Penny Wise Pound Foolish

As I've stated millions of times before, I have learned a lot more about America being away from it, than being a part of it. It is only in the light of a new culture I have been able to clearly define that which makes me "an American".


Being in Europe also does something to make everyone feel a little bit more involved in American politics. Maybe it's the luxury of distance and the knowledge that while you're over here you can't really do anything about it, but whatever the reason, American awareness on a personal and a political level is at an all time high on my end. Therefore reading the  US headlines is a daily emotional exercise causing me to me cringe (often), scream (mostly), smile proudly (sometimes), research (a lot), write (roughly) and wonder just what the hell we think we are doing at home...and maybe there is something I could do about it (yeah right). The most recent US headlines have been the equivalent of a P90X workout in terms of heart pounding, brain twisting, gut wrenching reactions.


The government is in constant threat of "shutting down" if an agreement on budget cuts can't be reached. These said budget cuts are causing protests in Wisconsin (and probably soon to be other places).  The Constitution is being used as both a weapon and a shield (by both sides) in controversial topics such as healthcare and same-sex marriages, and all the while there is a quite poorly timed raging debate, led ironically by the parties calling for the limiting of big government power, that insists that the government--rather than the individual-- gets to determine what a woman can do with her body.


I'm not going to soap box my opinions on each topic independently, and really I am happy that these things are being brought up. The right to voice opinions and have heated debate are essential to a healthy democracy; therefore, it's not THAT these topics are big debates in congress nowadays, it's HOW they are being debated that make my blood boil.

Right now America is a sinking ship, and not just any ship--a massive gargantuan cruiseliner of luxury and power. The repbulicans and democrats fighting over budget cuts to a point of government shut down in Washington is like trying to bail the water of this massive sinking ship with a small pail and fighting over how to hold the pail correctly. Its hoping the ship won't sink if we throw all the extra rowboats and deck chairs (social programs) off the side to make the boat less heavy.

The argument that universal healthcare is unconstitutional (which it's not by the way) and that it needs to be repealed because it's "job killing" is not only false, is a far cry from what we should really be asking ourselves, which is how do we fix the fact that we as one of the last world "superpower" have one of the most inefficient health care systems in the world,  and does anyone have any bright ideas of how to 'promote general welfare' as the constitution calls us to do? 


What is the good in nay-saying? Why are we so hellbent on looking at our problems in such a narrowly defined box? Why are we so stubbornly determined to keep things just the way they are?


Henry Ford once famously said "If I had asked the people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses". Right now our short-sighted arguments on how we should cut cut cut the budget or how we can tweak tweak tweak our existing health care system is like trying to figure out how to make our horses faster, when we could have a car right around the corner. 


We are a nation founded on an IDEA. Our inherent optimism--something that I MISS so dearly-- is a recognizably unique and noteworthy aspect of America. It is what makes us a land of innovators. Our education system encourages broad knowledge and creation of opportunity. Instead of forcing students to memorize facts, we foster an environment where finding your own answer and being able to defend it is valuable. If we don't like a situation, we are told that we have the opportunity and the right to change it. 


Our founding fathers acknowledged in the Declaration of Independence "that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed" and calls us, in this document that is so essential to the essence of our uniquely American being, NOT to settle for that which has been given to us and exclaims that it our "right, it is [our] duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."


Our criticisms of both budget reform and health care are frighteningly short sighted. What if universal healthcare is minimally 'job-killing' in the short run... what are the long term positive effects? Or, if you are going to criticize, then look in the long run: What would be the long term negative effects? 


Instead of asking ourselves what do we get rid of to help keep this sinking ship afloat, why don't we be American about this and ask ourselves how can we innovate and create a solution? How do we find the hole causing us to sink? Why don't we re-evaluate the question and ask ourselves how can we create an environment that prevents this from happening in the future? 


We are a country of "can-do". It's rarely a question of 'whether or not' and most often a question of 'how'. It's what I love about America. It's what I've missed while I've been over here. It's what I hope to come back to, and right now I think America needs a good dose if its own dream...it does still exist, and if you don't believe me, try living without it for a while. I have a pull out couch you can sleep on...