The Stack of Problems Awaiting America’s Next President
Rauf Naqishbendi
May 05, 2007
The presidential campaign has commenced as usual with many candidates. They all promise not what they can actually deliver but what will sound appealing to us. They exploit our hopes for better days and our fears that none will come. No matter what they promise, the entangled domestic and international issues are by far too difficult for any one of the candidates to resolve.
America has never been free of problems. Every election season there are challenges to confront and problems to surmount. But this time the challenges are by far more severe than any others since our reign as a world superpower began. The health of our political establishment is plagued by a fatal cancer that is slowing killing it, resulting in prolonged pain and misery for its citizens. It can only be stopped if a visionary leader emerges and with the utmost intelligence rectifies our shortcomings. This republic has been beset by a host of domestic and international predicaments which will test its survival as a supreme world power.
In the international arena many harsh circumstances have bruised our respectability. Our government has chosen a policy of self-seclusion rather than international cooperation, and aggression as opposed to diplomacy and tactfulness. In the past, this misguided policy of imposition has backfired on us and alienated our friends while emboldening our enemies. As we undertake crucial global policy we need more friends, yet we have too few; we need less opposition but we have created too much.
In the military arena, it should be acknowledged that the success of our mighty gunfire and destructive power has its limits, and utilizing them can not be the panacea for every conflict around the globe. To be effective, the President must not be driven by emotions or ideology. When one is led by emotions, the heart and anger overpower the mind and wisdom. Ideologically oriented actions benefit only a portion of society rather than the good of the commonwealth. Take for example, the revengeful rush after 9/11 to invade Afghanistan and later Iraq. Both were easily done with military success, but due to a lack of visionary planning the biggest obstacle of our history was created. They are both becoming quagmires that have us enmeshed for the foreseeable future, entailing high financial cost and the bloodshed of so many of our soldier as the price tag for the mistakes of our leaders. Militarily we are stretched far beyond our capacity; we must cooperate with other countries so that we will not need to bear the burden of protecting the world. Our leaders must rally others behind agendas vital to the world’s peace and security.
On the financial front, irresponsible fiscal policy with the resulting boom in deficit spending makes us the biggest debtor nation in the world. This perpetual borrowing and spending will continue the financial burden to generations to come. This of course will not bring the government to complete delinquency immediately, since the full realization of its consequences takes time. But if a responsible fiscal policy is not adopted, in the near future these consequences will be realized and at that point it will be too late to deal with them. This is yet another example of moral degeneration as this extravagant spending will leave our children and grandchildren stuck with the bill. We must understand that we cannot sustain our supremacy with money borrowed from other nations.
The greed of corporate America has deprived the labor force of every chance at a good paying job in the main sectors of our economy by exporting American jobs overseas under the banner of competition and free trade. The manufacturing sector of our economy, which in the past provided Americans with well-paying jobs, has been in decline for more than a decade, and that has cost tens of millions of workers their jobs. In the information technology field, where millions of people were enjoying high paid jobs, most of the jobs have evaporated and found their way overseas. The few IT jobs that were left in this country have been insourced by foreign companies and thus, the narrow windows of opportunity for our people are shutting. The growth of outsourcing and insourcing practices by greedy corporations with the support of our leaders from both houses of Congress and the office of the President has made corporate America bolder in their immoral practices. This will only worsen as they keep seeking the relocation of their IT services and manufacturing facilities overseas.
The size of the middle class is proportional to the well being of any nation. In the past several years the size of our middle class has been shrinking and the poor are getting poorer while the over-inflated stock market and real estate prices have been creating a record number of millionaires and billionaires. This madness needs to be thwarted; for the well-being of the general public legislation must be made to govern this ugly phenomenon so that tycoon corporations can no longer freely sacrifice the general good of this republic and suffer no consequences themselves. Our system has increasingly become one that helps the greedy rather than the needy.
At the end of President Bush’s second term, there are issues to be dealt with on many fronts. In our foreign relations, there will be too many broken bridges to be repaired; financially, there will be tremendous federal debt to be repaid; and militarily, we will still be tangled in a war against terror that will only get worse. When you add to that the economical problems, it is truly a daunting list. The next President will be inundated with inherited difficulties that will render his or her efficacy near impossible. However, let us also remember that most of the candidates share the blame for what has happened, and none of them has yet effectively addressed the aforementioned national maladies. So America, buckle up for the rough ride ahead.
