New powers are rising, and if America wants to maintain its economic competitive edge, it needs to make major changes – fast. But does America have the political will to act? Are Americans willing to sacrifice short-term consumption for long-term investment?
On Sunday night, Fareed Zakaria GPS aired a one-hour special on “Restoring the American Dream,” with scholars Niall Ferguson, Jeffrey Sachs, Dambisa Moyo and Joseph Nye (who will be taking your questions online this week).
I asked Fareed about the U.S. budget and America's future if we don't change course. Check out the interview below, and see Fareed’s cover story in Time Magazine.
Bakshi: Is today’s budget battle on Capitol Hill addressing real issues?
Zakaria: I think the budget battle is incredibly disheartening because what we’re talking about is trivial. We are talking about cutting the budget but not actually dealing with any of the major programs that are going to be the big drivers of cost – Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security. Meanwhile, we’re cutting everything else – all discretionary spending, which is infrastructure, education, air traffic control, NASA, scientific research.
So if you think about it, what we’re doing as a country is continuing to subsidize consumption – which is pensions, healthcare, all of these kinds of things – and we’re doing it not just in the budget but through very low interest rates. We’re continuing to subsidize consumption while we’re starving investment.
This is exactly the opposite of what produces long-term growth. There is very strong historical data that suggests the way societies grow is by making large, long-term investments. That’s how China is growing today. That’s how we grew for most of our history. That’s how Germany is growing today.
It feels like in Washington, for political reasons, the only thing that people can agree on is to cut the investment part of the budget and no one dares touch the consumption part of the budget. The net effect is that we’re subsidizing consumption and starving investment, which is a recipe for failure.
Bakshi: What do you think it would take to change the political dynamics that are leading to this?
Zakaria: Probably, it would take a crisis. And I say that but I sometimes think to myself, “Wait a minute, we had a crisis; we had the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression!” And somehow it didn’t wake us up. In fact it resulted in a good set of emergency measures taken by both the Bush and Obama Administrations and I applaud them for it, but it didn’t make anyone stop and say, “Wait a minute, what are the underlying causes of this crisis and how do we make sure that we’re not on that trajectory again?”
The underlying causes of the crisis are cheap money, too much spending, too much borrowing, and too little investment. We haven’t solved any of those problems. We’ve done the emergency Band-Aid to the banks, which is fine – I agree with it, I think we had to do it – but nobody is sitting there trying to figure out, “OK, how do we make sure in the next 20 years we have a very different growth trajectory.
Bakshi: If the situation stays the same – if America doesn’t make significant changes – what lies ahead in 5 to 10 years for the U.S.?
Zakaria: I think it would be a period of very slow growth, very slow employment growth. I don’t want to paint a picture of total gloom and doom. The United States is going to be a rich country, it is going to be prosperous, but it is not going to be able to take the lead in the next phase of global economic development.
Look at what happened to Japan. Look at what happened to Britain in the 1950s. You can be a very rich country, very prosperous, very advanced, but if you get off the groove, it becomes very difficult to come back sometimes.
Bakshi: It’s not the Titanic dropping to the bottom of the ocean – it’d be a slow decline?
Zakaria: It’d be a slow decline. We will be a very rich country. We will continue to thrive. There will be pockets of incredible excellence. One of the great dilemmas for America will be that American companies will do very well while American workers might not.
There will be a class of Americans – the globalized, “knowledge workers”, if you want to call them that – who will do very well. But the average American will face very, very significant pressures because the work he or she does is not going to be competitive in this new world, and we are not making the investments we need to to help make it competitive. We’re not upgrading the educational system. We’re not upgrading the infrastructure. We’re not upgrading all the areas where you can take that American worker and make him or her super-competitive and super-productive.
For more from Fareed, check out his cover story in Time Magazine.
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Thanks Fareed for keeping this discussion on the front burner. High unemployment will probably last for several years. Businesses and banks are tightly holding on to their trillions and claim not to know what the future will unleash, basically demonstrating uncertainty about the future, as mirrored by many Americans. We ALL can use a jumpstart to raise our individual and collective self-efficacy beliefs about doing what needs to be done-and then doing it! What do you think about Obama having a POTUS Fireside Chat during prime time to discuss all this and speak directly to US as Americans, the corporate community, and Congress, a real challenging wake-up talk outlining what WE need to do! http://bit.ly/eMwQB5 #potusfiresidechat
Interesting idea on the POTUS fireside chat on the economy. What do you think of the weekly web addresses? Is there traction on your idea?
The world is catching up and passing us on the backs of americans. Through stealing and exploiting technologies, through greed of US corporations shipping jobs and technology infastructure and carelessness. Places like china and india, russia and even europe. Yet our policians, who are agents of corporatocracy, with their revolving door back and forth from corporations and government do nothing to help america only to pacify them so that the exploits can continue under a population that will allow it.
