Stephen R. Kandall: Will’s short list

George Will, in his Dec. 31 column “A list of ludicrousness,” missed the opportunity to point out what is really ludicrous in the country.

He could have pointed out that we remain the only civilized country in the world without a real health care system; that we tolerate more than 11,000 gun-related homicides a year without being able to enact an iota of reform for gun safety; that basketball and football coaches can be paid more than a hundred times that of a teacher to whom we entrust the education of your children; that people of color receive disproportionately harsh sentences for drug-related crime and that our residents of all colors suffering from the brain disease of addiction cannot find treatment; that workers performing real jobs and earning the minimum wage still fall under the poverty line; and that so many of our politicians continue to deny the existence of climate change.

As Will said, the list “could be lengthened indefinitely, but enough already.”

This story was originally published January 4, 2016 at 4:37 PM with the headline "Stephen R. Kandall: Will’s short list."