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| Chapter 13: Domestic Policy |
| Questions for Discussion and Thought |
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| 1. Do you have health insurance? If so, how much do you pay each month? Are you satisfied with your coverage? There are 45 million Americans without any health insurance. Do you think access to health care ought to be a basic right? If so, how would you guarantee it? |
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| 2. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said, “It doesn’t say anywhere in the Declaration of Independence . . . that anyone is entitled to anything except the right to pursue happiness.” Do you agree? Are there no inherent rights for people? Do children deserve any special consideration? |
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| 3. Generally, liberals believe that people are poor because of circumstances beyond their control (economics, health, society, family background), while conservatives believe people are poor because of their own individual failures (laziness, lack of character). What do you believe? What steps would you propose to reduce poverty on the basis of what you think causes it? |
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| 4. Should Social Security be privatized? Would you support a partial privatization? How would you go about investing your private share for your retirement? What is the drawback of letting individuals bear all the risk in their retirement? Is this a safe plan for the future of Social Security? |
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| 5. We often say that education is the key to improving one’s chances in life but is our educational system really equal? Compare, for example, schools in different states where you or your friends have lived. Then compare schools in the suburbs with schools in the inner cities. Why is there such a variation? Only about one-third of all high school math and science teachers majored in math or science in college. Where do you think those one-third teach? Who is teaching math and science in the other schools? What does that say about equal educational opportunities? Would you support a voucher system that would allow students to go to any school they wanted to? |
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