Decline of morals

When I came to this country in 1961, most people admired millionaires and wanted to emulate them. Today, many people are envious of millionaires and want to confiscate their wealth. Why? Government at all levels has gotten too powerful, limiting our choices and making it hard to start your own business. Now people seek favors, but never get enough, no matter how big the handouts, because they see others, especially the crony capitalists (most big corporations), getting even bigger handouts.

Liberate the Kurds and the Sunnis in Iraq & Syria

Its time to admit that the multicultural (Kurd, Shia, Sunni) utopia with a Shia majority did not work for Iraq and tell the Kurds and Sunnis that they can have independence from Baghdad, if they want it, provided ISIS is defeated.  This would provide the much needed motivation for the Sunnis to fight ISIS. This would also be a good lesson for the central government in Baghdad.

Return Power to the People

The only way to reign in a corrupt Congress controlled by special interest is to return power to the people.  The Swiss do this successfully with a national referendum process.  We need a Constitutional Amendment to allow for nationwide voter initiatives.  I can think of several initiatives that would pass with flying colors:

1. Congress is subject to the same laws/rules as everyone else.

2. Balance the Budget

3. Congressmen & Senators cannot vote when there is a conflict of interest.

Economic Freedom

The administration's anti-inversion proposal is just one more nail in the coffin of ECONOMIC FREEDOM*** in the US. The Bush and the Obama administration have moved us away from a free & competitive markets, closer to an economic dictatorship in favor of cronies and tax maximation.  As a result, we have fewer start up's and fewer new jobs.  I started my company during the Reagan years.  I wouldn't even try now.  Its become too bureaucratic and there are too many uncertainties as to government interventions & dictates.

***We have droped from #3 in 2000 to #18 in 2010 (see: "Economic Freedom in the World" by the Frsier Institute, Canada)

IRAQ's Civil War

VP Biden deserves credit for the suggestion, he made long ago: Let the Kurds, the Sunnis and the Shiites form their own states in a loose federation.  However, against all odds, we imposed the artificial Iraq boundaries set up by Churchill on the 3 distinct ethnic/religious groups, forcing them to  get along with each other in spite of their differences.   We never ask them!  Even now Hillary says, it would be unfair to let them have separate states.  Who are we?  Who is she?   Doesn't anyone in the West have respect for their civil and political liberties?

As it happens, they may finally get their own way in spite of our interference.

The decline of the Middle Class

The decline of the Middle Class and the increasing income disparity is a symptom, not the cause of our decline. In the after WWII years, we didn't have a global economy and it was easy to find well paying jobs without a getting college degree. Globalization has changed all that. Nowadays, industry needs more highly skilled employees to compete in a more technology oriented global market and low skill jobs have been taken over by robots. On the other side of the equation, our public schools have not kept up with demand and the rest of the world, especially in mathematics and the sciences. College students have not tuned in on the high paying curricula. So unemployment among the technically skilled (i.e. engineers) is practically zero, because the graduation rates of engineers and technicians is far below demand.

Decline starts when our primary education is not keeping up with China, not with inequality of income.

Entrepreneur Driven Education Reform

I trust Minerva is only the tip of the iceberg for entrepreneur driven education reform. The exiting institutions are overpriced and underperform, creating great opportunities for new players, who think outside the box. For example: Why should it take 4 years to earn a BS in electrical engineering. Fast learners using an interactive digital curriculum may finish at their own speed, may be in 1 or 2 years. May be Bill Gates and Steve Jobs would have earned a degree, if they were able to proceed at their own pace. Being held back by the slow learners is a serious shortcoming of the outdated lecture format.