What is Wrong with America

The American people think there are plenty of things wrong with America. There is only one problem with America. Until the American people learn what the real problem is none of the imagined problems will get fixed. As long we deal with the symptoms and ignore the real problem things will not get any better they will get worse. Do we really know what America's problem is? Or are we just dealing with the symptoms of the problem? Alleviating the symptoms won't fix the problem. The symptoms are our debt, our government, the rich, the poor, Republicans, Democrats, career politicians, or any other current complaint of why America isn’t the way we want it to be. There are plenty of things wrong with America. None of them will get fixed as long we deal with the symptoms and ignore the problem. What is the problem? We are the problem! If America isn’t the way we want it to be it is, as in a well known phrase says up to, “We the People” to fix America.

To start fixing America we must learn who we are. America is a country that was created to govern itself; it is a republic not a democracy! To govern ourselves our Founding Fathers wrote a binding legal document, our Constitution, to limit the power of our government. Our Constitution also, just as importantly, limits the power of the men and women we have temporarily chosen to run our government. The idea of being an elected official as someone’s career is an unintended consequence of the War Between the States. (That war is the subject for another discussion.) Career politicians and lobbyists are a big symptom of our problem. As James Madison said “All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.” and the men he worked with were far more trustworthy than those currently in (office) power.

America was a country where our elected officials were bound by our Constitution. The idea that it could be interpreted rather than amended was repugnant to our elected officials. They knew that their power was limited by our Constitution. When they ceased to be citizens first and politicians second that is when they ceased to be bound by our Constitution. What gave them the idea that they were no longer bound by our Constitution? Their lust for power did. When they realized that the American people could be bought with government programs not allowed by our Constitution they threw it away.

In America people use to build and plan for tomorrow. We were a country where the idea of saving money for a rainy day was important. Now we are a country of people who demand instant gratification. With the excessive use of credit we get what we want now, not later when we can afford it. Why save money when you get what you want now? The ideas of instant gratification, of taxing savings, and profits discourage the actions that are necessary for our country and its economy to grow. The power to tax is also the power to destroy. The power to tax is being abused by our government. It is abused because career politicians buy votes by promising people they can have whatever they want without working for it. Our government is as addicted to credit and instant gratification as we are.

We are the problem and we are the solution. To start implementing the solution we must demanding instant gratification. We must stop voting for incumbents. We must demand that our elected officials start repealing laws. We must stop believing that the solution comes from Washington. D.C. The mess we are in was not created in one election cycle nor was it created by one presidential administration. It was created over the years as we slowly traded our freedom for government programs that promised to take care if us. America was a country built on self reliance and individual courage. That is the solution, a return to being a country of self reliant individuals. Do we have the courage to do that? I definitely hope that we do!

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