What if, revisited

Here’s to hope

(Edited)

My mom’s birthday was October 2. She would have been 88; sadly, she didn’t make it to 60. Carolann Katherine Schreiber Bellenchia was a force of nature. Petite, at 5-foot and around 100 lbs most of her life, you always knew when she was present. Maybe she was compensating.

Her health issues stole her before we were able to fully transcend the parent-child dynamic. I would have liked to understand her more as a peer, which might have also accelerated my understanding of myself. There were (are?) so many dichotomies that need further examination to provide insight.

To wit…she was a fierce advocate of individual rights and protecting those rights from government intrusion. Yet she was also a vocal champion of social justice and enshrining protections for disadvantaged populations, especially people of color and women, by legislation. She believed in social safety nets, and that capitalism needed vigorous regulation.

She believed in a limited federal government, but distrusted the states-rights movement. She wanted government that was more muscular, but focused on domestic issues than world affairs. She abhorred the military-industrial complex, and guns in general.

As I reflected on and celebrated the woman who gave me life, I wondered what she would think of the state of our society? Would she be excited about the prospect of a vigorous, accomplished professional woman as President? Absolutely. Would she be embracing her policy proposals? I think so, but with reservations about how they’d be funded, and the potential for overreach, and that government programs often fail to actually help their intended recipients.

I think she’d be excited about the prospect of investing in the American people, and addressing the huge economic disparity that has held so many back. She would support spending that was focused on productively lifting up the disadvantaged, and using tax policy changes to create a more just and fair society.

- A healthcare system that provides for all, instead of bankrupting people who fall ill;

- An educational finance system that doesn’t bankrupt students of limited means;

- An employment system that values and invests in workers, including lifetime learning and retraining;

- A retirement system that is sufficient funded and provides dignity for the elderly of limited means;

- A housing system that finances safe, affordable housing as a human right, and

- A tax code that eliminates corporate charity, cheating and inequality by favoring the rich and connected.

Mom was a dreamer, but a worked hard to make them come true. “Words without action are waste,” she believed. The apple didn’t fall far.

✌️