Tuesday, February 28, 2012

We Are Lucky to be Alive–Today

I have said it before, many people consider me a pessimist, but I am a realist. It may be sad, but in my opinion, those of us who are alive today are the lucky ones. I do not have much confidence in the future of our country, especially in the next 100 years. What are some of the problems facing future generations?

One problem is our national polarity. Problems and issues are not resolved when everyone is more interested in revenge, excuses, and blaming their counterparts for causing all our national problems and issues. In other words, we have become a nation of problem creators and not a nation of problem solvers. There is simply no individual accountability or responsibility anymore and this trend is getting worse each year. Unfortunately, technology has worked more to polarize than to unite Americans, and this trend will continue to get worse as technology expands.

One issue causing polarity is our ever increasing narcissism. Every person seems to be a “know it all” and is only concerned about me, myself and I. Politicians and media pundits are not concerned about doing what is best for the country, but doing what is best for themselves. CEO’s do what is best for them and not for their company and employees. Everyone thinks they understand the math and science behind the problems facing the country, when the fact of the matter is that most Americans are illiterate, especially when it comes to math and science.

Our national fiscal situation is also a major concern. In just the next few decades, the interest on our debt will equal our defense budget. By 2050, the nation faces a 50 trillion dollar unfunded liability for entitlement spending and other union and government retirement plans.

Population increases will place a huge burden on our resources including food, water, healthcare, and energy.

Education continues to be a major issue facing our nation with more kids dropping out each year and more kids failing to have basic math and reading skills to survive in the real world.

Whether or not climate change is manmade or not, solutions to carbon emissions merely slow the process by a few meager percentage points. In other words, nothing is going to stop carbon emissions from going up (unless we use carbon scrubbing technology), and it is going cost our nation trillions of dollars for a negligible difference. Climate change is one example of how government is failing to come up with both a cost effective and efficient methodology to solve the problem. Carbon taxes and expensive green energy solutions will cost our economy jobs and businesses will lose opportunities.

Each year more and more people move into poverty and more and more people are relying on charitable and government handouts to survive. No nation can endure this growing expense as witnessed by Greece and Ireland. In other words, the U.S. is becoming a welfare state. Tough decisions need to be made, but no one has the fortitude to do so.

The bottom line is that our national problems are not going to go away. Every nation faces a breaking a point and for the United States it is closer than what most people realize. If drastic changes are not made soon, then expect the lives of future generations to be one marred in poverty, addictions, starvation, disease, illiteracy, government reliance, and living amongst decaying and crumbling infrastructures. I hate to say it; but better days have passed and we are lucky to be alive today.

My Book: Is America Dying? (Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble)

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