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The Kellyanne Blues Book


Once upon a time, not so long ago,
people thought that it would be a benefit to us all
if we educated all the children.

I was one of those children,
and that is why I was rounded up, corralled,
and sent to Weyerhaeuser Grade School No. 303,
where it was held that it was good for everyone
if everyone learned how to read, rite, and rithmetic.

It wasn't a perfect system:
if you could spell "Weyerhaeuser"
you eventually got to Eatonville High School,
and four years of Eatonville High School
was usually enough to whet the appetite
for something beyond Eatonville.

I think we still believe that everyone
who can be educated should be educated
for the benefit of us all because
a nation of ignoramuses is a bad idea.

Isn't it?

We are not quite so sure that a public education
is a good idea:  some people prefer a good, solid
immersion in religion, instead, with just a touch
of creation by fiat, and a load of public money;
some think to teach the little tads at home,
with perhaps a small infusion of public money.

But most of us still believe that,
however we do it, we all get an education.
The public money is there because
the public believes it is to public advantage.

Not so with health care.
With respect to universal health care,
we are deeply divided.

Many people, of course, think that we are a stronger nation
if we care, not only about our own health, but the health
of the whole community; the whole nation.

I don't think anybody believes that bad health is a good thing,
but many people believe that health care is something like
having a good house:  it is something you earn by hard work.
As Kellyanne Conway said, those who lose Medicaid coverage
under the Republican health bill can just get a job with health insurance.

That hardly deserves a respectful answer,
so I won't.  It is like saying that poverty
is no excuse:  all one has to do is get money.
Being a child is no excuse for not having a job.
Being in a nursing home is no excuse, either.

"Why should I have to help pay for your education?"
is like asking why we should care about each other's health.

Because, both as neighbors and as a nation,
our own well-being is tied to each other,
not only whether we know enough to make music and airplanes,
but whether we are healthy enough to do the tough work.

And the fact is that we spend enough to do that,
but the systems we have patched together to reach those goals
are more a testament to our reluctance to do the job well
than they are a serious commitment to helping each other.
We let insurance companies and drug manufacturers
siphon off as much as they can get away with:
that is to say, we are more committed to amassing capital
than we are to education and a good health care system.

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