Health Care
Energy
Education
Chances are you or someone you know has recently gone to college. If you've talked with them about their experience, it probably won't take long for the cost of education to come up in conversation.
With college costs rising at twice the rate of inflation, we are saddling our youth with a mountain of debt when they come out of school. If you're poor, you may not even be able to attend. The cost of education discourages some people from even considering college, and that's really sad for the richest nation in the world.
I think that every student should have access to a free college education if they show basic aptitude and a desire to learn. In the long term, an educated population will be more productive and innovative.
The future generation is being born today. Let's give them the tools to make the world a better place. After all, its one of our civic duties.
While Americans seem to be divided on socialized healthcare, I believe that moving in a socialized direction on healthcare will allow the U.S. as a whole to provide better care to more people while also reducing the cost of healthcare system overall. With our current private healthcare system, the U.S. currently spends a whopping 15.2% of GDP on health care, which is amongst the highest percentage spent of any United Nations member, second only to the Marshall Islands (Obviously not comparable).
Whats worse is that the trend is going upward. It is estimated that the U.S. will spend 19.5% of is 2017 GDP on healthcare. With the U.S. Spending the most on healthcare in the world, one would think that this country must have the best healthcare available. Unfortunately, the statistics are not in line with our amount of healthcare spending. In 2007, 45.7 million Americans, which is 15.3% of the population, had no healthcare insurance. And while the U.S. spends the most money of any United Nations member on health care, it is only ranked 30th in life expectancy (45th in the world).
So what do all these numbers mean? The U.S. is spending the most money, but only producing marginal results. For the amount of money we are spending, shouldnt life expectancy be higher? Shouldnt more people have access to medical care? How can we spend less money and achieve greater results? The answer in my view starts with a socialized healthcare program.
Let me share an experience I've had recently that I think points out some waste in healthcare. I have a regular prescription, and I needed a refill. Luckily I had an upcoming doctor appointment where I was given a new prescription. When I went to fill it, it was denied by my insurance company because they had already filled the same prescription within the month. The medication I take is a very low dosage, and I did have the updated prescription in hand. Since my prescription was being increased, I ran through the other pills "too quickly". In order to get my insurance company to accept it, I had to take time in the middle of the workday to call the doctors office. After speaking with a nursing assistant, she then had to prepare paperwork for the doctor to sign, then call my insurance company to provide authorization. The insurance company then approved the medication, and contacted the pharmacy.
In order for me to do something as simple as fill a regular prescription from my doctor at least 5 people in 4 offices had to assist. When you think about how time is money, this seems to be a bit excessive for medication costing less than $100.
I think it's time to cut out the red tape, and start focusing on getting people the services and medications they need, and less on attempting to block these costs. The end result in my experience was that I still was able to get the meds I needed, but not in a timely manner. In addition, the $100 prescription probably cost more than twice as much when you add up all the time it took to authorize it to be filled. Why do we put up with this? The government can simplify the process, while ensuring the correct standards are apopted by will of the people. WIth a life impacting, economic engine like the US healthcare system, there should be very strict government standards and regulations. What's better for the system is better for us all.
Renewable Energy
Did you know the sun produces 120 gigawatt-hours of solar power that reaches our planet every second.
This is more energy than all of human kind has used since the dawn of the industrial era.
Yes, every second., that much power from the sun, beamed virtually free to the whole world.
Take a moment to think about that.
We know that burning fossil fuels pollutes our atmosphere, causes social unrest between the petro producers and consumers, and causes financial instability due to fluctuating commodity prices. Look at what happened when oil cost $150 a barrel. Look what happened when it suddenly dropped to $35.
Newer solar panels have a life span of at least 40 years. Many people dont realize that even after 40 years of use, solar panels still produce energy, just not as much. Why dont we start mass producing solar panels for every new home built instead of upgrading our TVs every 5 years?
Wind, waves, sunshine, even geothermal heating systems -- We could seriously cut back on fossil fuels with very little effort. So why don't we?
We the people can choose to adopt practices and standards that we want. Why wouldn't you want that?
Renewable energy is the way to power the future.
