What’s worse than being sick? Being sick while on a holiday for your wife’s birthday! That was me last week, feeling like this tree looks, and it got me thinking again (strangely) about elections (ugh) and what’s most important to me.
Last week, I came down with some sort of stomach-smashing gastro-intestinal flu from hell. I was tied up in knots and couldn’t think. I had zero energy. I couldn’t do much of anything. It felt like it was never going to end.
Of course, this week things finally cleared up, but it got me thinking: what if this was a chronic issue? It would be crazy disruptive to my work and life. I can’t imagine feeling this way for more than a week or multiple times a year. But many have it much worse than that and many can’t afford to get care.
Which brings me to single-issue voting. There are a LOT of really important issues to consider when voting, but it’s hard to do anything when you aren’t feeling ok. Everything begins and ends with your health. No one should live a life with chronic pain or die unnecessarily because they can’t afford treatment. Affordable and equitable access to health care is a right, not a privilege.
As I transition back to the US and the wonderful world of US politics, I’m starting to re-build my “voting compass” and health care is the easiest way for me to get oriented. It’s the single-issue for me that I’ll use to make my decisions on who gets my vote.
Some useful resources that I’m starting to use as I learn more about the issues that make up health care policy (but can be used for any/all other issues):
- ISideWith – https://www.isidewith.com/ – helps to orient you around where you stand on issues and which candidates, parties, and regions overlap with you
- Ballotpedia – https://ballotpedia.org/ – provides great details on candidates and ballot measures in advance of elections
I can’t say I’m looking forward to getting into politics more, but there is something empowering about being well-informed and taking action, no matter how small. I just wish we lowered the voting age for kids as well (I shared this article arguing for just that in a post from 2021), as I think we would all collectively be better off if we did.
Comments welcome!