On the Mark: Resolving to talk politics

Like most of us, I generally make a limited number of New Year’s resolutions. Mostly they are personal: getting more sleep, exercising, and spending time with family and friends.

This year, 2020, is special though, an election year. I’m planning to spend more time learning about candidates for office at all levels: what they stand for and their track records. I also hope to talk to more people of all ages and walks of life to hear what their priorities are and how they rate the various hopefuls as well as which issues matter to them most, and why.

How can we have more conversations with and learn more from our neighbors about candidates and issues? Our long-time personal friends are quite dispersed around the country. We do catch up periodically by phone. Many of our siblings and grown kids and grandkids live far from us. And there’s the relatively new fear of cantankerous interchanges that leave all of us mad and deflated.

I’m thinking it will be easiest to start with local gatherings. We often invite friends and neighbors to dinner. We can inquire whether those we invite would be willing to set aside some evening time for sharing views and concerns. I’m personally baffled by the extraordinary array of Democratic presidential candidates. I’m glad they’re all running — that takes time, guts, and money. But I’m not sure the debates reveal the policy priorities and personal traits I’d most value in a president. The same goes for elections closer to home: our congressional representatives and senators, our state leaders and members of the legislature, county and city officers and council members.

Take just one federal issue for an example. I’m confused by the Democratic debates over Medicare for all.

In most countries where I’ve spent time or been a beneficiary when on work stints, including Canada and the United Kingdom, national health systems work very well and for people in all sorts of situations: for the elderly, working people, low income people, and even visitors if it’s an emergency.

Medicare is not a comprehensive program. It mainly covers hospitalization and other extraordinary costs. And it is not free. Everyone working pays into Medicare as part of our salaries and wages, and retired people continue to pay into it even if they are not earning income. The candidates opposed on the basis that “it costs too much” aren’t producing credible numbers and generally ignore the considerable savings from not having duplicative insurance agents and employees.

Sometimes, I find a friend or neighbor who knows a lot about a certain issue. I’ve benefited from blue collar trade unionists’ knowledge of wage theft, illegal subcontracting, worker health and safety issues, and important public policy issues. My cousin Martha, a retired lawyer, knows everything you’d want to know about the challenges of people with pre-existing conditions. Her husband has had serious diabetes since childhood. They face tough challenges trying to get adequate insulin on a sustained basis.

Maybe, if we can get beyond the vitriol that may explode if you mention the wrong candidate or concern, we could all learn a lot from each other about how critical public policy issues affect us. We could together imagine how things could be better. And we could make sure the candidates we end up supporting will really help produce solid and affordable public policies.

Is this a pipe dream? Maybe. Anyway, that’s my New Year’s resolution.

Ann Markusen is an economist and professor emerita at University of Minnesota. She lives in Red Clover Township.