Wishing anyone and everyone who might be reading this new blog of mine a healthy and happy new year. May 2013 be the best one ever for one and all.

I am a believer in the concept of universal health care for each and every one of our American citizens, and as a consequence of my belief, I am viewed in a very negative way, by some in the political world, as a socialist. Which view puzzles me. For I wonder how such a view can exist given our American history.

We are a capitalist society, this is true. But from the very beginning, the evidence of our national existence shows we have never been pure capitalists. Rather, we have added to our principles of economy, threads of communal help and support, which have facilitated our way forward for the betterment of all.

Consider our decisions to place state and federal funds into the jobs of building roads and bridges, which have connected our communities and states to each other. Or the government funding that went into research programs resulting in expanded business opportunities for our American citizens and companies. And of course, when grave threats like World War Two loomed over us, our national community joined in as one, financially and in all other ways, to fight and overcome the war that had been waged against others and us.

I for one see a connection, a similarity, between our local and national decisions to be the builders and caretakers of our roads and bridges as well as the protector and defender of our nation and our need to be the support system for the health and welfare of all of our citizens which in the end would work for the benefit of not only our people, but of our nation as a whole.

This is my first actual blog post and I want to thank Ben & Amanda, Jamie & Michael, Jess & Justin and Matt & Rachel for giving me a place on the internet where I can on occasion share my thoughts about life and the world around me.

Courier Post
Letters To The Editor
December 27, 2012 
To The Editor:

We are now hearing from some in our nation that our rejection of God in our public schools has led to incidents like the horrendous slaughter in Newtown, Conn.

In my opinion, if God has proven anything over the past several thousands of years, assuming there is a God, this God has shown us humans that the ball is in our court.
 
Otherwise, how to explain the myriad number of horrendous and murderous actions taken by humans against their fellow humans throughout our human history, many of these actions said to be in the name of God.

I don't blame God for the Christian Crusades, for the deaths of so many native Americans who fell victim to Europeans intent on colonizing this great land.
 
I don’t blame God for the slavery of African men and women, for the Holocaust which killed not only six million Jews but millions and millions of others who were seen by the Nazis as less than human.
 
I also don't credit God for the occasional positive movement that we humans make as we work our way forward in life.

For me, the evidence is clear. The ball is in our hands.
 
I know. It's a scary thought, but the job of becoming a more civil and decent society rests solely on our human shoulders, and there are millions of reasons be they our children, our spouses, our parents, our friends, our community, for us to tackle this challenge as well as we can.

Ian Wachstein
Collingswood, NJ