Wendesday, December 17,2008
This year will go down in the history books as "when everything fell apart". It is also a kind of reckoning that has exposed not just greed but bad judgment on the part of just about everything and everyone. It proved that goernment was asleep when it should have "been minding the store" and that the private sector, the vaunted"market place", is just as inefficient and inept as it claims governemnt is. The questiion is who and with what ideas will be able to chart a direction where the most will benefit. My personal opinion is that nothing will change until the government, private sector, and voters are schooled in and believe that: 1) War and violence don't work to change anything or anyone's culture, unless the goal is to destroy and completely rebuild the society of the enemy completely as we thought we did at the end of WW II; 2) Businesses have to abandon their reliance on the market value of their stock which invited greed, corruption, and the breadown of the financial system that profits from fees, complex financial instruments, and leverage without a comprehensive analysis of risks to themselves, the market place in general, and the consumer: 3) Comprehensive and efficient standard health care and housing for all income groups are inalienable rights; 4) A totally revamped auto industry that can develop, build in the US, and sell fuel efficent, environmentally safe, and dependable vehicles at a price that can compete with foreign auto comanies ; 4) Tax and direct subsidies yield the greatest benefits to the most people; 5) And so on.......... Unless we aggressively embark on programs as clearly identified national and federal government initiatives and goals, we will repeat the worst of our history.
The best of times is the election of one of the most unique Presidents of the United States, Barack Obama. His political goals, his unique politics, charisma, active listenting, and his abililty to manage his cabinet promise the achievement of a different America that will be respected, not feared by the rest of the world. That means the revamping of the role and functioning of government to do its job as guided by legislation and leadership and to constantly monitor and regulate, where necessary, all programs in a business like manner. The bad times have provided an opportunity for this great man, Barack Obama, to begin to right things and to create a different moral atmosphere to the greatest benefit of the most people equitably.
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