Are Our Systems REALLY Working for US? (Iraq, Afghanistan, health care)

[LookinForMayberry]

As we've driven around the country -- 33 states, as of last count, we've seen town after town of reduced circumstances from what they once so obviously were. Beautiful old homes in various stages of disrepair, empty businesses, rusting bridges, faded signs, homeless or jobless wandering the streets in despondency.

True, there have been definite pockets of "haves" but the "have NOTs" have been in the majority.

As I've encountered the situations, I used to email the city offices to inquire, but after awhile it became apparent there was a usual theme: "no funds, we're doing what we can, but ...."

This is not a Democrat nor Republican problem. It is a problem for US.

The common "last decade" of affluence for most of these areas seems to be the 60s. At the tail end of the "boomer" era, (born in the 50s), my history, business, and political science classes tell me that this was when the US peaked from their rise to post-WWII eminence. (For those that believe this was a result of Yankee ingenuity, think again -- it was how long it took for Europe and Asia to rebuild.)

Since the 60s, our standing as a WORLD Power has declined in various arenas. Only the strength of the American dollar has prevented more drastic declines, and that is now soon to take second to China's currency.

Our southern coastal states are yet to be rebuilt from the hurricanes of 2003 - 2005. Our eastern states are still depressed from the loss of the steel industry fifty years ago. The mid western states have suffered from the loss of the auto market supremacy forty years ago.

So, when do we take a look at our Financial and Political systems, and determine the true score of these systems?

If we are not fully utilizing the labor pool we have, we are not fully mobilizing our local markets. People without funds to buy products or services are a detriment that capitalism isn't solving. Elected leaders are not leading us to prosperity.

It's time to stop bemoaning the loss of industries now gone. It's time to START creating industries to serve the world market, and employ our unused labor sources. If our elected officials are not taking us in that direction, don't we have to ask why?

Are we getting the leadership we voted for? Are we -- YOU, participating in the political process to demand the changes needed?

Personally, I am appalled that we, supposedly the RICHEST nation, have a homeless situation that has grown each decade since the 70s. I am ashamed that we -- a CHRISTIAN NATION, are turning old people out on the streets, because our economy has devastated their finances and they have no options. I am aghast that the nation that other countries come to to educate their young, have declining position in our own youth's test scores.

From our economy to our health care, our systems continue to fail us. These are not separate systems; each is integral to the other.

So, help me here. Tell me what I am missing. I truly wish to know when these towns I've traveled can see some good news.

[GregW]

Long post

Lookin’ for Mayberry - You see too well. Now stop telling everybody or you might let them see behind the curtain.

IMHO we are in economic decline. This was caused by our wasting money protecting our overseas investors at the expense of our domestic investors. We are also squandering a nearly infinite amount of money protecting and procuring overseas oil supplies instead of investing in the research and development of our domestic energy.

We created a military supplier complex that has always charged a premium for their output through monopoly or bid free contracting while paying enough to attract the best and the brightest of the engineering and industrial talent. We used this output to expand and protect our military/economic Empire.

The money to create this huge economic black hole was taken from domestic investment both private and government. Our private investors were encouraged to invest in foreign industry in order to produce greater profit along with cheaper goods while devastating the unionized American workforce. This was a great boon to the investor classes but resulted in “the great sucking sound” as industry left the US for cheaper production elsewhere. The loss of industry created a loss of domestic productivity and production. These losses are reflected in our collapsing infrastructure and failing transportation system.

Aiding this decline has bee the refusal of Americans to save money at negative interest rates in local savings banks. Instead we have had to invest in the equities markets, to the delight of the fund managers, in order to obtain any effective interest on our savings. One of the results of being effectively forced to take these higher risks has been the loss of countless savings of our people. Obviously real estate was another place to put your savings and, as we now know, a great place to lose those savings.

There are a couple of thing that can be done to stop and reverse the slow, or not so slow, looting of the American working and middle classes. These start with drastic cuts to our wasteful empire. We need to stop our current wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and anywhere else we are waging covert or overt war. We cannot afford these any more. Then we need to raise the interest Americans receive for their secured savings and not have them forced to put their money in the risky markets. Then we can develop a set of countervailing tariffs to equalize the costs of products manufactured with foreign government subsidy, lax environmental standards, effective or actual slave labor with the cost of domestically produced manufactured goods. We can use some of the profits created behind these tariff walls to reconstruct our domestic infrastructure and restore efficient transport within our country.

Some may say this would start a trade war. I say the war has been going on for decades but we have not been fighting back and the lick of our opposition to the foreigners attacking us has be very costly indeed. We have been in a trade war and most of us have been losing while a few have been reaping huge unsupported profits.

As a healthy workforce is a productive workforce we can nationalize the entire health care industry from pharmaceutical research, development and production, through medical education to the delivery of services in hospitals and clinics. There is no need or room for a parasitic health insurance industry in this system. Doctors and researchers would be well paid as they mostly are now but the marketers, advertisers and overpaid executive managers would need to find something else to mess up.

This essay is just a suggestion of the acts and policies we can use to return American post WW2 prosperity. I may expand this into a longer form as I expand on the ways to restore our prosperity.

[zz4guy]

*yawn*

You guys feel better with all that self pity and complaining? Because it isn't going to change one thing until you come up with practical solutions.

[LookinForMayberry]

Originally Posted by GregW

...We need to stop our current wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and anywhere else we are waging covert or overt war. We cannot afford these any more. Then we need to raise the interest Americans receive for their secured savings and not have them forced to put their money in the risky markets. Then we can develop a set of countervailing tariffs to equalize the costs of products manufactured with foreign government subsidy, lax environmental standards, effective or actual slave labor with the cost of domestically produced manufactured goods. We can use some of the profits created behind these tariff walls to reconstruct our domestic infrastructure and restore efficient transport within our country.

Some may say this would start a trade war. I say the war has been going on for decades but we have not been fighting back and the lick of our opposition to the foreigners attacking us has be very costly indeed. We have been in a trade war and most of us have been losing while a few have been reaping huge unsupported profits.

As a healthy workforce is a productive workforce we can nationalize the entire health care industry from pharmaceutical research, development and production, through medical education to the delivery of services in hospitals and clinics. There is no need or room for a parasitic health insurance industry in this system. Doctors and researchers would be well paid as they mostly are now but the marketers, advertisers and overpaid executive managers would need to find something else to mess up.

Sorry for the Long Post. I believed I needed to explain my view, but regret it's length.

Thank you for sharing your views AND the suggestions.

[LookinForMayberry]

Originally Posted by zz4guy

*yawn*

Thank you for sharing YOUR lack of views, or is it just a cover for being unaware?