March 25, 2011

The American Roadmap (Part 3 of 3)

(Continued from Part 2)

Previously I wrote about what the underpinnings of what the American vision should be.

But that is not the vision. That is merely the foundation or underpinning necessary to support a real vision. Without those guiding principles, the vision will ultimately fail because it cannot be supported. Nations that have tried to articulate alternate visions such as Marxism have ultimately failed or turned away from the ruinous policies and ideologies that have destroyed not only economies but people’s lives and liberties in the process. Conversely, too often conservatives, frustrated by the drift away from these ideals, substitute this for the final vision for America. It is not a vision. It is merely a state of being that enables the country to remain wealthy, prosperous and secure. It enables the nation to have a grander vision beyond sustainability. Understandably sustainability is an important goal, especially now. But it is not the end goal. What then is the vision that the country requires? It is simple actually because it has been articulated for generations based on the notions held by the founding fathers.

The vision for America is one in which the country supports and defends life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all. The nation embodies the notion of the American Dream of the opportunity for prosperity and of every generation living better than the generation before. That prosperity and improvement is manifested in physical well being, and emotional and intellectual well being. It means that the nation ensures that people have the opportunity and freedom to better themselves. It does not mean the nation betters people, just enables them to do it themselves. It requires an educational system founded on the learning of facts and critical thinking rather than feel-good environmental and self-empowerment pabulum that is so common in schools these days. Schools have prioritized emotional well-being over learning of hard skills that will better serve the under-served students later in life. The nation as a whole will benefit from students who mature energetic and eager to prosper and create than some self-satisfied, emotionally stable person with no desire to do anything. That’s a form of a soft communism in effect.

Of course the defense of the nation is important. The nation should remain strong and able to defend itself from attack be it military or economic in nature. This requires a strong military, a strong economy and the resolve to use those in defense of the nation when necessary. Providing for the common defense means just that; a weak nation cannot properly defend itself.

The same is true for the promotion of the general welfare. The government cannot mandate well-being, try as they might. It must just enable the opportunity for it. In addition to providing the opportunities mentioned above in the points on education, the government has to make it as easy as possible for someone to start and grow a business or to become employed by one. This means a reduction in regulation in order to simplify the task of business creation and job creation. It means the simplification and a reduction in the impact of the tax code. Certainly business should pay taxes but they should be at a competitive level and they should not be onerous in their complexity to make businesses comply. The same holds true for jobs.

The government must provide an environment that encourages maximum possible employment. This means not mandating the amount of health coverage and other employment benefits a company must provide. The labor market can manage that. No one will go to work for the one company that refuses to provide some for of health care if all the other companies do provide it.

Beyond that there isn’t much. The government’s role is actually fairly small in the bigger picture. It needs to make it easier for people and businesses to do what they need to do to survive and thrive. It does not need to do it for them. It needs to ensure the safety of the people of the nation and it needs to ensure the environment exists that provides the greatest liberty and the biggest opportunity to improve and grow as individuals and as a businesses. What is commonly regarded as progress through ever greater, ever more intrusive regulation is antithetical to real progress. It’s time for the nation to reverse its course and start to make some real progress towards the nation that everyone believes it can be.

2 comments:

  1. Great set of articles Dean. Your statement "The vision for America is one in which the country supports and defends life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all. The nation embodies notion of the American Dream of the opportunity for prosperity and of every generation living better than the generation before" is the very thing I have been ranting and raving about for years. Somehow, the populace here has lost track of that very basic foundation of our country and in turn we have lost much of not only our identity, but also our very being. We have become a nation of takers instead of achievers and in turn we have turned our back on not only our children, but on the world in general. We were once the hope of the world, a beacon if you will, yet we elected a Communist wanna be dictator (I state that flatly)who's every action is in exact opposite to what we as a country are supposed to be. And worse of all? Our children are not even taught exactly what America means!

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  2. Education is another conversation entirely. It is the battleground of and for the future.

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