What America needs to do to improve itself

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Now it is pretty obvious the USA is on a downturn right now. Our country has been since the Reagan era but I think if we do a few things we could improve ourselves both in the cultural aspects and economic.

1. For everything the stimilus was suppose to do the biggest thing it failed at was creating jobs. I think America needs to employ a large work program similair to the ones the Nazi's used to build the autobahn system. Germany was a war wrecked country but after only a few years with the programs by the Nazi's they were a world power.

2. Cut military spending. We currently spend $708 billion on our military. Cut that number and put it towards public work programs and education.

3. Close the borders. We allow too many people into this country that don't pay us back. People say illegal immigrants do works other Americans won't do...but I think this is a lie and it is because "regular" Americans won't work for $4 an hour. Plus once America as a whole gets back to doing labour it will be stronger and obesity rates should go down. But what I want is put the laws that were in place before the 1965 act (not as strict). After we get things under control then we can start to ease them.

4. Stop trading with China and rebuild American industry. China is an oppresive state but for some reason it is fine to trade with them. Add to the fact that half of what we get from them is not safe and it leaves you wondering why we are doing business with them.

5. Restructure the American education system. Create schools for high preformace students so they are not held back and we should avoid giving money out just based on test scores. A broader focus on the cultures as well as science and math.

6. Around 6/10 people in jail are in for non-violent drug crimes whichs costs $$$$. I say make drugs legal (as long as they are only hurting themselves) sell them at state owned stores and tax them. Release the non-violent drug inmates and make a profit.

7. Stop sending aid to Africa and instead offer a version of the Marshall plan made for Africa. This will do more good in the long run and benefit all parties involved.

8. As far as FP goes we should return to isolationism for the short term. The world hates us because we are the self appointed world police.

That's fairly close to where my political views stood as a high school sophomore.

Sounds good on paper. Let's see it in reality ^.- .

I guess I'll give a real reply now.

Jobs tend to lag behind; don't worry too much. The recession is actually over, and the jobs will be coming soon enough. As far as emulating the Nazi economic program... the extent to which their program worked has been greatly exaggerated.


Agreed. We don't need to be able to outgun the entire rest of the world combined.


I disagree, I want to see more relaxed immigration laws- I just want the borders secure so we know who's coming in and going out, and better regulations so illegal labour is not as big a money-saving device as it currently is for employers.


Most of the products we get from China are safe, but that's beside the point. An embargo on China would be catastrophic for both our countries.


Too vague to be meaningful.


Agreed, except I don't see why drugs have to be only at state owned stores. Privately owned stores sell alcohol and tobacco, they could add marijuana and heroin to their shelves.


How specifically would this be different from what we're attempting now?


Not isolationism, but we don't need to be fighting wars in the Middle East.

This is the worst thing to do. Government can't put people to work and expect it to produce prosperity. To pay government employees, you must tax or borrow to pay for it. Government projects like the Interstate system were built by contracted companies, and now it's falling apart because the money isn't going in to keep it maintained. as it should be.

Prosperity is the product of encouraging local businesses to start up and grow. It's also helped by protectionist policies that help keep people buying local goods over imported goods which tend to be cheaper.



Not always the real issue. The problem with the military is wasteful spending thanks to the Military-Industrial Complex having a stranglehold on how government operates.



Agreed, but the problem may self-correct. Illegals are already starting to leave the USA because they aren't finding work. If things get bad enough, there will be no incentive to come here in the first place.



We need to abandon the "global economy" lie entirely. We should trade with anyone willing to trade on a fair playing field. There should be import tariffs to ensure you can't get a TV made in China cheaper than one made in the USA...enabling you to buy it solely because it is better quality. The global economy is killing the US markets because most places manufacturers contract with do not have the layers of regulation that US companies must comply with in domestic production.



Better yet, get government (federal and state) out of the education system. Schools should be accountable on the county level to the parents. States can get together and think tank on common standards to promote, but let the local schools do the job of teaching and not dealing with state and federal politics.



Love it. There is no inherent constitutional authority to criminalize drug use. The whole nonsense with prohibition proves this.



Better yet, end all foreign aid. We spend billions in aid to nations both friend and foe. We could provide a free education from soup to nuts for every American for what we give to nations that hate us. It is not the role of government to be a charity for anyone...nonetheless for foreigners.



Again, a mixed issue. Isolationism to an extent would be good because it's time we told the world to go bugger off and solve their own damn problems. Maybe once they realize how much they've been sucking the USA dry for their own ends, they will realize why we want to demand so much in concessions. In any case, we can't just stop being involved in foreign matters because when it could be beneficial to us, we should participate. When something may threaten our domestic security, we need to take steps to protect our interests.

I only really want to answer no.1 at this point - the Nazi economic policies led them directly into war as a way out of the problems they created. I think you are in fact referring to Keynesianism - large public works creating jobs, maintaining demand etc. Problem is that this only came about under the direct threat of revolution - Keynes said something along the lines of needing to offer an option beyond 'Orthodoxy or revolution' - neo-liberalism (Friedmanite ideology) came in turn as Keynesiainism didn't offer profits on the same scale to capitalists as neoliberalism does.

