I Want to Prevent Civil War, but I Might be Helping Save Humankind - My Charity Made Reality
So after a monotonous, dreary day and week at work (wearing a mask is for the best, but it still has a psychological deleterious effect), I opened the mail to find a refreshing and heartening letter. It came from the Remote Area Medical Volunteer Corps (RAM). I donate $5 a month to RAM through an automatic charge on my credit card.
I heard about this nonprofit on the It Could Happen Here podcast, which looks at today's United States in a few episodes and evaluates conditions and factors it hat contribute to a possible oncoming Civil War. Robert Evans, the podcaster, frankly presents a frightening and believable picture of where this country could go and how it could get there (and, honestly, after the murder of George Floyd and the civil uprising that has occurred since then, Evans's argument grows stronger, sadly).
I highly suggest that everyone listen to this podcast. It definitely falls within the realm of speculation, but speculation heavily centered in realms of reality that I don't see every day but can acknowledge its existence. If the podcast doesn't inspire you to do more to improve the country and world to make things better while also feeling terrified about the world as it is now, I don't know what will.
In one of the later episodes, Evans pointed out that the rural parts of this country do have some valid complaints to push them toward some kind of uprising. One of those objections revolves around the shitty healthcare system out in rural parts of the country. As much as I support the Affordable Care Act (ACA), it's hard not to acknowledge that the ACA has contributed to the decline of healthcare infrastucture in rural areas.
The problem originates in the fact that rural areas don't have enough demand on a macro level to justify having hospitals and advanced medical facilities out there, while urban areas have plenty of demand. Again, I support the ACA, but it didn't help rural areas because of the increased network adequacy requirements, increased requirements for bureaucracy (professionalization) in medical practices, and the increased industry consolidation that the ACA encouraged. All these factors have led to the closing of hospitals, facilities, and rural medical providers and family practices just not having a palatable way to continue being profitable. I think many of these features needed execution, but at the same time, the ACA could have done more to facilitate the progression of the industry in rural areas.
The Remote Area Medical Volunteer Corps fills in the margins that the for-profit medical industry has left behind. As a non-profit, RAM doesn't need to fall victim to these factors that push out medical professionals and facilities. Capitalistic culture is "supposed to" efficiently find a way to deliver such important medical services to people that need it, but doesn't since not enough people live in rural areas to provide profits to for-profit medical professionals and facilities.
Hopefully some day we will have a Universal Healthcare system that can fill in these margins since Universal Healthcare shouldn't have to meet the demands of profit margins. Universal Healthcare will have other avenues to pay the bills (like taxing billionaires and other high income/net worth people who have a lot more money than they need).
Evans pointed out that supporting RAM was one good way to fight back the forces of Civil War. I don't like Civil War. I would rather not see Civil War, even though we can see forces brewing toward Civil War (and some of it for valid reasons). One of my big aims in life is to contribute to campaigns against violence and war. Contributing funds to an organization that fights back against at least one factor that pushes toward Civil War while healing and saves lives feels like a noble way to fight back against violence and war.
Which feels all good and well, yay me, but at the same time, kind of abstract. Today, though, this letter I received made my contributions feel more concrete and real. Not only just a way to fight back Civil War, but rather also
Along with wearing a mask, keeping my distance from people, and staying at home when not engaging in essential activities, I've been sending money to an organization that is fighting COVID-19!
At the end of this entry, I'm posting a picture of the letter informing me of this initiative that I've helped fund. To avoid technical difficulties or any other ways that make the letter difficult to read, I'm going to transcribe some of the important parts:
Thank you for supporting Remote Area Medical(R)! Based on CDC recommendations restricting mass gathering, all RAM(R) clinics have been canceled or postponed through the end of June. We understand the families RAM(R) serves will need our services even more than before COVID-19 impacted our clinic schedule. Our staff is busy redesigning the way our clinics are set up and operated so we may re-start clinic operations while following CDC guidelines so we can keep pateints, volunteers, and staff safe.
Damn! That's only 41 miles away. Honestly, I had always been thinking of rural areas a lot further away than Joliet being the beneficiaries of my donations. I hadn't thought my dollars would contribute to helping aid somewhere so close to home.
RAM(R) volunteers and staff served individuals in need in May by continuing to help administer COVID-19 tests. Our volunteers completed more than 900 hours of work at the Joliet, IL testing site and helped to administer morethan 5,300 tests to those in need. [. . .]
I've gone out to Joliet for work training! I make calls out there to talk with co-workers! So, yeah, this initiative has become that much more real to me.
My day has definitely brightened.
If you're looking to send your money somewhere that makes a difference, and might help prevent a Civil War in the United States, can I please ask you to consider Remote Area Medical Volunteer Corps as somewhere worthwhile to send your funds? For all you know, your contributions might be one more way that you can help defeat COVID-19. You might some day open a piece of mail to find out that you helped make your geographical area just a little bit better (which then might all aggregate to save the world).
What say you?
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