Four Problems That Could Sink America

-Four Problems That Could Sink America-

"There's the country of America, which you have to defend, but there's also the idea of America. America is more than just a country, it's an idea. An idea that's supposed to be contagious." (Bono)

I love America but although love is blind, you'd have to be blind to not see that we have some problems here in our great nation. I believe we are in the midst of currently coming back, but it won't be easy and it won't be as quick as some would like either. I won't go over all of the problems that we're currently undergoing but the other day, I was surfing around the internet and came across a fantastic little article from U.S. News and World Report, written by Rick Newman. Here is a link to the original article, which is quite a good read, discussing, as the title might suggest, four problems that could undermine our attempts to recover from this economic downturn. The Americans spirit always triumphs, innovation always overcomes, our perserverance always manages to see us through, but there are definitely some problems that we should work on as a country and as individuals. I'll admit I'm as guilty as anybody else when it comes to some of these following issues, which I'll definitely be working on. America is, in my opinion, the best country in the world and I want it to stay that way. But in order to do so, we'll have to address some problems here as outlined below -

1) We Don't Like To Work. "Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all." (Sam Ewing)
This one is pretty self-explanatory. Personally, I know for a fact that I don't enjoy working. I do, however, enjoy the money that work brings. Unfortunately, they do go hand in hand. I'm sure there have been more than one occasion where work has asked me to stay later and I've told them no, only to complain later when money is tight. There is a great quote in the article from a young entrepreneur who says "If you want to work eight hours a day, you're going to get eight-hour-a-day results. There's nothing wrong with that, but I don't want to hear you complain about money if you're only willing to work eight hours a day." This is a great thing to keep in mind as we go to our jobs. Our parents typically have great work ethics which they've tried to instill in us and so far, I'll be honest, it hasn't taken as well as they probably would've liked. But, living on your own and paying your own bills definitely forces you to change. Now I look at working an extra hour or two at work as "these extra hours can help pay for my groceries for the week or that's half of my cell phone bill that I can put towards something else". If you want to be successful, you have to be willing to work hard.

2) Nobody Wants To Sacrifice "Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness." (Napoleon Hill)
In these modern times, most people don't feel the need to sacrifice as they feel a sense of entitlement. After I graduated from college, I went out to the work force practically expecting a job to be handed to me and was practically shocked when people weren't lining up around the block to hire me. I mean, after all, I had a college degree. Apparently, so does everybody else. Getting a job requires a lot of sacrifice and if you have a job right now, feel very honored. I complain about my job at times, but I should feel very blessed that I have one when unemployment is approaching 11%. That means 1 in 10 people are unemployed. Even with that staggering statistic, people still don't sacrifice. The government is seemingly able to swoop in to rescue the middle-class without a problem, right? Wrong. That stimulus package earlier this year was hundreds of millions of dollars. The government doesn't have a vault underneath the White House where they have endless piles of money. That money has to come from somewhere. The solution of most people nowadays is "Why don't we just tax the rich? They can afford it, can't they?", which I'm sure sounds completely fair when you think about it at first. Forcing 2% of the population to pay for all of the changes in our country isn't fair. Some sacrifices definitely need to be made, by all Americans.

3) We're Uninformed. "Half Of The American People have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half." (Gore Vidal)
This is definitely a huge problem when it comes to the issues here. When it comes to voting on issues, we often have little or no grasp on those issues. More people vote on American Idol than they do on for the presidency of the United States, which is a sad commentary on our nation. When it comes to big issues like climate control, health care, the stimulus bill or even a number of smaller issues, Americans seem to have little or no idea. I realize that the average American is very busy, so between jobs, families and friends, there may not be much time to educate yourselves but they really ought to make time. Basic information that every American should know is shockingly uninformed on many issues. If you're one of the Americans who takes time to get involved and knowledgeable about the issues, then that is fantastic and you should be very proud. If you're not (like myself, who definitely needs to know more), then take some time to educate yourself about these issues which could end up defining not just your generation, but also your children and even your grand-children. These decisions affect more than just you and you have a voice. Get informed and use it.

4) iCulture "America is a country that doesn't know where it is going but is determined to set a speed record getting there. " (Lawrence J. Peter)
For me, the i represents instant. We know what we want and we want it now, with none of that hard work in between. Things like the McDonald's Monopoly Game (which I confess I played and probably will again), the lottery, books like the One Minute Millionaire and other such distractions may temporarily convince us that we can become rich practically overnight. This idea is reinforced by the media and by ourselves as our priorities are wildly out of proportion. Movie stars, sports players and other similar, frivolous pursuits are rewarded with astronomical sums of money while crucial jobs like teachers are almost criminally underpaid. Not to say that actors or sports players aren't working, because I know I certainly couldn't do what they do. They have worked hard to get where they are and they deserve to get paid, but hundreds of millions of dollars to play a game, to me, is absurd. In fact, in the NFL or NBA, you can get paid millions of dollars if you get picked by a team, without ever playing a second. Basically, it's money for nothing. That's the dream of million of Americans, to be rewarded for little or no work. I know I dream of a day when that will magically occur, but the odds are it won't. I'm never going to win the lottery, especially when I don't play it. Success is not the result of luck, chance or anything of the sort. It's the result preparation and perseverance, failure and learning from it, discipline and determination, and the willingness to do what it takes - however long it may take.

I thought this this was a great article that really got me thinking and I wanted to share. The problem listed above are just some of the problems facing us, but definitely ones that need to be dealt with, hopefully sooner rather than later. These are tough times - financially, spiritually, emotionally and in all general areas - for us as a nation. It's going to require quite a lot for us to rebound, but I'm confident that we will and stronger than ever. But these four problems are big problems and ones that won't be solved overnight. I know I'll be working on these and if these are issues you recognize you struggle with, then I hope you do too. Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions or anything else you have in response to this, just let me know by commenting or messaging me.

"There is nothing wrong with America that the faith, love of freedom, intelligence and energy of her citizens cannot cure." (Dwight D. Eisenhower)

Stay classy, America.