America’s Future

In every era there are people who are "Chicken Little's" convinced that the sky is falling. They always feel that this time is different, these challenges are unprecedented, and that basically we are facing a doomsday scenario unless we take some sort of drastic action.

Of course they have always been wrong in the past, and I suspect will always be wrong in the future. The primary reason they are wrong is their belief that people are, well stupid.

If we are engaging in a destructive behavior, and we all do to some extent, we will change that behavior when it becomes obvious to us it doesn't work. Now, consider all of our current problems. We have a large deficit. Why? Well in addition to some tax cuts enacted when we had a surplus we decided to engage in two significant combat operations and subsequently had a major economic collapse. We clearly could have predicted the problem if we had thought about it, but politics led to the policies that led to the deficit. Now, the deficit isn't a good thing but does it mean that the country is about to collapse? Hardly! Of course we have a bunch of new politicians who ran against Government but now that they are in office seem to think that Government action can solve this problem. Let's get real. The deficit will be reduced as the economy improves. This is a double edged solution as we get more tax revenues and need to spend less on our social requirements. Does that mean the Government shouldn't take action to reduce spending? Of course not, but without an economic recovery it won't solve the problem and if we overdo it, we will jeopardize the timing of the recovery.

What we are most likely faced with for the next decade or so is an adjustment as America weans itself from foreign oil and becomes more self sufficient in energy production. This will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and help reduce unemployment, while reducing our trade deficit, increasing the tax base and helping to stimulate the overall economy.

Actually, if we really wanted to stimulate the economy, we should open the doors to a much greater number of young immigrants who will seek the American dream, work hard and help support our aging domestic population.

America is a very rich country. We have abundant resources and create a tremendous amount of wealth each and every year. We have recently been exporting a lot of that wealth, and that has to change, but the best way to do that is to encourage domestic industries.

There needs to be a debate in this country about what constitute basic Governmental obligations. In the modern world the population of a country is dependent on services that in our pioneer days were simply not feasible. Realistically we have many people alive and productive today who would be dead in the 18^th century. We have people living longer and to a large extent, because of the evolution of our societal values, no longer supported by an extended family structure.

The good old days had some good things, but make no mistake about them, people died younger, worked longer and suffered from things we just wouldn't accept in today's society. The number of people in this country who ever lived or worked on a farm is a small percentage and getting smaller all the time.

America's future is not a return to the little house on the prairie; it is a modern internet based technological society that is part of the entire world. We should embrace it.