The Correct Outcome

It's the correct outcome -- Does it seem like America has gone over the edge?  Weekly mass killings in unlikely places, gun sales breaking records everywhere in the country, seemingly complete inability of government agencies and institutions to command respect and maintain order.  Is this the new normal?

Is it the correct outcome?  Yes.  Is the right outcome?  Of course not.  But what should we expect?  America has been working toward the current state of condition for a long time.  At least since the Reagan presidency.

Thanks to the Reagan budget cuts, tens of thousands, perhaps millions, of people suffering from mental illness have been "reintegrated back into society" instead of being housed in treatment institutions.

We have continued to engage in foreign wars nearly non-stop since World War II.   Young men and women come back from this traumatic experience with many ailments and diseases, then we often deny them care and treatment after they return.  So we have mentally ill veterans living hopelessly and homeless all over the country.

We have grown the poor population faster than any other group of citizens.  So economic depression and the disappearance of the middle class has reached alarming levels.  Higher education has escalated to become unaffordable to more and more American families. It is reported that over 600,000 Americans declared bankruptcy specifically due to medical bills they could never pay.  This is compared to a couple of dozen other developed countries that reported zero instances of the same.  The working poor are not provided medical coverage in their low paying jobs and they cannot afford to buy it, even with the ACA program.  So this is an expected outcome.

So again, we are experiencing the correct outcome for the investment, or lack of it, in our national social status.  Should we be surprised at this?  Definitely not.

Would we be surprised and disappointed that a tree growing up from planting Apple seeds does not yield pears?  That would be considered insane.  So why would we be surprised about the social ills we live with every day?  They come, after all, from the seeds we have sown for the past several decades.

What to do?  Can we create a better bandaid?  Do we need to pass another law?  Do we need to eliminate the second amendment from the constitution?  Or close that dreaded loophole in regard to gun shows?  How about healthcare savings accounts?  That'll warm the hearts of the average Walmart or McDonalds employee!

Thinking and thoughtful people know what needs to change in order for us to be a safer, friendlier, more compassionate nation.  But most of those people do not choose to run for public office or choose public service jobs for careers, it seems.  Who can blame them?  They have children to raise and educate and that costs more every day.  We do not take very good financial care of our teachers, social workers, and other people who would be inclined to dedicate their lives to serving others.  So the best and brightest look elsewhere for their means of support.  If that does not somehow change, where is the current state of affairs going to lead us?