Ahhh....America....we have a problem

We seem to be a very odd bunch.  By "we" I mean the upset, disillusioned, gun toting Americans among us.  First the "upset, disillusioned" part:

We have a lot of societal issues.  Minorities feel the deck is stacked against them, and they want fairer treatment.  White supremacists feel that if minorities receive better treatment, it will be at their expense.  

Every kid who can strum a guitar thinks he's going to be a rock star, and every kid who has any athletic ability thinks he's destined for professional sports stardom.  Virtually all hit the reality wall eventually and find their life's work will instead be on a loading dock or at the paper mill. 

Too many seniors had expected a comfy retirement, only to find their life savings vanish when they found themselves with unexpected and overwhelming medical bills, or their 401K's cratered, along with the company they worked 40 years for.  At least they still have their Medicare and Social Security, right?  Umm...maybe not.  Hungry tax-cut vultures are eyeing them both. 

It's been a given that each generation of Americans will be better off than their parents.  Not so fast.  The middle class has been losing ground for the past several decades.  Kids are told they need a good education, then find themselves saddled with tens of thousands of dollars in student loans they have trouble paying back.

Blue-collar middle class Americans have been especially hard hit.  Many have seen their jobs outsourced to Mexico or Asia, and the replacement jobs they can find don't pay nearly what they need to maintain their former lifestyle.

Even comfortable white-collar Americans, who seem to have it all, say they feel overwhelming, intense pressure trying to keep it all.

Obese / short people know they'll never make it to a company vice-presidency.  Those offices are reserved for beautiful / handsome people.

And then we have our addictions....alcohol, drugs, gambling, etc, all impairing our ability to attain the good life.  Even those who take legitimately prescribed medicines....have you read the side effects today's meds bury in the fine print?  Besides the ever popular constipation and / or diarrhea, they often include "violent reactions and suicidal tendencies".  Yikes!

And scorned lovers, and lost promotions, and...

Which leads us to the "gun toting" part:

We do have a LOT of guns in America.  An estimated 300,000,000 plus.  The problem comes when some of those mentioned above just snap, unable to contain their anger.  Then they go after those who they feel are responsible for their misfortune, such as what happened in Las Vegas last week.

Now we're hearing calls once again for gun control.  "Stop making and selling 'assault rifles'", they say, "and we'll see less gun violence."  OK, fine.  Outlaw "bump stops", and suppressors, and even new AR-15's.  (Note: an AR-15 is NOT an assault rifle, legally speaking.)  With 300,000,000 guns already out there, does anyone really believe a disturbed person won't be able to get one?  (Another note: 1,000,000 guns are stolen and presumably resold every year on the black market.)

The fact is, unless we can get a handle on these (and other) societal issues we face, we're just putting a tiny band-aid on a sucking chest wound with gun control.  Once again, as has become the American Way, we're looking for a quick, easy way out.  We're in denial.

S

The Grand Conundrum

The headline read:  "Romney blames loss on Obama's 'gifts' to minorities and young voters".  

In a conference call with many of his big-money supporters Mitt Romney told them that it was Obamacare (calling it a gift to lower-income Americans, perceived to be primarily minorities), the Dream Act (which prohibited deportation of young illegal immigrants who were brought here by their parents when they were very young), and the forgiveness of a considerable amount of the interest incurred by students (who are relying on student loans to get their education) that was responsible for his defeat.  He said these "gifts" to targeted groups bought Obama enough votes to put him over the top. 

Or to put it another way, the status quo didn't work for the Republicans.  This needs to be their wake-up call.  They need to find a way to embrace these groups and broaden their base of supporters.  Making the recent election an "us vs them" affair is no way for Republicans to turn their fortunes around.

Here's the conundrum:  Yes, we need to cut our budget deficit.  We can't go on indefinitely running up a trillion dollars a year in red ink.  But at the same time, we DO need to expand health care.  Where a decade ago 65% of companies provided health insurance to their employees, today it's roughly 55%.  You see the trend?  An unhealthy, broke workforce is not what we need to compete economically with the rest of the world.

And we DO need a highly trained workforce, which obviously requires a highly educated workforce.  The days of getting a high school diploma and then spending the next 40 years working at the sawmill are over.  Education costs lots of money, money most families don't have.  Government does, except it's all borrowed money.

And we DO need immigrants.  While many developed countries actually have a shrinking population, ours is still growing, thanks to births to recent immigrants.  Without them working and paying in to "the system" we won't be able to honor our commitments to our baby boomers now at or nearing retirement.  We need to find a way to expeditiously, responsibly admit new immigrants.  And legitimize many (but not all) of those here now.

It seems we need to do lots of things to stay on top in the world, but they all cost money.  Money we don't have.  What to do?

S