This letter by Connie Hunter from the Friday Peace Vigil was published in the San Jose Mercury News last week.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed this nation’s Achilles heel. Though we invest more money in our military defense system than the next seven nations combined, our military defense system leaves us defenseless against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our insistence that we cannot afford health-care for all while making an oversized investment in our military defense system leaves us vulnerable to disease and pandemic. Day-in and day-out, our excessive investment in military systems leaves millions without preventive care and drives up the cost of health-care for all of us.
When the pandemic is behind us, I pray that this nation will realize that health-care for all is key to national security. Not only health-care, we must redirect funds from life destroying systems (military defense) to life promoting systems such as health care, affordable housing, nutritious food and quality public education to achieve robust national security. We must eliminate our Achilles heel.