Where are we going? Right now, I'm not going anywhere for a minute. I'm sipping a cold, sweet, caffeinated beverage and trying to compose a few thoughts about certain things that have been on my mind lately. So, more specifically, where are we going as Americans? What about as humans? What about as biological beings? Hold on... I think I might be jumping a bit too far ahead. I'll skip that last part, and just share some thoughts on the first couple spots.
Politics are awesome, aren't they? No, but seriously... where else can people argue about how everyone else should live their lives? Ok, leave that sentence alone for just a minute, and let's consider current politics. I hear arguments constantly about health care, economics, rights, taxes, and a million other things. Who is right? Who is thinking clearly? Who is telling you the truth? Probably nobody; regardless, every argument adds some element to the debate. Right now, I want to talk about the economy. Keep in mind, I'm not an economist. I am a citizen who is concerned about the rhetoric flying around polluting the airways and the minds of other concerned citizens who don't know what to believe.
Obviously, we are in a tough spot financially right now; as a world, as a country, and more specifically, as citizens, workers, and families. But what do we do about it? When someone tries to fix one thing, someone else may argue and challenge that idea, and they may or may not have a better solution for the problem, or they may simply think that the issue is not, in fact, a problem at all. I was watching C-SPAN earlier (exciting, I know...) and I caught a bit of a Q&A with a State Representative talking about how terrible things have gotten over the past three years since a certain person was sworn into office. I'm all for good discussions and debates, but one thing I do not appreciate is pointing out the flaws in someone else's plan without backing it up with an altered, improved solution to the problem at hand. An argument was made about the admittedly gigantic deficit, and this Representative was saying that the problem is all in spending, and that the government needs to cut back on spending and that Obama is at fault for all of the debt that has been added over the past three years. There IS, without a doubt, a serious problem our government faces when it comes to finances, I will not argue that, but to say that there is one solution (being stop spending money) is a very elementary thing to think. Where do you want to make these spending cuts? Should we put less money in education? Less money in infrastructure? Less money in Medicare? Less money in capital investment? I know there are a lot of places that the government can and should make spending cuts, and I don't pretend to know the budget in any amount of detail. I do, however, think there needs to be more open discussions on how to come together and put money into certain things in order to get the country to a point where the government doesn't need to spend as much money on social programs, but we are not at that point quite yet.
One thing that I feel is being attacked unfairly is taxation. I understand nobody wants to pay more taxes, especially when everyone is in a tight spot right now. However, I also understand that without taxes, the government can not do ANYTHING. The Tea Party is fighting so vehemently against any sort of tax increase, and people like that because it feels like the government is not taking as much from us. I get that. However, when times get tough, we need to come together as a country and put all of our resources together to get back to a place where we can finally spread out again and grow. Much of the debt that has been added in the past few years was in an effort to protect the country and all of its citizens from an even worse economic meltdown than was already taking place. I do think there was some money put out that should have been reconsidered, but sometimes in emergency situations, decisions are made that appear to have been misguided when looking back years later. Ok, so we move on and find better solutions for the future. But no matter what the next solution we find is, it's going to take money, and the only way to get that is for us as a country to pay for it. That is exactly what taxes do. They keep our government moving forward so we can still, as a country, decide what we want to do next. It is not all up to the president. It is not all up to Congress. It is not all up to chance, either. It's up to us. If you think that another country has it all figured out better than here, by all means, move there and pay their taxes and support their ideas! That's a right you (generally) have. But if you are a citizen of America, and you want to make a change, you have to decide whether your rights and your voice are worth paying for.
Another debate I hear all too often is regarding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare. Again, I don't know all of the details about it, but I dislike hearing every problem that arises blamed on it. It is definitely something drastic, and absolutely affects many things and many people. Some see it as unfair, some see it as the polar opposite. I don't quite know where I stand on the whole deal quite yet, but I do know that I am glad something was done to address the underlying issue of health care in America. It is not perfect. Probably far from; however, if it were not addressed, would we be in any better shape right now? Admittedly, there is a lot of new regulation and rules and things like that that are pretty confusing to take in all at once; however, if there are 50,000 pages worth of things wrong with the way things are going, then it's going to take 50,000 pages of new legislation to get us on the right track. The best part about America is that as we see what works and what does not work, we can fight to change certain things about it as needed. I do not think it is fair to call it government-run health care, or to call it Socialism, unless you're willing to call Social Security and Medicare Socialism as well. It is a big change, and it's something that we're not used to as a country, but that's why we adapt and find ways to make new ideas work for us. If you never change anything, you never solve anything. If you never fail, you never learn. I do not think that Obamacare is an ultimate failure. I think it is a giant leap in the direction that we need to go in health care to ensure that everyone pays for their share of medical care and the sort. It will unfortunately mean that some people may have to pay more, but overall, the insurance companies are not governed by the federal government. The government is making new policies to ensure that everyone has access to health care. You are still able to choose more insurance than the minimum if you desire, but the burden of those who get treatment without insurance are no longer placed directly onto the general tax base.
One last thought for today is regarding the debate on Wall Street Reform. It bothers me to hear the arguments that Wall Street needs more money to create jobs. Why is regulation such a curse word in the political world? Every aspect of our lives has some sort of regulation, and it is a way to keep people in check. In the same way that each branch of government performs checks and balances on the others, Main Street and Wall Street need to work together to grow as a whole. To fight against regulations in the banking and finance industries is to fight against money being spread to other parts of the country. I understand that businesses need money in order to succeed and grow, but I'm a firm believer that money should come from the public investing in the products and services of a company, not from stock traders at an off-track betting facility in New York. The only way companies will truly grow and begin to make legitimate money again is for the people in the country to have a better grip on their own financial situations. I believe that the president is truly trying to put money where it is needed: people's ideas. Scientists should receive grants to look for new ways to produce cheaper, more renewable energy. Students should be able to afford to go to college to learn something new that will lead to a life-changing innovation we can't even imagine right now because nobody has done it yet. Entrepreneurs should have more opportunities to get their plans and ideas into the public realm, and if it is something useful to people, they will buy it, this businessperson will make money, and ideally grow and expand so that others might be hired to help expand the business. In this way, the economy will blossom once again into the bright, vibrant capitalistic business world we have grown accustomed to. It will take a lot of time, and it will likely take a lot of money, and it will take trust, failures, falls, bumps, and redirects... but that is how we work. Is America worth it? Do you want to see what we do next, or fall back into what led us here in the first place? Work hard, learn something new, make a difference, but most of all, listen to people's thoughts. It's okay to disagree, but when you do so, I hope you can describe why you disagree and be willing to openly share what you think may be a better solution. We should be fighting FOR something. Not against. That is all I have for right now. If you read this to here, wow. Awesome. Please feel free to share any thoughts you have. I love to talk and hear other ideas!
