October, 2013

Something has been bugging me lately.

I can’t exactly say that this is a new feeling, or that it has been brought on by any particular event (although the circus around the current government shut down has provided more than ample examples). It is a feeling that has been building for a long time, and events of the day have just brought it front and center.

So what is this big revelation?

I think the American people have given up on the American experiment.

That’s it.

Or, more or less it. And I do not think that it is everyone, just those who are incapable of seeing the validity in other people’s arguments, or in other people’s points of view. And, sadly, it is a condition being used by far too many people to cover up far too many prejudices. Not to mention that it is being used to slowly erode the fundamental rights that our founding fathers gave their lives to ensure.

Sure, our system has been torn apart by arguments before. We even went through with a civil war, and survived the civil rights movement of the 1960’s.

But, with this latest round, something is different. We have lost civility way too early. It is happening on all levels of society.

In the spring of 2010 I had a hand in creating something amazing, something that had the power to change lives, and to open minds. Over time, however, the people in this small group came to be defined by the social tags that have come to tear apart modern society. And they are oblivious to their single minded determination to hold on to the talking points of a single perspective.

When dealing with a group that has decided to cling to a fringe position it often becomes easier to remove yourself from the group than it would be to advocate for the middle ground. Any challenge to their position, even incrementally, becomes a life or death, full contact challenge of who they are as a person.

It does not need to be this way. As a matter of fact, over time those who do exist in the middle find that they are swayed further away from the argument of the fringe, due to the constant barrage of attacks (many highly personal) that are thrown their way.

So where do we go from here?

The first step is to return to the concept of living within our means.

Our country is on a collision course with enforced economic slavery, and a world where US Citizens are forced to live on macaroni and cheese while being forced to labor in the sweat shops constructed by our creditors.

Decisions on what to cut need to be made on the basis of greatest good, and we need to accept that there are some who will be asked to give far more than they receive.

Without a major change in our spending theories, we face the reality that the next generation will face the economic and technological outlook we faced two hundred years ago, all the while paying down a debt that will dwarf the one we hold today.

Please note – I refer to this challenge as a spending challenge, not a revenue challenge. The American people are taxed enough, and we will soon be facing more taxes due to the decisions of our current leadership. We were told these additional taxes would only impact the richest Americans, but, as with all other like promises, these taxes will have the most impact on the people who can least afford to pay them.

What is worse is that our nation has, for many years, undergone programs by which we purchase the debt of smaller nations, only to forgive such debt on an international stage. As the world’s largest creditor and debtor, and the nation that prints the world’s reserve currency, we have set ourselves up to amass debt without any contingency to repay it.

Further, we are still hemorrhaging funds through multiple layers of duplication, programs designed to promote graft, and foreign financial gifts that often find their way into the pockets of those at the top, as opposed to in the laps of those in greatest need.

So how do we fix this?

The first order of business is to realize that nothing a politician ever does for the good of the populous does not in some way line the pockets of the political elite. Every social program claims to help the needy, yet the bulk of its funding pays for red tape and administrative costs.

We also need to stop placing stock in the canned talking points force fed to us by each of the political parties. I find that people are so wrapped up in defending flimsy talking points that they can not see the fallacies dripping out of their mouths. And no, it is not a problem with only one side of the issue. Both ends of the spectrum are at fault.

Part three is to drop the name calling and get down to the negotiating table. And I mean everyone. No one is above giving up a bit of their cherished “holy ground” and realize that no one is entitled to get everything they ask for, not even if you think you are the most powerful man in the world.

Our government must also reassess its role in the lives of its citizens. Our founding fathers set up a governmental system that put the populous in charge of the government. Over time, through increasing regulations and ever encroaching policies our government has come to believe that the population serves the government. We need to reverse this trend.

We also need to acknowledge that what little the government does for the people is done through the people. All of the fancy services the government now offers were once provided by the local community. All government has done is create an expansive, expensive monopoly on what once was deemed the province of the neighborhood, or the church.

People build things. The government puts in the bugs and glitches.

So where do we come in?

The first step is to start demanding more from the people we elect. We need to spend more time getting to know the people who seek to speak for us. We need to reject negative campaigning and focus on who our elected officials are as people. We need to put substance over flash.

We need to remind our government they serve at the will of the people.

We need to raise our voter participation rate, and educate our population on their civic structures.

We need to start training future generations to analyze things on a critical level.

We need to put long term sustainability above short term gain.

The only question now is if human nature will let us accomplish what we need to.