Issues

These are the big issues of today we all need to pay attention to. Recent election results tell us some things we did not think possible. One of those is the power of people just because they say things. If enough people believe them, change is more than possible. It can be the new reality. Whether explicit authority exists or not, changes can happen in spite of fierce opposition. Believe it.

The biggest issues we face right now are:

1.      Social Security: this program is the primary financial support of many tens of millions senior citizens. If the program were to cut its benefit structure, these seniors would become financially dependent on other state and federal programs or their families. Generational pressures would loom large. 

      It is true that congress has increased Social Security benefits without appropriate funding over the years. Still the fund remains viable and capable of sustaining benefits. Because the program is self-sufficient financially (it is funded directly by program taxes, not income taxes), it is a drain on Congress because Congress has borrowed SSA dollars over the years and now owes the program perhaps as much as two trillion dollars. We should ask Congress for an accounting of the figures. 

      2.      Global Peace: If every nation looks only after their own good without regard to any other nation, peace will likely never happen. Competition for goods, minerals and political power among nations will create pressures leading to war. Cooperation among nations is vital to build and maintain peace. This is elementary. We have witnessed what happens for all of history. Seeing ourselves as a global community helps build cooperation. 

     3. Domestic Economy: The national economy functions as one for the entire nation, not individual regions or states. There are regional impacts and realities, but it is the nation as a whole that functions as one economy. Accordingly, creating jobs, responsibly managing national debt and its resultant money supply and interest rates produces access to wealth and sustainable standards of living. Knowing how it works is not automatic. It is complex. Just because we have homes, checking accounts and investments, does not mean we are economists. Academic study of economics may produce economists in name but working that knowledge toward desired results makes the academics come alive. There is no short cut to becoming an actual economist. 

     4. World Economy: Nations competing with their own economies with all the other nations and their economies, produces a dynamic marketplace not controlled by any one nation. This is another reason for global cooperation. Without cooperation, power will most likely be employed to realize economic goals. That power is the spine of military action and can easily result in war. 

     5. Education: The largest investment a nation makes in its people is its education. All ages need education. Change is the constant dynamic driving the need for education as well as continually creating changing educational processes. Similarly, participating in education is a choice of each individual. It is their own personal investment in themselves. Education serves both the individual and the nation. Lack of education can create grinding ignorance that leads to power dynamics in politics and governance. 

There are many other issues with enormous impact. I think the above five are the most important at this moment. Primarily because they are in focus, they are in play and subject to massive change. To prosper as an individual, a nation and a global community, we must pay attention to these issues. 

Or prepare for the unpleasant results.

November 20, 2024