I recently made the mistake of chiming in on a cousin’s facebook feed regarding the new health care reform. I was quickly reminded that when people say they want your opinions or ask for more information, what they really mean is they want you to support their conclusion.
Needless to say the conversation quickly deteriorated. There clearly is no civil discourse on this subject –even among family members. I’m sure we all felt we were talking to complete strangers, rather than two generations of the same family, created from the same gene pool, molded by many of the same family experiences.
As I replay the conversation in my head, one point keeps coming back to nag me “This is a terrible burden for my children and grandchildren to bear”. I keep asking myself, “Is it? Really?” Are we saying money is more important than compassion? And do we really understand in this spoiled generation what “burden” means?
I think about my own grandparents and parents and wonder if they thought the same things when Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid was created. They certainly had less material goods and money than my generation. Did they worry about the “burden” to themselves, their children, and their grandchildren?
I know they were very compassionate people, so it is possible they could have been concerned. But they were also very generous people, so I could argue that they would have understood the benefits of the programs. Whatever their take on the programs, it certainly didn’t define who they were, or even seem to impact how they lived. They did benefit from both government programs.
History tells us that many adults of their generation were upset; declaring socialism and the death of America as we knew it. But history also serves to remind us that life in the US continued to flourish and grow. It wasn’t the end, just another step towards greater opportunities and happiness.
So, if my grandparents or parents were concerned about the burden to their children and grandchildren all those years ago, I just want to say, "You shouldn’t have worried".
It is not a burden to pay taxes into a system that provides/provided them and so many others with medical care when they had none in their retirement years.
It is not a burden to pay taxes into a system that provides support for the mentally impaired, handicapped or less fortunate.
It is not a burden to share the blessings I’ve received and to give back to those who haven’t been as lucky.
And, it is never burden to give back to the generations before you, who made sacrifices for all of us to have a better life.
Today we are witnessing another similar shift. The sky is not falling and the world is not coming to an end. Health care reform is just a change in how we have done things. It is unclear how this new bill will financially effect each of us as individuals, only time will tell. Hopefully, it will be one of many changes (because this bill really doesn't go far enough) to help America grow and flourish again.
Good or bad, my grandparents and parents have taught me how to raise my own children to give with happy hearts. I have faith that years from now my children and grandchildren will agree, “You shouldn’t have worried. Doing the right thing is never a burden”.
Romans 13:7-9 (New King James Version)
7 Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.
Love Your Neighbor
8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.
9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,”[a] “You shall not covet,”[b] and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”[c]
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