive on the streets and other families are made up of single mothers and single parents or gay couples.
I do not want to be pessimistic, I really do not want to, the Reality unrealistic but, as I say, I am terrified all the time. What our children will face if this is not slowing?.
I am a professional child and I can say that children are no longer as before, almost no respect for adults or the elderly, because the parents do not have time to educate but to work to sustain it.
You know LGS, he was my teacher of conversational English in Chile, maybe he can help you understand what I wrote in Spanish? I hope to go to your country soon and improve my English.
I hope you understand to me, because I made a great effort. Thankyou
Yes, Paula, I understand you very well, and I thank you for your generous comments. I do not know much about Chile, but I feel that we are of the same mind when it comes to politics, faith, and the challenges that families face. I am also terrified of what I see in the world, but at the same time I am very hopeful. I feel we are at a point in history where things can change for the better if we take the opportunity to work for it.
Of course we can not cross your arms, I work on it … I am glad to read my opinion. Thank you.
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Por supuesto que no podemos cruzar los brazos, yo trabajo en eso, con la familia y sus hijos … me alegro de que leiste mi opinion. Gracias.