The Best Case Scenario
Ok, so Congress is deadlocked and can’t make a decision, the President is eager to enter a new war, and the Fed can’t taper…all’s well the ends well, right?
I realize that things don’t look good for the United States these days, but there are two things happening in this world that could eventually turn things around for the United States.
- An unheard of event recently occurred: Vladimir Putin, President of Russia recently spoke to the U.S. people like a president of the United States should/could/would speak to his own people…counseling wisdom, forbearance, further investigation, and caution about an attack on Syria. In short, he side-stepped the U.S. government bureaucracy and lobbied against war directly with the U.S. population. In other words, he out-maneuvered President Obama on Obama’s own turf. Amazing! When the president of a foreign government talks directly (through the guise of counseling President Obama) to the people of another country, expounding on what is in their best interest, (and they listen!) we have truly entered a new era in communication and decision-making. Perhaps there will even be a new web site where presidents from around the world will be able to weigh in on different topics regarding different world-changing issues???
- Competition for natural resources is picking up. As world population grows and living standards climb, more people want better food, water, clothing, cars, and other gadgets that make life easier and more comfortable.
While I realize that much of what would be said would be laced with conflicts of interest and pork-barreling, the participants would have to sound reasonable to be taken seriously. At a minimum, perhaps more wars could be averted and less money (and fewer lives) wasted on policing the world. It would also be a step in the right direction for the U.S. debts and deficits.
Perhaps (and I realize this is a big perhaps) someday soon, the U.S. people (followed by the U.S. Congress) will realize that they are in a competition with the rest of the world to obtain more of these resources. In other words, we are all in the same boat, and global competition means just that. Every country, every city, every person is competing with one another for the limited resources this world has to offer. Whether we are talking about oil, gold, corn, cars, or blueberries, there is a growing demand for such things. And if the United States, for example, allows half its people to sponge off the other half through welfare and food stamps, it is only half as competitive as it could be if everyone worked. The transfer society doesn’t work! Ask China, Russia, and most of the Asian countries. They are all changing from socialism to a freer economy (in varying degrees) while the United States is going in the opposite direction.
With new methods of communication, perhaps the American people will one day see and understand the benefits of freedom and free enterprise and throw off the shackles of socialism (“do-everything-for-me government”) and do what it takes to be free and responsible for one’s own destiny…that would be the best scenario I can think of.
Robert Jackson Smith