Scrambled Eggs
I have a lot of internal chaos about this whole healthcare debate. This blog probably generally reads like I have made up my mind and don’t like government options, but that’s just my thought processes at work.
I just skimmed Dadio’s link to the venerable FactCheck.org discussing the middle class. This gave me an idea which somewhat leads to my thoughts on healthcare.
The middle class is not a range; I think that’s the fatal flaw that’s always been made. The middle class is simply: a group of people that, to a varying degree, are clustered relatively closely around the median American living an acceptably comfortable life.
Of course, my corporate training would have me immediately jump on the indefinability of “acceptably comfortable,” but I don’t think it’s as hard as it seems. My income/taxation picture of middle class is a family that makes enough money to:
- Pay some taxes
- Afford the basics and a reasonable number of sensible pleasures/luxuries at baseline or just above Wal-Mart prices
- Take a road trip or short flight vacation every year or two with the family
- Not require some kind of lunch or field trip or clothing or transportation subsidy to put their kids through up to and including secondary school
- Afford, with the help of proper public and private financial aid, manage to stretch and send their kids to college using student loans.
This is kind of a random thought, but what’s getting me right now is that this more moderated concept of the middle class seems to be the ones having trouble with healthcare. The destitute at least have a route to go within the system, although very few really like it.
But there’s something distinctly un-American to me about screwing the middle of our society. This country was founded to give the middle a chance. And it’s really the driver of our success. We tax the top and give to the bottom, but here the middle actually has no recourse. Leaving them alone seems to be an unworkable option.
Shell has pretty much impeccable benefits, and it’s kind of humbling to see the other options given to people in small businesses, the service industry, and the like. But what to do? Intentions are good and options are bad.