What America Needs: Prescription for a Toxic Hangover

What America Needs: Prescription for a Toxic Hangover

By Gil Villagrán, MSW El Observador, San Jose, November 7, 2008

After eight years of the Bush-Cheney pesadilla (nightmare), America is desperate for a prescription to heal the disastrous state of our nation. Here are my top ten conditions that must be addressed immediately to begin a restoration of our nation's health.

1. Our economy is in meltdown mode with a cascade of bank failures, bankrupt businesses, home foreclosure resulting in homeless families, property tax loss for municipalities that provide safety net services, 401(k) retirement losses creating a generation of impoverished seniors who worked and saved over their lifetime.

2. Our environment is polluted with toxicity that will decrease life expectancy for all downwind or downriver from toxic sites that are almost everywhere, after the war on science perpetrated by the Bush Environmental Protection Agency. We are all down wind and down river from somewhere, with toxicity in our food chain and our blood stream.

3. Our health care system is not a system at all, but rather a patch of unequal employer provided healthcare for educated or strong union workers, Medicare for qualified retirees, Medicaid for the qualified destitute unemployed/low wage workers, and the self-paying insured who must often fight insurance bureaucrats for critical life-sustaining treatment. Many home foreclosures begin with a family's inability to make high medical payments and their mortgage. Almost 50 million Americans have no health insurance at all.

4. Our educational system: President W. Bush asked, "Is our children learning (sic)?" After eight years of the so-called 'No Child Left Behind presidency,' we know the answer is NO! Many children are not learning well enough to meet the challenges of the 21st century or even the 19th century. The education of our children is our nation's future.

5. Our nation's criminal justice system has produced the highest incarceration rate in the world: one out of 100 Americans is imprisoned, on probation or parole. California has more jails than public universities, annually costing more to incarcerate a youth or adult than to send them to Stanford University. A well-nurtured child with a quality education rarely chooses crime as a livelihood and prison as his/her home.

6. Our energy and infrastructure is in decay, with bridges falling into rivers. We must kick our oil addiction, replace it with 21st century renewable energy, mass transit, quality homes for all, and build enjoyable livable cities.

7. Our employment system: everyone needs self-sustaining, well-paying work that serves individual and community needs that contribute positively to our nation and world. Renewing our infrastructure will provide employment for many, who then become taxpayers.

8. Our military-industrial system: we need a prepared citizenry to protect our nation and promote global justice and human rights, but not a bloated military eager for evermore weapons of mass destruction that if we use them, God help us, and if we don't--what a waste! Congress must not be allowed to fund weapons systems and manufacture as employment for their constituents and campaign contribution opportunities for themselves.

9. Our nation's reputation in the world: just say no to torture and war before diplomacy; embrace, once again, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Court of Justice, and join other nations seeking to create a world of peace and prosperity for all human beings. Terminate the two wars in the Middle East quickly as Eisenhower ended the Korean War after taking office.

10. Our future as a people: America is exceptional among nations, and so are all other nations and peoples! Once we realize this, we can renew our leadership and fellowship with our six billion sisters and brothers on our otherwise ill-fated beautiful Spaceship Earth.