A Discourse on America

This article is an attempt to explain America. I will do so by way of Q and A as if in a class environment. The interaction is a way to motivate the reader to think about what is being discussed. We take many things for granted, especially the millennial generation. Since they grew up in America, they assume this is the norm. They take for granted our freedom, our liberty and our way of life. Such is not the case in other countries. Why are we different and unique?

- Jan. 2020

I will start by stating some facts. These are readily available on the internet. If you disagree with any of my statements, or the accuracy, I welcome you to do your own research and prove me wrong. I want establish a basic understanding of our country and make sure we are all on the same page. Then, and only after then, we can proceed to discuss how did we get here and why?

1. We are the wealthiest nation in the world, total GDP.
2. We have the best armed forces with the most advanced equipment and best trained servicemen, and advanced weapon systems, both offense and defense.
3. We hold the most number of patents.
4. We have the most number of Nobel winners.
5. We have the most Olympic medals overall.
6. We have the most diverse population among all nations.
7. We are one of the most educated population among all nations.
8. We produce the most amount of food that feed ourselves and the rest of the world.
9. We are the most generous of all populations, in both government and private.
10. We are the best equipped to deal with major natural disasters.
11. We are the only nation that has put men on the surface of the moon.
12. We are a mostly Christian nation.

These statements are true. Despite the fact we are only 5% of the world population 330 million out of 7 billion. Our country land mass is only 3rd behind Russia and Canada.

Assume you agree with the statements above, the next question is what is the reason for our amazing success?

There are several possibilities which we can explore each one.

1. We are blessed with a rich land full of natural resources...

2. We made use of slaves which help build our country...

3. We were a colonial nation and exploited the countries we conquered.

4. We were just lucky and were at the right place at the right time.

5. We cheated the natives that were here first.

6. We created a good system of government that allowed our people to thrive.

I am a Constitutionalist. I believe it is our unique Constitution that was established in 1789 that allowed our people and our government to become the greatest success story of our world.

Some key elements...

• Freedom and liberty
• Private ownership
• Free enterprise
• Blind justice and due process
• Free elections
• Check and balances of the three Branches of Government
• Right to bear arms
• Freedom of religion

It was Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the US, who said

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same."

This is the warning for our future. If we don't pass on these knowledge, the future can be bleak. We can loose all that was gained.

My personal believe is that we will prevail regardless. However, why should we allow things to get bad before we step in to correct the course?

This refers to the current millennial generation where over 50% of them are accepting of socialism as the model for economic systems. They were taught this in the halls of higher learning, in many of our universities by liberal professors.

We need a better public education system that will propagate the basic civics to preserve our way of life.

What is happening right now in 2020...

1. We have a party that stands for more illegal immigration.

2. We have over 100 cities that are proud to claim their sanctuary policy.

3. We have schools that embrace dual language or bi-lingual education.

4. We have a government that is out of control in terms of taxes and spending.

5. We have a Federal Reserve that is printing money and artificially suppressing interest rates.

6. We have large international corporations that are avoiding paying taxes while hiring lobbyists to gain special favors from government.

7. We have unelected judges that are activists and take upon themselves to dictate foreign policy.

8. We have a House of Representative and a Speaker that is acting out of partisanship and not doing their job to legislate.

9. We have a broken immigration system that allows record number of people coming over our borders seeking assylum.

10. We have a politicized FBI and DOJ which were used to investigate presidential candidates using FISA warrants intended to keep tabs on foreigners.

pA recent survey at DAVOS, shows the majority of people think Capitalism in recent years has done more harm than good. Really?

• income inequality is growing wider
• environment is being harmed by our consumerism
• climate change is harming our long term survival
• growing homeless problem around our cities
• refugees are created by environmental disasters such as drought and wild fires.

The current debate in our country is whether capitalism as exemplified by Trump and his successes with Wall Street is the right direction or democratic socialism as proposed by most of the Democratic candidates as a better alternative.

The way I see it, there are some criticism and issues with the status quo but the answer is not to throw it out and go in the opposite direction. Sometimes, the cure is worse than the disease. This is not an intellectual exercise. We have seen the devastating results of socialism in many countries. It is not just a theory. The problem with socialism is that sooner or later, you run out of other people's money. The current proposals by Democrats like Sanders and Warren of free higher education, forgiving of student debt, universal healthcare, and the Green New Deal are all pie in the sky concepts. Once you calculate the costs, they are just unrealistic.

Here is what we do know, Capitalism with all its faults has generated the greatest wealth for the most number of people. Despite the income inequality, more people have risen to the middle class with this system than any other competitive system.

The solution is to bring more people into the tent so that a rising tide will raise all boats. As the DOW rises above 29,000, the answer to poverty is to help more people participate in that growth. Some 50% of the population are invested right now. We need to education the population so that more of them will participate in their employee 401k programs or start IRA accounts. That number should be 90%. Everyone should participate in this market either individually or via a company pension plan.

How can we restore, protect, preserve our nation the way it was intended by our Founding Fathers?

The oath of office -

Affirmation:—"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

The way I see it, the solution is right in front of our eyes. As a nation, we need to follow our Constitution. We need to teach our children why we are a unique nation among all others.

We need to teach our history to the next generation.

I have outlined in this article what we need to do going forward. If you disagree, or have a different solution, please submit a comment below. This is a dialogue. I want to hear other opinions. We can debate this on HubPages.