All ‘Far Left’ is Asking for is for Nation to Cover Basic Human Needs
Opinion Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the author/producer’s interpretation of facts and data.
Michael Gold, in his column “Far Left Prescriptions for Our Nation are Far Out of Step,” (Jan. 3-9) seems confused about what the political left stands for.
For example, “defund the police,” in fact, means reconstruct police departments to include mental health professionals and community relations experts and to strengthen civilian oversight. Why are we forcing law enforcement to handle mental health-related confrontations? Police are trained to arrest or shoot, less so to de-escalate and mitigate.
Even Mr. Gold’s example of defunding-the-police-gone-wrong in Seattle had little to do with any police department’s budget reduction and was more about erroneous instructions to not patrol a protest zone.
Most importantly, if we want to reduce crime, we must study ways to mitigate poverty and wealth disparities because the poor commit the most crimes worldwide. Unfortunately, poverty remains a societal choice, and it’s too humiliating to shine the light back on ourselves.
As for Medicare for All being too pricey, our current healthcare system costs the most per capita of all the world’s countries by far, yet we experience among the worst health outcomes. Thirty cents for every dollar spent goes to administrative costs and profits, not to improving health. A single-payer model like Medicare for All is proved all around the world to cover everyone while reducing costs and increasing quality. Certainly, taxes will increase, but we will no longer pay private insurance premiums, deductibles, co-pays, co-insurance and other ways the for-profit healthcare industry squeezes money from the sick.
Our current healthcare system is actually four independent, complex, expensive systems – private insurance, Medicare/Medicaid, Veterans Administration and self-pay/uninsured – and juggling all four are overwhelming our national budget. Soon enough, the U.S. will reach a crisis point when Medicare for All is the only viable solution. Unfortunately, we will waste trillions of dollars until then.
Finally, while I acknowledge the benefits of capitalism, all the national problems that Mr. Gold points out such as poverty, climate change, health insurance and affordable housing are only intensified by the crony capitalism infecting America. When multibillion-dollar companies can keep all profits but have their losses bailed out by taxpayers and when specific industries are favored with huge subsidies, that’s no longer capitalism. We don’t need to eradicate capitalism; we need to develop a strong social safety net to protect those suffering because of capitalism’s excesses and failures.
The supposed “far left” is just asking what the citizens of most developed countries already have: a life where basic human needs – healthcare, housing, child care, education, nutrition – are guaranteed no matter what zip code one lives in, what job one has and how poor one is. In return, society produces a highly-educated and energetic workforce and experiences reduced crime, teen pregnancy, abortions, poverty, homelessness and illness.
Isn’t that the goal we all want?
Sincerely yours,
Chandak Ghosh
Chappaqua
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