Uninformed choices can have dire consequences
I, too, am a patriotic American. I believe in the Constitution and all of its guaranteed rights, especially the First Amendment right of a free and uncensored press, as well as the right of every citizen to petition the government for the redress of grievances and the right of peaceful protest without retaliation. Any denial of these rights would ultimately result in fascism, communism, despotism or tyranny.
Until now, we citizens have been endowed with the freedom of choice, but uninformed choices can have dire consequences. If anyone chooses to believe the Affordable Care Act is not beneficial, realize that one many wait a full year for care and pay five times the premium for coverage, especially those with pre-existing conditions, mental-health issues or who are dealing with drug addiction.
If anyone has been led to believe Medicare and Medicaid are entitlements, not benefits we have prepaid for all our working lives, then go ahead and dump your life savings into a speculative stock market.
If you are willing to undermine public education for all, including those with disabilities, then realize you condemn the most vulnerable citizens to an institutional life and a hopeless future. And if you favor school vouchers, do you favor participation by all religious groups?
If you refuse to contribute to women’s health care coverage and birth control, then refrain from activities that could result in a birth. In turn, so should you refuse funding for prostate treatment and erectile dysfunction drugs.
If millionaire businesspeople have convinced you that government agencies that monitor safety and safeguard the environment are bad for business, are you also convinced these millionaires will support and comfort your widows and orphans?
Our country’s first Republican administration was frequently at odds with the New York press, yet President Abraham Lincoln never accused New York Tribune owner Horace Greeley of printing “fake news.”
I fervently believe that by supressing the ink of truth, we risk spilling the blood so that truth may be resurrected.
Judy Kramer
Bulger