“It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy, and the handicapped.” Hubert H. Humphrey, United States politician (1911-1978).
One could hardly disagree with Humphrey’s statement. The fact is that the main aim of any governments existence is the protection of weak or vulnerable citizens who are not able to care for themselves. The government protects us from anarchy and a sword-law when stronger individuals enjoy all benefits because of their power and other groups suffer. For this reason, the provision of care to children, elderly, and sick people is one of the most important duties of the government of any state as it determines its efficiency and ability to assess citizens main needs.
As for the current state of society, it is expected to adhere the humanistic values and create appropriate conditions for all groups of people and communities. In sober fact, the situation is far from perfect. The fact is that old people are very often unable to enjoy the benefits and privileges of belonging to civilized society. For instance, the situation in healthcare remains complex. The system of health insurance is expected to guarantee constant access to at least basic health services; however, very often individuals are not able to afford it and remain uninsured (Houle, 2015).
This category suffers from the inability to use the most necessary healthcare services because of their extreme price and the drawback of the existing policy. Numerous government attempts like Obamacare have not improved the situation and created the ground for the appearance of new ethical concerns related to the delivery of care to people who need it (Binder, 2013).
For this reason, one can say that at the moment the government fails to perform its main functions and protect vulnerable groups.
References
Binder, L. (2013). The five biggest problems in health care today. Forbes. Web.
Cadet, J. (2014). CEOs top challenges in pediatric health care. Web.
Houle, M. (2015). How our healthcare system can be deadly to the elderly. LA Times. Web.