"A nation that doesn't just espouse family values but values families and children."This quote has struck home with me as, more than 20 years after the first printing, it seems our government does more and more of the former and far too little of the latter. This is clearly evidenced in the sorry state of our education system and Congress seeking health care reforms that would cause millions to lose their health insurance. We hear plenty about family values, often with "traditional" leading the statement, but let's take the time to flip the coin and ask the question just how do we value families?
To start I want to make sure we're all talking about the same thing when we say families. By families I am referring to people who are bound together by love, blood, and obligation. This includes those with and without children, all ages, races, religions, and genders. A family should be counted regardless of marital status, incorporating single parents, step family, married couples, and cohabiting partners. A family can be as little as two people but has no upper limit as it may come to include extended family and branch through three and even four generations. Even roommates with no romantic entanglement may be considered a family when they rely on each other for support in their daily lives. I would define family in the broadest of terms as two or more people who directly rely on one another for mental, emotional, and physical (including financial) support.
Now, on a governmental level, how should we value families? This can be accomplished by removing barriers and ensuring that every family has equal access to being healthy, safe, and financially secure. Seems simple doesn't it? Most things do when considered in their most general form. The difficulty comes in the details but hopefully this has given us a good starting position to examine what real actions our government should be taking to make this a reality for all Americans.
Health- I've treated the issue of health care in America in a previous post so here I will just attempt to sum things up. The greatest barrier to quality health care in America is financial. To remove this barrier necessitates a complete overhaul of our current system to make sure that any time a citizen needs to go to the doctor, get medication, or have a procedure done they are able to do so without undue financial burden. The government should also be pursuing scientific research to expand our knowledge of the human body, develop new treatments/medications for illnesses, better understand nutrition, and investigate environmental factors that influence human health. Policies and regulations should be written to improve and protect human health to the greatest extent possible.
Safety- This topic has two key elements, prevention and protection. It also has two scopes, domestic and international. International prevention is obtained through building allies, intelligence gathering, and supporting at risk nations to harbor good relationships abroad. International protection comes through direct military action. Domestic prevention takes the form of community building, education, and economic development. Domestic protection takes the form of police/fire services as well as the jail/prison system. Smart domestic policies start by recognizing that prevention is a form of supporting families which leads to a decreased need for protection services. Policies must be formed and action taken to remove the substantial bias, particularly in regards to race, that permeates our criminal justice system. Sentencing must be appropriate to the crime and applied equally to all perpetrators. Action must also be taken to reduce recidivism through education and community support to ensure offenders are given the opportunity to create/reunite their families and become productive members of society.
Financial Security- This topic is related to the two above but also stands on its own. I am not advocating a "welfare for all" system but rather a system that makes sure the basic needs, such as food and shelter, of every American are being met while providing every citizen the ability to achieve financial success and the American dream. A large part of this can be taken as a "teach a man to fish" style philosophy. When we provide citizens of this country with the highest quality of education, from kindergarten all the way through higher education, we are giving the greatest number of individuals the opportunity to succeed. I would also advocate funding not just Universities and Community Colleges but also quality trade schools and apprenticeship programs to make sure the workers of the future are diversified across all sectors of the economy. Actions to stabilize and grow the economy should be a perennial item on Congress' to do list. We must also learn to be adaptable in the face of a changing economic landscape. As some industries grow and others decay the government must be prepared to transition the nation's workforce instead of clinging to outdated industries until communities collapse under their own weight.
Talking about family values can sometimes be a picture of The Simpson's Helen Lovejoy shouting "Think of the children" but it doesn't have to be. Smart governmental policies protect individuals and families of all types without getting into unnecessary moral quandaries. If politicians were to set their minds solely on valuing families we would come a long way towards improving the everyday lives of Americans across the board.
