If I think about the “noise” around me, it screams, “IT’S THE ECONOMY,THE WAR, AND UNEMPLOYMENT, STUPID!” That is all I am hearing. Although we are doing well, not everyone is and I am catching the anxiety. When I become nervous, I also think about my parents…and what advise they might have given me if they were still here.

First of all, in the face of this economic crisis my Father would have said sarcastically: “Not to worry. We can just print more money!” Interestingly enough, that is exactly what we are doing.

My Mom, however, would have been more detailed in her response and I often think of her. She died in 1983, at the top of her game. She was a futurist for teachers, an activist that moved from her 4th grade school room to the negotiating table of school boards, to ensure not only the rights of teachers, but also the education of children. She was an optimist. She had lived through the depression, through World War II, through my Dad’s struggles with having a wife that worked, through the civil rights movement, through more than I can list here…through so very much. And, she had a good life.

So, I think about what would she say now? My mother was on the first board of the first HMO in Detroit. This is now called HAP. She represented the DFT, Detroit Federation of Teachers. The discussion was always about how to provide care…not how to avoid providing care. It was always about ensuring the best medical care to those who needed it; it was not about providing the most cost-effective care, rationed to the best insured.

So, with the economy in ICU and the Federal government poised to perform CPR (again), I do wonder what my Mom would say. Would she be depressed that healthcare has become an economy rather than a service? She would be
stunned. Would she be upset that education has become expendable? I have no way of knowing how upset she would be, but trust me, she had a broad vocabulary and deep commitment to the classroom teachers and students. She would be well into her late 80’s and might still picket again. Would she give up? Never. And, if we look at this crisis like the Plague, we will know that although there was great loss of life, many survived to birth and
nurture following generations.

What would your Mom say?