Our third Question of the Week deals with economics.  As always, feel free to discuss other aspects of the issue that you feel are relevant, but are not mentioned here.

An economic system, by its nature, encourages and rewards some types of behaviors while discouraging others.  In so doing, it shapes the values of the people living within that system.  What values are rewarded by our current economic system, and are they consistent with what we claim to be our highest ideals?

Our second Question of the Week deals with health care. As before, feel free to discuss other aspects of the issue that you feel are relevant, but are not mentioned here.

The U.S. health care model is based upon treatment, with relatively little emphasis placed upon prevention. How do we encourage both health care professionals and the general public to take prevention more seriously? How do we provide the public with the tools and information they need to intelligently engage in preventing illness?

Our society loves to define ourselves by putting everyone in categories.  We live in tidy compartments of ethnicity, religion, politics, gender, age, sexuality and more.  In some cases, these labels mean very little, but in other cases, the circles we draw define who is on our side and who is the enemy.  

In 1858, Abraham Lincoln (quoting Matthew 12:25) pointed out that “a house divided against itself cannot stand”.  He was speaking specifically to the issue of slavery in his day, but the same is true concerning the divisions that separate us today.  So long as we strive and contend against one another, we cannot move forward as a people.  Instead, we waste our energy and our resources on internal struggles. 

If we seek real solutions to today’s problems, we must move beyond the “us versus them” way of thinking.  Our true economic recovery will come when the wealthy, the middle class and the poor all recognize that their own success depends upon the others’.  Our health care issues will be resolved when we choose to provide all people with the level of care that we expect for ourselves.  Our turmoil over social issues will give way to understanding once we genuinely listen to each other’s stories.  It’s simply a matter of drawing circles that take the other person in.