What if...?

Would you give your worst enemy $10,000?

What if I told you that doing so would cure cancer for the entire world?

Obviously, it won't.  But I want folks to think about that for a moment.  Live in that space for just a moment.  

Or what if 50 suffering children could be cured for only $5000 total, but the only way to do it involves also paying $10,000 each to a bunch of uber-rich trust fund kids?  

And what if you also had to take out a loan to do it?  Are you willing to take on a burden to help others if someone you don't like benefits too?

Does a solution have to be perfect before you can accept it?  

It all boils down to this:

What is your goal?  

Your real, end goal?  How important is it to you?  At what point is the sacrifice worth it?

All of public/civic life is compromise.  And you will almost always find that the best solutions to a given problem come with stuff you don't like.  

Big picture solutions to things like poverty and homelessness can't be perfectly targeted every time.  And even if they could, it would cost more money for oversight and tracking to ensure it.

So are you willing to accept an imperfect solution if it makes people's lives better?

Are you willing to put the benefits to their lives above your other concerns?  

Like with drugs:  I don't like legal shooting galleries.  But I trust the science and experience of social workers and other experts in the field that say this is one of the best ways to help people.  At least for now until we have better solutions and infrastructure in place to help them.  

Or housing.  I would never say I like the fact that some people get cheaper housing than others.  Or that I like paying for their homes with my taxes.

What I do love is helping set folks up for success.  It has a ton of downstream benefits, like helping them get off the streets, reduce drug usage, stay employed, be better role models for their friends and family, etc.  All of society benefits from it.

And I get to be a part of that.  For a small piece of tax money.  Seems to me that's one helluva privilege, and it's worth a little imperfection.

I've said before that I hate the way so many portray themselves as victims of the government.  (I don't mean in the George Floyd/Breonna Taylor sense - those two literally were victims.)  

I mean folks whose lives are pretty well off squealing like a wounded animal when they have to pay a few dollars in taxes.

To me, it's an opportunity.  Government is an opportunity.  An investment in people.

What do we really want?  Are we willing to sacrifice our opinions, egos, and selfishness to get it?

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