 | Political labels help us sort ourselves, but get in the way of progress. Labels encourage us to combine our positions on issues to satisfy our perception of order. This muddles efforts to fix or improve anything. It would be better to tackle each issue on its merits: gun control, climate change, health care, access to education, immigration policies, trickle down tax laws and global alliances. |
The measure for any law or regulation should be based on what it is supposed to accomplish: Does it work?
| Gun control: Per 10 million population, gun deaths per year in the US are 1200 and in Japan 6. Whatever we are doing, is not working. We have evidence that the problem is fixable, but we need to put the lives of citizens above phony interpretations of the 2nd Amendment and the political contributions of the gun industry (NRA etc.) |
| Climate Change: despite crude tweets about snow storms, this is happening. Even though the carbon- based corporations will need to adapt or go the way of Buggy Whips and there will be a cost converting to renewable, something has to be done. |
| Health Care: In an average year per person the US spends $10,224 and Canada $4,826. Our results are less favorable than comparable countries on average in several different measures, including mortality rates for preventable disease. |
| Education: our universities, state and private, are excellent, but the tuition costs are outrageous. Maybe we need to consider investing in education just like we do with defense equipment? It makes sense to educate our young people when they have the talent and energy to perform – regardless of means. |
| Immigration: we need people! Our birth rate has been in decline for 30 years and is significantly below a sustainable rate (we are not alone, virtually all developed countries are facing the same issue). Only Utah and South Dakota among the 50 states have a sustainable rate. |
| Taxes: 2017 tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations resulted in falling federal tax revenues in 2018. GDP increased to 3% in 2018 but is expected to fall back to 2.3 % in 2019 and 2% in 2020. Maybe the taxes should be added back to the dividend recipients and reduced on the wage earners? We would benefit from the multiplier effect of their numbers. We know they buy things. |
| Global Alliances: we are less than 5% of the world’s population and we have a dingy history of interfering covertly and militarily in other countries’ struggles. But now we have an administration intent on removing all cooperative alliances where the rules are open and transparent. |
We need big thoughts! We need to try new ideas! We need to be better!
Excellent analysis of the issues.