I wasn't sure if to write it here, in the other USA topic, or to start a new thread.
I have no problem of starting a new thread or moving the discussion to another one, but anyway, I had to respond, because the issue of "world police" came in, and also a possible embargo on China. So:

First of all, an embargo on China would be a brave move. I don't know about the economical implications, and can't tell you how to run your own economics (other than universally preferring taking care of the poor, etc.) - but something must be done about the Chinese regime. If the US has the power to do something, it should. As to the claims that people hate the USA for being a self-appointed authority of the world - did people blame the interventionism in WWII? I don't think so. People hate it when the whole world is against something (sometimes even the American people themselves), and your government still does it.

In my opinion, if you want to solve this problem by stopping the interventionism, it's a mistake. The problem is how the American regime acts within its interventionist policy. If you lead an embargo on China - the world will applaud Obama, and other nations will follow. The world hates American self-appointed authority, and it's policies, but many Americans hate "traditional" American policies at home as well, don't they? The world supported Obama because as much as you believe in him, we believe in him. Whether I like it or not, the same as I'm controlled by the Israeli regime, I'm also controlled by the American one. The fact that I'm an anarchist doesn't prevent me from voting - because I know "they" are stronger than me, and since an anarchist society won't happen anytime soon, it's better the vote for the least bad, if you find it.

The same way, I find it hard to favour any moves by authorities - but an embargo is a peaceful one, and since corporations alone won't do it, and the world is run by authorities - if the people of the nations involved want it, it should be done. So the world has a problem with the American self-appointed world police - but if you use this power to do something good, your reputation will improve. Besides, isolationism won't give you better reputation - the empirialism is primarily cultural. If Obama doesn't give a s**t about helping the world, though he has the power, and meanwhile corporations, materialism, American pop culture, etc. keep getting stronger in the world - Americanism will still be a hated problem.

The people who will want your help after an isolationist period, probably also want it now. The world is sick of Americanism, because of its empirialistic characteristics. Americanism gives the feeling of "our culture is the only one important", "the rich people are the only ones important" and "we will do whatever we want, regardless if everyone is against it". Of course people will hate it when you fight in Iraq when everyone is against, and you still do it by yourself, no one can stop you, and in the end it's clear that you justification was false. The same as an anarchist would prefer a libertarian government than an authoritarian one, the world prefers an interventionist government that helps people, rather and interventionist culture who fights for oil.

Now, as the whole world looks for Obama to really make a difference - an embargo on a cruel regime will gain praise in the whole world, and lead other nations to join.
I want it because of my interest in stopping their regime, and because it can give Obama more power (and I believe in his policies and general positions). Some of you may not favour this approach, but if you do care about the US reputation in the world - here's your solution to the problem.

That is nearly chump change. We spend more on interest payments for the national debt.

ruveyn

Well first let me reply to a few of Orwells points:

I know the recession is "over" but my concerns are the following: the need to fix an aging infrastructure, the fact that when we outsource these jobs to private companies that take longer than they should so they can milk money from the govt, and it will get the American worker back to working vs sitting at McDonalds.

As far as an embargo on China: It is like drugs: We will never quit unless we go cold turkey. It will be extremely painful in the short term but in the long term it is in our best interests. Yes "most" of the products are safe but is "most good enough". In fact while we are talking embargos I would say we should stop importing foods. I mean as far as agriculture goes we are one of the worlds main providers. Why should we import anything?

A Marshall plan for Africa would differ in that we would help build actual infrastructure vs just a few water pumps and some food.


Another thing I would be in favor of: removing rediculous interest rates.

Well, that's because the stimulus is using money we don't have for things we don't need. The government doesn't create wealth. The most it can do is redistribute wealth. The stimulus was actually very bad for the economy. The government just took more productive resources and put them in unproductive government jobs.


I agree that we should cut military spending. I don't agree that we should be spending that $708billion on anything, however. The United States is broke. Flat broke. We have to start paying off the debt. Yes, it sucks that we have to cut back because of our wonderful oligarchy of career politicians put us so deep in the hole. But we have to, lest we just delay an even worse fate for the future.


If anyone says "immigrants do the work that Americans don't want to do," tell them they're full of sh**. There are plenty of Americans (especially right now) looking for jobs, myself included. I don't think we don't need to completely shut the borders, but I definitely wouldn't mind putting a moratorium on foreign low-skill labor immigration.


I don't think we need to stop trading with China. That wouldn't do either of us any good. What we need to do is get our manufacturing jobs back, and eliminate the trade deficit. If we have manufacturing back here again, China won't be able to easily give us dangerous crap.


We should definitely bring back grammar schools. The hard part will be convincing all the idiots that it doesn't matter if it hurts the dumb kids' feelings or not. Kids should have the freedom (and be encouraged) to excel as far as they can. If they have the potential to get a Master's degree by age 18, let them. I still highly resent the public education system for stuffing me in a box.


