COMPASSION IN GOVERNANCE?

I’ve never been one of the sharper pencils in the box, but something that has perplexed me over the last three years is the support so many friends and colleagues have extended to Donald Trump and his policies. The Trump supporters I speak of are intelligent people of good will, whom I respect.  And yet, one question continually confounds me: If you saw a man abusing women and children or an elderly person somewhere in public, would you not step in and do your utmost to stop it? I’m confident everyone I know would. And yet, for reasons apparently beyond me, people continue to support Trump despite a wealth of speech and conduct that runs counter to the values they espouse, and clear evidence that he drives policies that hurt millions of innocent people. Here are a few examples for your consideration.  

Trump has succeeded in undermining the Affordable Care Act by making it more difficult for people to sign up for healthcare and rescinding the Individual Mandate. The Individual Mandate required everyone, including healthy, young adults, to have insurance or pay a penalty.  Without healthy people in the insurance pools, the average cost of health insurance rose for everyone. These changes have not only resulted in 1.9 million people dropping their health insurance, including insurance for a half million children, but drove up the cost of health insurance for everyone in America more than it otherwise would have.  How do we as a people, which believe in demonstrating compassion towards others, which I presume would include helping people to maintain their health, support such conduct? In 2017, Trump, Tim Ryan and Republicans in Congress also cheered for themselves for passing legislation in the House that would have kicked 23 million people off their health insurance.  The people who would have lost their healthcare weren’t just numbers; they were moms and dads, children and grandparents. How do we, as a people of compassion, support such callousness?

Another example of Trump policies that are completely confounding is how many people continue to support a $1.5 trillion tax cut where 83% of the benefits go to the top 1% in our country. We all know that poverty and income inequality are at the root of many of the most serious ills in our country.  Many people of compassion see poor education, poverty, unemployment, and the many tragic derivatives of these clearly, and yet they continue to support a president and party that has driven income inequity to new heights. Income inequality is now at the highest level it’s been since the 1920s and yet people of good will support a president who has chosen to cut spending on public education, the surest way to reduce income inequality.  How do people of compassion support cutting spending on the education of our children by 19% while giving a $1.5 trillion tax cut to those already wealthy? How do we as a people of compassion take into account Trump’s doubling of our annual deficit which is making our economy not only less stable for all, but less able to fund our ability to extend a helping hand up to people for generations to come?  

A third Trump policy that runs contrary to everything I know of compassion is the separation of children from their parents at the border. If you believe, as I do, that a parent’s right to protect their child is the most sacrosanct of all rights, how can we as a people of compassion accept our government continuing to pull children out of the arms of their parents?  While some may say this is necessary to maintain a secure border, just the smallest bit of out of the box thinking indicates that solutions are available to both keep children with their parents and reduce immigration flows by other means than deterrence thru outright cruelty. Instead of building a wall in parts of the border where it’s not needed, would not all of us be so much better off if we invested in building up our Central American neighbors? America’s post WWII prosperity was founded primarily on our rebuilding of Europe and Japan.   Given the incredible success of The Marshall Plan, why not work with our Central American neighbors to help them build up their countries into prosperous and secure places to live? Given the many successes and failures of domestic and foreign policies, one would think that we’d have learned by now that good governance is not only compassionate, but most effective when we practice giving people the helping hand up they need to have a chance to succeed.  

Lastly, as a people of compassion, who care about the well-being of others, why do we continue to support a president that not only refuses to restrain climate change, but goes out of his way to undermine efforts already underway among businesses and states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?  With millions of Americans already suffering the effects of climate change, why choose to continue to support such short sightedness and callousness? 

I know a sincere desire to bring an end to roughly 800,000 abortions a year here in America is in the heart of many Trump supporters, but what about the effects of his policies on billions of people here and abroad that will likely suffer the devastating effects of rising sea levels and severe weather changes, not only today but for generations to come?

As a people of compassion, where caring for others is often a cornerstone of the faith we espouse, let me suggest we a take a few quiet minutes to pause and consider anew, with eyes and hearts open, the array of effects our choice of leadership will have on generations of our family, and friends, and people across our country and around our world.