What my life in the USA is like

I have a very comfortable house, good cars, and a lovely wife and daughters.  Good facilities are within a mile of where I live.  All I have to do is use my money, take care of myself, and entertain myself.  Is that enough?

You can see my house in Kansas.  Our kitchen is more than adequate.  The dining room is very pleasant.  The sunroom is a delight.  My bedroom is just fine.  We drive two Prius’s.  The indoor Aquadome and exercise machines are 1.2 miles away.

My wife and I live within a mile of grocery stores, doctors’ offices, Lowes, pharmacies, restaurants, the city offices, primary and secondary schools, and many more things.  We are in a major metropolitan area.  Living is very easy.  What is expected is that I use my social security, disability, retirement, and investments to take care of and amuse myself for the rest of my life.  I am 66 years old now and my family life expectancy is to live over 90 years of age.

One daughter lives 1.2 miles away and visits several times a week.  Another is a flight away and earns enough to be able to visit whenever she has time available.  We have friends and like-minded people all around us.  Life is comfortable for my wife and me.

Is taking care of myself and my wife and amusing myself for the rest of my life enough?  I don’t think so.  I think it would be self-indulgent and not contributing to the best of my abilities.  That is why I have volunteered to go to Senegal for the next few years.  That is why I work in voter registration and turnout.  That is why I tutor students.  … to contribute while the sun is still shining, while there still is wind in my sails, while I am still able.

Where I am coming from

My life is very nice and comfortable.  I have everything I need:  a lovely wife, delightful, successful children, and plenty of retirement income.  Everything I need to stay healthy is close by:  grocery stores, gyms, swimming pools, potable water, sanitation, good roads, all kinds of telecommunication, doctors, dentists, and opticians.  What more could I want?

I could want a lot more.  It is nice that I am taken care of, but unfortunately I have seen thousands of people who live with no potable water, no piped water, no sanitation, little food, oppressive governments or governments bought and paid for by the USA, abysmal education services, no access to telecommunications, no medical services, and no exercise facilities.  They die left, right, and center, and live demanding, frustrating lives.  They are not allowed to contribute their talents and abilities to the international economy and their lives are full of fear and suffering.  When I review statistics, it looks like the thousands I have seen are the tip of 2 to 3 billion who live in similar situations.  That seems wrong to me an I am not comfortable ignoring it.

Let me share where I am coming from.  I am healthy and happy.  My family is fine and I am proud of them.  My home, cars, and other services are terrific.  The only problem is the poor are the flip side of my situation.

Let me be clear.  I am concerned about people who live in abysmal situations in less developed countries.  Also, I think it is wasteful not to develop their abilities, skills, capacity to contribute, and right to live a respected, fulfilled life.  That does not eliminate my desire for a better USA.   How could the USA be better?  From my perspective, our “Justice” system is frequently a bad investment that is focused on self-perpetuation, oppression of certain ethnic groups and social classes, and support of disrespectful, abusive people.  Our educational system is one that starts too late, involves parents, children, and the community too little in planning, has too low of expectation, and again is dominated by people who are often disrespectful and exclusivist.  Our religious system is one that often entitles a few people to tell everyone else what is right and wrong and does not promote open, respectful dialogue.  Our economic system is one that rewards the rich and punishes and handicaps the poor.  Our transportation system is planned by a few special interests rather than for the good of the majority of the population.  Our voting system is designed by legislators to ensure that the people who voted for them vote continue to participate and so that as many of the unregistered stay that way and as many of the non-voters continue to not vote.  If that happens, elected officials will probably continue to be elected.  There are solutions for these situations, but they will require decades of effort.  The most demanding problem to me is the billions who suffer from extreme poverty, mass neglect, overwhelming disrespect, and extreme lack of investment.  I know how to take a step forward with them and I plan to do that again this year.  In this site, I will share what I see, learn, hear, and collaborate on.