"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
On a day to day basis, my day job (so to speak) resolves around some of the promoting the general welfare, helping provide affordable decent housing for all. One of the basic tenants of life, food, clothing and shelter. In these modern times, one new basic component of the general welfare is health care.
On a daily basis I see how We The People have slipped in our responsibility of promoting that general welfare. I am not just talking about the Government or a political party, but all of us. I am lucky, however, to have come to meet a group who understand the responsibilities of We The People.
The impetus for this post is the story of a family that came to my attention about a week ago. A week ago this family was living in their long time home, like all the middle class"Joe the Plumbers". Last night, if night for the herculean actions of a few dedicated people, this family was looking at spending the night in their car.
This family was falied not only by a financial system that took their home without leaving them a clear plan for their safety, but by a health care system that drained them of any financial safety net that they had. The father lost his job and his health insurance, leaving him with the choice of paying the mortgage or for the medication that his wife and his son take for cronic conditions they have. He chose their health, costing him his home.
I would say that We The People failed to provide for the general welfare of this family, thus denying them the Blessing of Liberty that our Founding Fathers spoke so eloqunetly of 221 years ago.