The Battle for the People – Let's Not Waste Another Year
January 24, 2012
Thomas J. Mackell Jr.
Let's look for the moment at the hand that has been dealt to the average American citizen thus far as we begin the New Year.
The economy has moved away from them. The ethnic makeup of the nation is shifting.
Immigration has become a reason for hostility and not for embracing new potential citizens. The nation, in general, has gone astray. The institution of marriage is in crisis. Hate crimes continue to plague some communities. The work ethic is eroding and loyalty in the workplace has been stultified. Living standards are plummeting. Jobs are nowhere. Even the elites' world is changing. Parents fear that their kids are increasingly exposed to troubled friends. There are a multitude of challenges and people are afloat drifting on their own to who knows where. They lack a connection to a cohesive agenda to enable them to deal with almost every aspect of their lives.
No wonder why we have political philosophies that are so wildly different as well as such a diverse group of Republican presidential candidates who say that they have the answers.
The sad thing is that they don't have the answers and they articulate the same erroneous principles that were debated during the 2000 presidential campaign. And we know now that the result of that election put an administration in place that accelerated the nation onto a fast-track towards destruction that we are all wringing our hands over and living with today.
Is it possible for this pathetic state of affairs to change course? Can we put the country back on track and satisfy all citizens' expectations for a better quality of life? Are the issues so complex as to boggle the minds of clear thinking Americans? Can we anticipate that whoever occupies the White House in 2013 will take the bold and creative steps to turn this ship of state and convey us through the many precarious waves in this vast ocean of storms? I certainly hope so, but I am so skeptical.
Thomas J. Mackell, Jr. Ed.D., Senior Partner, Black Thorn Lynch Associates, Inc., former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and author of: "When the Good Pensions Go Away: Why America Needs a New Deal for Pension and Health Care Reform."
