The voices in Whoville

I keep thinking of the book Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss. Do you remember the story? Horton the elephant, who has amazing hearing ability, is the only one who can hear the voices of the Whoville residents who live in a tiny world on a dust speck. He attempts to tell everyone about them, but all his  fellows believe he's crazy. He does everything he can to rescue them "because a person's a person no matter how small." Eventually when every single person in Whoville yell out in unison, they are heard.

This story resonates today as it never has before, even though I've always appreciated it's life lessons.  We really need to raise our voices against violence, discrimination, and all forms of injustice.

However, I think there are some people groups who need us to cry out for them even more loudly because they are unable to voice their own concerns. Today I am thinking particularly about those with intellectual disabilities, mental illness, and dementia. (Although there are other groups in this category as well.)

What will happen to these groups of people if Medicare, Medicaid and/or Social Security are cut? Some are already out on the streets. How will we take care of them? Those conservatives who want to cut government spending by cutting social programs for the elderly will find themselves having to care for their own parents while they step over other people's parents lying in the streets. This seems like a ridiculously horrific picture but we see some of this already in mega cities. And even if people are able to pay for a room or a bed, who will pay the doctors, nurses, and aides. Quality of life will be reduced tremendously--will this create a higher suicide rate?

We wonder why there are so many homeless on the street. There are many different reasons, but one is a lack of mental ability to hold down a job. We need to be spending money finding better solutions rather than cutting funds.

Who will be a voice for the silent?