Length: 540 Words Reading Time: 2 Minutes
I do not believe we are the United States of America any longer, nor can we be, all calls for unity notwithstanding. Back in the early 1970s, Mr. Joel Garreau wrote a book titled “The Nine Nations of North America.” I believe his analogy was correct. America now comprises several political constituencies. Four cases come readily to mind: Alaska, California, Hawaii, and Texas. Other states and regions of America are equally unique in their culture, attitudes, and lifestyle.
At 320 million people, America is virtually ungovernable, regardless of how skilled and experienced a chief executive officer we elect. The problems and policy issues can be solved ONLY at the local and state level. People are much wiser in handling issues and challenges that affect them directly, than any group of politicians inside the Beltway, can.
The Federal Government cannot solve problems because it cannot even begin to understand how each state is affected. A one-size-fits-all policy is an ineffective and wrongheaded strategy for a country with 50 very different political entities.
I offer one example to demonstrate my meaning. There is no group of individuals less qualified to design and execute healthcare legislation than the individuals in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives.
The Democrats passed the Affordable Care Act without understanding what it would entail for the country (intended or unintended consequences), and now the Republicans are trying to do the same thing. Think about that for a couple of minutes.
Healthcare is probably the most complex industry in our economy. It is the one industry that affects everyone at the gut level. We have politicians tying themselves up in knots trying to say the politically correct thing, while not offending the special interest groups or blowing their chances for re-election.
A small team of experienced healthcare professionals could put together a more rational, practical, and transparent system in a few months that did not cater to special interests. It would not take them eight years to do so, as the Republicans had while Mr. Obama was in the Oval Office. Designing a large scale system or program is a difficult task, but once politics rears its ugly head, all bets are off. It simply is not doable.
I call what is now occurring in America as the “death of common sense and rational thinking.” The first half of that statement is from a book title in my library.
The wheels have come off the grand and glorious experiment of America. I do not think anyone can put the wheels back on. A great parliamentarian in England once wrote, “Who will guard the madmen, when madmen are the guards?” Everywhere one looks in our country, there is madness and irrationality.
About ten years ago, I wrote that America needs a spiritual and cultural renaissance. We must return to the principles and ideals upon which the United States was established. These principles and ideals will always ring true, whether America passes from the scene or not. Self-reliance, the rule of law, personal freedom, order, and justice for all come readily to mind. I recall this quote from my readings: “…social order requires law, law requires morality, and morality requires religion.” America has moved far off that path.
