National Health and the Economy

Those who know me, and those who have read a fair amount of my posts, will know I care deeply about economic injustice. I grew up in a poor household but my parents were always of the opinion that hard work would be financially rewarded in spite of the fact that they worked hard and were never sufficiently rewarded themselves. I support organizations like The Bail Project and Habitat for Humanity that seek to assist those on the lower end of the economic ladder, but I find it discouraging that our government doesn’t recognize economic injustice as the public health crisis that it is.

I just read a powerful piece in the Washington Post that reminded me of my own suicide attempts and my younger brother’s successful attempt in April. While there were additional factors in all cases, finances in both my own attempt and my brother’s played a huge role. I think it bears considering that, though society has recognized how significant a threat financial concerns can be to mental health since before Arthur Miller wrote Death of a Salesman, we haven’t invested more into managing the wealth gap.

We have governmental agencies addressing the national health crisis of the opioid epidemic. Why don’t we have anyone at the federal level investigating the national health crisis that is economic injustice?

Source: How do you reduce the suicide rate? Increase the minimum wage, researchers say – The Washington Post