+1


We shouldn't give any foreign aid to them. All it does is line the pockets of military dictators, therefore making that continent worse.


We need to stop policing the world, I agree. That doesn't mean we need to completely isolate ourselves, however.

They call this kind of work "the last job a man can get". The work programs that developed out of the great depression were responsible for a significant proportion of the biggest public works of the 20th Century. That said, as the economy improved, there were calls for these programs to continue but all were closed down because they were financial unsustainable in times of prosperity. The US National Highway system was born out of this. Most ceased in the 40's. They become a money pit because they rarely generate a profit ~ unless you toll every road... they're designed to keep the restless mobs preoccupied until things improve.



I am a pacifist so I'd like to see it, but America's military isn't really about spreading democracy. It's about ensuring American hedgemony around the world and promoting its cultural and business interests. Cut that and you cut income. And if they did it, another country would just start spending and replace that hedgemony. We are seeing this today.



If everybody became 'asset' millionaires, who'd clean up the $#!+? This is where first world nations are headed. Labour societies have lower quality of life than service driven nations because labour works to profit the owners. Now... not everybody in the world can just be providing services - somebody has to produce stuff - and at the moment most of the labourers are in the third world. I believe in a hard day's work - but if you want to be at the top of the pyramid you have to be managing not being given orders. I'm not saying I agree with it - it's just how it is in a sink-source economy.



China's and America's economy are so intertwined it will become a nightmare to untangle it. And if America pulls out, another country will step in - to America's loss.

Look at it this way. China's is kind of like America in the 1920's and aspires to be as it is today in terms of quality of life. Think of all the resources and energy it took to make the USA what is and you'll understand why China and America's insatiable thirst is what is both driving the economy and destroying the environment.



Having only read about the American education system and talking to exchange students, I'm surprised that they do as well as they do. The heart of a prosperous nation is the education of their youth for this is what defines their future. For too long forces inside America have kept a proportion of the population poor and uneducated. Education isn't a priveledge, it's a right.



It's been tried elsewhere with mixed results. I wouldn't want to go in for an operation and have it botched because my doctor is a cocaine addict (this is a true story unfolding here in Australia). Drugs drain efficiency and if they're widespread then yes... you eliminate the criminal element but replace it with a major social dilemma. There is as of yet no simple solution to the drug problem.



Aid money needs to provoke a generational shift. A child who is educated and healthy will have smarter and healthier kids and this increasing quality of life is what develops nations. Unfortunately aid money does fall into bureaucracies and self annointed leaders and can be lost in a mire of corruption. There needs to be a 100 year plan. The West should build and then lease - for free - major public infrastructure - not for profit but to protect it from local corruption. This gives it a degree of external oversight that safeguards it. Then over time the education of the local population will increase quality of life, democratic institutions and allow the people to take control. This will bridge connections between Africa and developed nations. It's not about Western's charity, it's about African empowerment.



PR is dynamic and image is flexible. No country can afford to be isolationist in a globalised economy. But every nation should ensure a degree of self sufficiency if the need arises.

I agree with making investments in infrastructure, and this can be done as a public works program. But America is not likely to go back to being a country of manual laborers.


No, it is not in our best interests. We are the world's largest economy, China is I think second or third. Making markets smaller hurts everyone.


We are the leading producer of a lot of "staple" crops like wheat and corn. We don't produce as much of some other foods as we would like to eat (such as certain types of fruit that can't grow in most of the US). Also, what we choose to import is often a matter of comparative vs absolute advantage.


How would that work when we don't have money to fix our own infrastructure?


You need interest rates if you're going to have any form of credit or investment.

Generally from your posts, I can tell you have not taken introductory economics.

Most African aid goes to ghastly tyrants like Museveni and Kagame... blood-drenched tyrants. They are members of The Family, a group of Christian fundies run from the United States; what scum.

As for the US, the answer to the question comes from a Cuban slogan from the early 1990s - Socialismo o muerte!

Hmnn.

here's my take:

2. Start a new war, let me pick... Yemen.
1. Do a draft. Now there's a lot of young men and women that are NOT goign to need a job anymore.
3. Open the frontiers, let every new immigrant forcefully join the army.
4. Join China and start war with Japan. (If you just cut trade with China they can sell their dollars right away and devaluate US into oblivion, so it is best to just help them get destroyed in a war). It is also best to destroy japan so our automobile industry can actually sell cars again.
5. Send all students to China's war. This solves all the "held back" issues.
6. Send all inmates to China. Then rent jail space to weapon makers.
7. Start war with Africa, this way they won't want any help anymore.
8. Start war with Mexico they've been too happy lately.

Reminds me of a "headline" in the satirical section of some Israeli paper:
"Bush instructed his councellors to find another Islamic state - perferably with a short name"

As for the draft idea, always remember this guideline:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fszM11k-Zjk[/youtube]

Well I must say I laughed at your first post because I am in fact in tenth grade. You make some good very valid points and I'm going to go look into alot of the stuff you posted. Thanks for the info man.