Op-Ed: No one really has any clue about what’s going to happen in the midterms, but here are my predictions on the health-care, gun regulations, and impeachment fronts. There is a lot at stake here, but that is not all that is at stake.
As one of the most politically active people alive, it is only fair that I should be prepared for the future. Of course, I am not going to get to live in the future, as I have an uncanny ability to see many issues come and go before I am even born.
I’ve always loved the term “the far-flung land” because there is a “land” to many, but there are many, many “far-flung zones” in my eyes – not just geographically, but also in terms of time and cultural perspectives. The first time I visited China, I was amazed at how quickly life flew by. As I learned about the language, the people, and the place, I could not help but think about how quickly time passes in the rest of the world. I was also amazed at how fast things change in China and how quickly it seems others were making changes in the Chinese environment.
This may not be true for other issues as well – people can change rapidly and dramatically as well, especially with the Internet and the rapid growth of social media.
In many cases, it is good to “keep your eyes open” for new and emerging viewpoints before they become outdated and lose their relevance. I’ve said in a couple of previous posts that I’ve learned to not expect a lot from those that have it all together in their world view. While I’ve always had the ability to see the future, I’ve also learned what I missed while I didn’t “keep my eyes open” for the new viewpoint.
The health-care debate is an example of that. When it comes to health care reform, the issue is not so much in the health of the American people… but in our ability to continue to care for the needy without bankrupting ourselves.
While health care is a right that Americans have fought for and earned, there is also a need to re-examine the issue of health care within our overall economy.
We already have a system in which some people have more access than others and in which everyone pays for their