We don't need "affordable" healthcare. We need universal healthcare. We don't need "access" to education. We need tuition-free college and vocational training. Let's erase the weasel words and get right to the point. The only way any of us can live in a safe, healthy society is if we all do.

Freedom and equity aren't free. Neither is a stable society. We must reduce the extraordinary amount we spend on the military and demand that the ultra-wealthy and corporations pay their fair share toward the public good.

The alternative is to live in a country filled with poverty, homelessness, division, and unrest.

Every worker needs a living wage. But more than that, we need a thriving wage, and Universal Basic Income is a practical starting point.

We also need universal taxpayer-funded childcare and pre-k education, fare-free public transportation, automatic voter registration, elimination of the Electoral College, ranked choice voting, plus nationwide vote-by-mail as well as in-person voting.

We must provide training and new job opportunities for workers who will be displaced from fossil fuel industries as we confront an ever-worsening climate crisis. Because leaving them to fend for themselves only guarantees failure.

We pay for our choices, one way or another. Let's use our resources wisely.