Saturday, June 14, 2008

American Society

American society has so many positives and negatives that it would be impossible to compile that list. This is a country that draws people from all over the world with dreams of freedom and success. Sometimes it is easy to forget the freedoms that exist when you are overcome with the negatives that blanket the news related to government and business. The fact that only a small percentage of eligible voters turn out to voice their opinion at the polls is one of the large negatives. There is so much dissatisfaction with what takes place, but people have apparently reached a point where they feel it doesn’t matter if they vote. The depressing aspect of the situation is at election time the voters have no reasonable choices when it comes to individuals running for office. Money dominates the election process and the process screams for drastic changes. The candidate that is able to raise the most money and dominate with name recognition gets the most votes no matter what the real issues are in the campaign. The process should allow for anyone that is qualified to run for office and controls should be in place for each individual to have equal time and equal advertising. The money factor should be taken out of the equation and allow the citizens an opportunity to have representatives that actually have their best interest at heart. Term limits should be in place for all elected officials. If this ever happened, government might return to what it is supposed to be and that is to serve the people. Government fraud and business fraud is at an outrageous level. Young people grow up with an attitude that this type of behavior is normal and that is a sad legacy for each generation to pass along to the next. Our government shows a blatant disregard for the environment and this failure to take the necessary actions will have a drastic effect on future generations. There are a lot of people living fantastic lives in the American society, but at the same time there are a lot of people barely surviving. If you make the effort, you can see people of all races in this country without homes, without food to eat, and without hope! Government wastes billions of dollars when so much could be addressed and so many problems could be solved. Society has changed over the years with many changes for the good, but there is so much more that needs to be accomplished.

Deregulation

Deregulation supporters say it has led to more efficient and innovative businesses, but others say it has led to higher prices and poor service. The move for deregulation really took off in the 70’s/80’s and this was supposed to bring great changes in industries such as airlines, banking, financial services, trucking, railroads, electricity suppliers, and telecommunications. The American public will have to determine if this effort by government representatives has produced the desired results in any of these industries or made matters worse or made any change at all. Have we had lost jobs, higher prices, fewer choices, and poor service? Is deregulation responsible in part for the economic conditions we face today? Are our political representatives asleep at the wheel? Should government be striving for a more balanced regulation situation? Yes, nobody can predict the exact outcome, but current conditions would seem to indicate things have gone wrong somewhere along the line. Maybe it is time to evaluate the results in certain areas and consider making some changes. Consider the numerous problems that have occurred in more than one industry over the last 20 years. A complete overhaul of deregulation might not be called for, but it is evident that some changes would be desirable.

Military Service & Draft

Military service and the American draft haven’t been discussed much in the news lately. I, like many people, may have mixed emotions about the subject, but this is something that has crossed my mind in recent months. I have noticed more and more young people with bad attitudes, bad manners, and outright rudeness. This would also include drinking habits and bad driving abilities. They seem to have a lack of respect for other people in general. These young people appear to be in the age range of 17 to 25, with some 25 to 30. I have to associate this behavior with the parents of these young individuals and a failure in parenting skills or possibly parents not being around enough during the growing up stage. I am not condemning the majority of this group, but I am talking about a large percentage. I will admit that there are a lot of very stable, polite, great young kids in society.
In my opinion, reinstating the draft in some format would be beneficial to society. Having to at least experience six to eight weeks of boot camp and training would provide some discipline, structure, and better attitudes. The American family has changed drastically over the last 25 years as a unit and this does seem to have affected a generation in many ways. The volunteer military that exists today may serve the needs (even though that may be questionable), but it wouldn’t hurt to have a pool available if a situation occurred in society that called for additional resources. There could also be a period of time after basic training where there is required community service to assist the needy and poor in their own community. The draft could serve more than one purpose and would be for everyone in a certain age range (nobody excluded) and then utilized as a reserve call-up list for a 1-2 year period of time. This would create a spending issue that many taxpayers would probably oppose, but needs to be explored. If this is not a possible avenue to consider, then is there anyone with an explanation for the situation and a possible remedy?