USA: return to 'robustness'

With all of the problems that my country is facing, I am still optimistic, if:

Parents do their job and turn off the TV after dinner. When I was in high school I did 2 to 3 hours a night of homework on week nights - that should, I think, be the norm for the new young generation.

Young people do their job and squeeze every bit of value from the educational opportunities that they have at their disposal.

Adults do their job and realize that education and job skills are something that they need to develop continually throughout their working lives. Be productive and prosper.

Congress and our president: suck it up, stop being bought off, and do what is right. Look out for your karma, try not not be total assholes.

Financial elite: realize that no matter how much money you accrue, your children and grandchildren need to live in this world so you should not ruin the world that they will need to live in. Suck it up and try doing the right thing for change. Look out for your karma, try not not be total assholes.

As a country, we need to work together and everyone do their part.

Comments

  1. jdbeck8:43 AM

    I agree with everything you just said, but unfortunately our government has promoted a culture of laziness and free handouts. No chance anything changes until they stop giving out free money to free loaders. Just wait until you are one of the few percentage of Americans that actually still pays taxes.

    Unfortunately, America has become the land of greed, selfishness, and laziness.

    Oh, and government will always be corrupt and bought off to some extent. Its just human nature. It would be nice to think they won't do it, but its ingrained in the nature. They believe its their right and they are owed it.

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  2. Tom2:02 AM

    Interesting, "robustness" is a word I really haven't heard in the latest discourse.

    It seems like the mass of people, as usual, are marching with blindfolds on. If they're interested in the economy or politics at all, they usually believe in the usual weekly talking points -- we just need to throw out the "bums" in the other party and put the "real Americans" in charge. For too many, success just means enduring the time between birth to death with as much entertainment and little disruption as possible.

    We also have some of the intellectual class talking about collapse, who believe the U.S. will descend into third world country status or worse. They might talk about survival or sustainability, but the idea that we can be "robust" threatens their personal world view.

    From my perspective (24, no kids), I'm cautiously optimistic. I bet we won't drive off the cliff, but regular people need to realize we're in a race between resource exhaustion and the development of sustainable industry. The Internet can be weird and dysfunctional, but over time I hope it will mature and be a force multiplier for good...though it could certainly head in the other direction.

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