America has never been free of problems. Every election season there are challenges to confront and problems to surmount. But this time the challenges are by far more severe than any others since our reign as a world superpower began. The health of our political establishment is plagued by a fatal cancer that is slowing killing it, resulting in prolonged pain and misery for its citizens. It can only be stopped if a visionary leader emerges and with the utmost intelligence rectifies our shortcomings. This republic has been beset by a host of domestic and international predicaments which will test its survival as a supreme world power.
In the international arena many harsh circumstances have bruised our respectability. Our government has chosen a policy of self-seclusion rather than international cooperation, and aggression as opposed to diplomacy and tactfulness. In the past, this misguided policy of imposition has backfired on us and alienated our friends while emboldening our enemies. As we undertake crucial global policy we need more friends, yet we have too few; we need less opposition but we have created too much.
In the military arena, it should be acknowledged that the success of our mighty gunfire and destructive power has its limits, and utilizing them can not be the panacea for every conflict around the globe. To be effective, the President must not be driven by emotions or ideology. When one is led by emotions, the heart and anger overpower the mind and wisdom. Ideologically oriented actions benefit only a portion of society rather than the good of the commonwealth. Take for example, the revengeful rush after 9/11 to invade Afghanistan and later Iraq. Both were easily done with military success, but due to a lack of visionary planning the biggest obstacle of our history was created. They are both becoming quagmires that have us enmeshed for the foreseeable future, entailing high financial cost and the bloodshed of so many of our soldier as the price tag for the mistakes of our leaders. Militarily we are stretched far beyond our capacity; we must cooperate with other countries so that we will not need to bear the burden of protecting the world. Our leaders must rally others behind agendas vital to the world’s peace and security.
On the financial front, irresponsible fiscal policy with the resulting boom in deficit spending makes us the biggest debtor nation in the world. This perpetual borrowing and spending will continue the financial burden to generations to come. This of course will not bring the government to complete delinquency immediately, since the full realization of its consequences takes time. But if a responsible fiscal policy is not adopted, in the near future these consequences will be realized and at that point it will be too late to deal with them. This is yet another example of moral degeneration as this extravagant spending will leave our children and grandchildren stuck with the bill. We must understand that we cannot sustain our supremacy with money borrowed from other nations.
The greed of corporate America has deprived the labor force of every chance at a good paying job in the main sectors of our economy by exporting American jobs overseas under the banner of competition and free trade. The manufacturing sector of our economy, which in the past provided Americans with well-paying jobs, has been in decline for more than a decade, and that has cost tens of millions of workers their jobs. In the information technology field, where millions of people were enjoying high paid jobs, most of the jobs have evaporated and found their way overseas. The few IT jobs that were left in this country have been insourced by foreign companies and thus, the narrow windows of opportunity for our people are shutting. The growth of outsourcing and insourcing practices by greedy corporations with the support of our leaders from both houses of Congress and the office of the President has made corporate America bolder in their immoral practices. This will only worsen as they keep seeking the relocation of their IT services and manufacturing facilities overseas.
The size of the middle class is proportional to the well being of any nation. In the past several years the size of our middle class has been shrinking and the poor are getting poorer while the over-inflated stock market and real estate prices have been creating a record number of millionaires and billionaires. This madness needs to be thwarted; for the well-being of the general public legislation must be made to govern this ugly phenomenon so that tycoon corporations can no longer freely sacrifice the general good of this republic and suffer no consequences themselves. Our system has increasingly become one that helps the greedy rather than the needy.
At the end of President Bush’s second term, there are issues to be dealt with on many fronts. In our foreign relations, there will be too many broken bridges to be repaired; financially, there will be tremendous federal debt to be repaid; and militarily, we will still be tangled in a war against terror that will only get worse. When you add to that the economical problems, it is truly a daunting list. The next President will be inundated with inherited difficulties that will render his or her efficacy near impossible. However, let us also remember that most of the candidates share the blame for what has happened, and none of them has yet effectively addressed the aforementioned national maladies. So America, buckle up for the rough ride ahead.
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