Today, Rep. John Conyers Jr. blogged about "universal" health care. While this surely is an important issue, addressing many of these issues before confronting the wider global issues and the far reaching domestic isssues, is like putting the cart before the horse. For example, the world human population continues to explode hour by hour, minute by minute. As a matter of fact, there were approximately 13,500 babies born since I started to compose this diary.
Check out the Human Numbers Through Time interactive. The world reached it's first billion humans in the year 1800. The second billion was recorded in 1927 and the third in 1960. The world has now reached over 6.5 billion people and if trends continue unchecked, it is predicted to reach 9 billion by 2050. Granted this is not the US population, but sooner or later the US will be asked to aid and resource a natural disaster.
Now check out Out of House and Home. We are currently outstripping the earth's resources to sustain our way of life. Is a similar scenario like this around the corner on a global scale? Are we, the global community, headed for a Malthusian train wreck of epic proportions? If you think that the United States will be completely insulated from such events, you may want to reevaluate. Remember the SARS epidemic?
Moreover, while addressing the health care system (and the myriad other domestic issues) is important, there are even greater issues that must be addressed immediately:
Notice that failure to accomplish the last item will mean that the neocons can completely reverse any new progressive legislation and re-enact any repealed fascist enabling acts. We must learn from
the mistakes of the past. Otherwise, the efforts of the 110th Congress will be all for naught and the world will continue to careen down a seemingly obvious path towards disaster.