Let's Move!

An interesting article in today's NYTimes spawned a little controversy between my husband and me at the dinner table tonight. We normally don't argue over politics, but there are exceptions...

I'm usually very conservative, but believe it or not, when it comes to the healthcare reform issue, I don't side with anyone. Here's the thing: no matter what stance I take on any issue, I do my best to be both informed and compassionate towards those in need. Typically, the answer I like most is a reversal of our federal government to the size that it was when our Consititution was written, but I'm no fool. In the 1700s, the medical world we have today did not exist. Naturally, that changes things.

Before Obama was running for President, I read a large amount of material both for and against socialized healthcare, and I feel that there is virtue and validity in each option. What is best for the United States? I'm not sure. It may not be what other countries do, and then again, maybe it is. I have to be open minded about it, because there are poor people dying from conditions that could have been prevented or helped with appropriate care, and I don't want to be the hateful or indifferent person that stands on capital hill or facebook.com with a message about how the new healthcare legislation is going to send us all to hell.

What I do know is that the sudden emphasis on our nation's health is much needed. Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaign against childhood obesity, in particular, has attracted my interest. The aforementioned NYTimes article discusses whose responsibility our nation's health is. Certainly, I feel we each have responsibility for our own health, but the article makes clear that we are also products of our environment. When it comes to children in your community, my belief is that you can not claim as an individual to lack at least some responsibility for their lives, even if you are not the kid's parent. Raising children is (or needs to be) a community effort. A few generations ago, it was never up to the parents alone to raise a kid, but now that our culture has spurred vast relocation of families, this community effort is becoming more rare, and perhaps is part of the reason kids spend so much time in front of the boob tube and now computer screen. There are practical solutions, fortunately!

The wife of one of my college professors, for example, initiated a program in which retired persons are paired with kids whose parents work after school, so the kids would have someone with whom to walk home from school. This ensures safety for the kids, companionship and sense of fulfillment for the retired folks, and a great opportunity to exercise for all!

Being the big pedestrian/cyclist that I am, it is my wish to one day in old age be able to fund additional running/walking and bike paths in my community. Recently, I have been researching the process of implementing a disc golf course as well as a girls on the run (GOTR) chapter for my small city. Unfortunately, I learned, the start-up cost for such a program, which I feel could be very beneficial to girls I've had the pleasure of working with here, is in excess of $8,000 -- not so cheap for a so-called non-profit organization to charge a bunch of young women for lacing up their running shoes under their name. I'd really like the curriculum and training that GOTR would provide me as a coach, but unfortunately, it doesn't appear I'm going to find that kind of cash in my tight-budgeted, crisis-stricken town (which is losing it's primary employer in just a couple of weeks). So here is where I will take a moment to criticize the otherwise good-looking "Let's Move " campaign -- where are the opportunities for volunteers like myself? Anyway...

Maybe I'm a bit of a romantic for feeling this way, but the reason I'm a conservative is I believe in the power of individual people, private companies, and charities. The good that these institutions can achieve is far greater than that of any tax-payer funded initiative, and all it takes for anyone to realize that fact is to visit 2 homeless shelters -- one run by a government and one run by a charity. Regardless of what the right thing is for our government to do about healthcare, I do know the right action we should take as ordinary citizens. Kids need healthy, encouraging role models, and there's no reason we can't all be just that.