HEALTH, RESPONSIBILITY, AND GOOD FORTUNE

It seems that a large part of the current national rift can be defined as the resistance of many citizens to the concept that we Americans are all in this together. The mindset has become us versus them.

Many people seem to be carrying the belief that their personal good fortune is totally due to their having lived a responsible, hardworking, and ethical life. Therefore this line of thought follows that the less fortunate people must somehow be flawed individuals.

The great force that is unrecognized by these Americans is fortune itself, otherwise known as luck. It plays a larger part in our lives than one might initially think. But the reality is that life is one big lottery: where you are born, when you are born, who your parents are, whether you are a male or a female, and on and on. These basic factors of luck are strong influences in the direction one's life takes.

Here is the cliche argument that I keep hearing. "I've worked hard all my life for every penny and everything I have, and I'll be damned if I'll help pay for medical costs for someone who drinks, smokes, does drugs, is jobless, and has squandered every dollar they've ever had."

Well it's not that simple on either side of the equation. Most people are basically good. If this was not true, then society could not exist. But there are a thousand turning points of fortune that can lead a good little kid to become an irresponsible person with a skewed attitude. And it's possible that good fortune will fail to shine any light at all on a person who is striving to make a better life, and strands that person in a dismal living scenario.

So then why should those who are more fortunate be asked to chip in to help those who are less fortunate? Because that is what being a nation is about. It is about a people's common destiny.  

Absolutely we should each be held responsible for our own life decisions. But equally important, we each should never forget that good fortune, or luck, plays a generous part in the course of our individual lives.

Good fortune has placed us in this particular nation at this particular time. There should be no whining by anyone about being asked to give. If we as a nation don't wish to devolve into a soulless culture of survival of the fittest, then we must promote the concept of gratitude for the fact that most of us do actually have the ability to share part of our personal bounty with others who are in need.

We need to remember that individuals are not simply good or bad people, but also lucky or unlucky people. And never presume that your own luck won't change for the negative, and that you will never need to seek help from the kind hearts of your society.