Can we cure our epidemic of national insecurity?

Illustration by Lawrence Luckom

As a nation, we’ve been sick for a long time — sick with a disease that has been hiding in plain sight: national insecurity. It took the coronavirus pandemic to make us accept that diagnosis and start to work on a cure.

National insecurity is a disease with many symptoms. It has already infected the people in our nation who:

• Do not have access to healthcare
• Cannot afford healthcare, even if they have access to it
• Do not have sick leave, paid or unpaid
• Cannot afford to take time off from work
• Do not have health insurance
• Do not have child care
• Depend on a local school system to help feed their children

Who are these people? Here are just a few examples:

• The people who take care of our seniors in nursing homes, assisted living centers, and memory care centers
• The people who assist us after surgery, support us when we have chronic health conditions, and allow our parents to age in place
• The people who take care of our children
• The people who serve us in restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations, dry cleaners, big box stores, and small shops