Priorities: Putting war over healthcare spells doom

COVID-19 shows our neglect. The United States has a shortage of physicians – nearly 66,000 as of today, growing to 90,000 by 2030. Nearly 20% of our physicians are foreign educated.

This shortage occurs in all healthcare fields such as nursing, dentistry, psychology, ophthalmology and elder care. When do we decide to invest in our future well-being?

I have followed the COVID-19 pandemic with foreboding. I am alarmed and sad for the lost lives, broken families and economic hardships.

This sorrow is deepened by the realization that this crisis is magnified by an acute shortage of medical personnel, specialized equipment, caregivers and basic testing tools that threaten to overwhelm the health-care system.

We are not investing in our growing national need. We neglect this at our peril.

We have spent $6.4 trillion on the war on terror. Congress plans spending $1.7 trillion on our nuclear arsenal and $1.5 trillion on the F-35 “flying turkey.” Using such weapons would end civilization.

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.” -Martin Luther King Jr.

We have a choice.