Where I stand on the issues

I am a 69-year-old white lawyer and landowner. I have voted in 13 presidential elections. I have never seen our society more divided, more angry, more full of hate. We have always had different opinions on many issues yet calmly debated an outcome tolerable to all. The current division is generated by misinformation spread about the position of opposing politics. I am truly independent, but my choice in this election has never been easier.

I believe:

• Anything that can be done by private enterprise, should be done by private enterprise.
• Anything that must be done by government must be done at the most local level possible.
• Socialism is a failed system.
• Our welfare system, however well intentioned, does not distinguish between the truly needy and those just gaming the system. There have been generations institutionally encouraged to have children out of marriage and to collect food stamps and "their check" as an entitlement. The citizens of this country should not be forced through taxes to support a program that arguably destroys the fabric of the family and encourages nonproductive lifestyles.
• The police provide an invaluable service to our community and must be supported. Some duties (dealing with mentally ill) need to be shifted to better trained professionals. Some divisively call this defunding.
• Violence, looting and vandalism cannot be tolerated. The right to freedom of speech and public protest must be protected.
• The profit motive from drugs must be eliminated. Kids in poor neighborhoods see dealers as the most financially successful role models. They view people who work for low wages as chumps.
• There has to be more of a gap between welfare recipients and the working class. There needs to be less of a gap between workers and executives.
• All lives matter. Systemic racism must be eliminated. I have witnessed tremendous strides toward this during my lifetime but there is still work to do.
• Women who have been raped and impregnated should not have to be forced to raise that child. There should not be late-term abortions without medical necessity.
• Our health care system is horribly broken. The worst served are the working-class. Our current system encourages employers to maintain part-time employees to avoid costly health insurance.

There should be a minimal universal health system available to all supplemented by private insurance for those who wish to pay for it similar to our current Medicare system.

There are no simple solutions, but these are issues that require discussion and debate so that we can, together, reach a path forward. Can we not agree on that?

Oh yeah, this morning I enthusiastically voted against Trump.

Dean White is a resident of Cape Girardeau. He is a member of the Limbaugh Firm, Attorneys at Law.