By Nicholas Richardson, Harrisonburg (File photo)

To the editor:

I am a student at James Madison University and I read Mayor Bill Euille’s February 19 opinion piece entitled “Virginia General Assembly erred in not expanding Medicaid,” and I too am feeling extremely concerned with the decision of the Virginia General Assembly to refuse expansion of the state Medicaid program.

A vast majority of the people supporting themselves off Medicaid benefits are classified as “working poor” — average people who work part- or full-time jobs —who are not able to adequately support themselves or their families. Why would we not, as fellow human beings, expect our government to lend funding to these people?

I believe as a whole, our society has lost the ability to relate to our fellow man on an intimate level. With the rise of social media, electronic entertainment, efficiency and working independence, we have lost our ability to connect to the people and situations closest to us.

We tend to forget that the people around us have their own stories and lives as well, and that we are all part of the same big machine. If one piece of this machine is not functioning properly, the entire system falls apart.

So why would the government not support its poor and, in turn, neglect our society, culture and economy?