Reply to swaf. With the help of unintelligent imbeciles like you, the U.S. is being left behind. Go back to school and learn something instead of blaming others for your ignorance.
Complaining that other people are stealing USA ideas is nonsense.
USA only built up its intellectual capital by plundering the rest of the world. Even the quintessential symbol of American technology – the Apollo program – relied on German rocket scientists.
What America has to understand is that you cannot roll back the clock. What worked in the past won't work in the future. It is pointless trying to get the old groove back because that groove is worn out and no longer works. What America needs is a new groove.
America also needs to cut spending (government and personal) and, as a nation, live within budget. Spending grew as productivity increased. Now that productivity is decreasing you have to cut back spending. All that is happening now is that the future Americans will be left with a huge debt burden – hardly a good foundation on which to rebuild an economy.
Thanks AMARCNN, for your response. I believe that MOST Americans are missing so much of what is on the web, the 30-minute news hours, other news shows etc., because they are involved with many activities, raising their families, trying to make ends meet, and just the day-to-day grind. Many, maybe more than watched the POTUS SOTU, will stop and watch a prime time Presidential address on unemployment, especially if it is publicized! Other presidents have had these and President Obama can use this to accomplish much.
Strengthening our economy is critical to so many of our domestic and foreign agendas, including our need to better understand the globalization that many Americans do not fully comprehend, and the role of education for USA to successfully compete. If we want people become motivated to learn new skills, to perhaps consider entrepreneurship, be less reliant on the government to always create jobs and be more willing to take charge of their own career needs and become active and assertive participants in this global economy, it’s time for a strong wake-up call.
** Fareed could moderate such a Fireside Chat for America, ask important questions, have a discussion they way we want to with President Obama, include the web, e-mails, Twitter questions, etc., and make this a 21st century Presidential Fireside Chat.
What is truly more effective is having a POTUS Fireside Chat every three months up until the election. That way, POTUS will demonstrate how his programs are working, and bring some sense of the idea that we are ALL paddling upstream in the same canoe! He can also challenge all of us to take appropriate responsibility for what EACH of us needs to do to help solve this national problem, including all those bankers, CEO’s, and corporate folks who will be listening to his comments very closely.
Your web suggestion is a good idea but only AFTER the President has a fireside chat. This way, he can keep in touch with those who really want to hear what he has to say on the web. In my blog post below, I have suggested a White House website to support the POTUS Fireside Chats.
Please take a look at my blog post. I very much appreciate the opportunity get this idea more publicized so that perhaps, at some level, the President just might respond. When I mentioned this to the previous Press Sectary, Robert Gibbs during a Christmas Eve Twitter session, he said it was a good idea! Thank you. Ed C
http://bit.ly/eMwQB5 #potusfiresidechat
@swaf – I agree.
Greed is a big part of the problem. Corporations sending jobs, technology and dollars to overseas sweatshops leads to high unemployment and deficit at home while contributing to global-warming pollution and worker exploitation abroad.
Zakaria's twisted logic leads him to to basically suggest that you have to become a CEO of a corporation that ships jobs overseas (just start your own business!) and don't worry about losing all the "manufacturing" jobs. The problem is that not every American can possibly become a successful CEO and even high-skills jobs are leaving the country at an accelerating pace. Zakaria's "plan" is simply insufficient for the country and amounts to raising a white flag and dismissing offshoring as inevitable and necessary (which is a mistruth heavily lobbied for by the biggest offenders of the practice).
We're having our country sold out from under us by corporate America and what we need is strong political leaders to stem the tide.
Sadly, both parties are heavily influenced by corporate campaign contributions and are forging ahead with destructive trade deals that are almost always lopsided in other countries' favor as evidenced by the tremendous trade imbalances we see.
Mr. Zakaria brought up the issue of housing subsidies. After WWII, the federal gov’t subsidised the mass exodus of working- & middle-class White people to the suburbs. (Other factors also contributed to White flight.) Some families couldn’t find housing in the city, so they had to move to the suburbs. There were some nice things about suburbs such as bigger houses, backyards, & no Black people. (Yes, racism played a role in White flight.) Then, people who lived in the city liked what they saw in the suburbs. But without government help, they wouldn’t have been able to move to the suburbs. The government facilitated White flight by allowing banks & real estate people to use tactics such as redlining & blockbusting to encourage those with GI benefits to move to the suburbs. The federal government also build the highway system.
Suburbs are inefficient. They’re built around the car. Land uses are segregated. Instead of integrating businesses & housing, businesses are in one area & housing in the other. This means that people have to drive more. The lower density of suburbs means that it costs more to provide services such as trash & recycling pick up, maintaining roads, & busing children to schools there than in denser cities.People in the suburbs are less likely to use public transportation & walk. Some suburbs don't have sidewalks. Obesity rates are higher in suburbs. Sprawl gobbles up precious forests & farmland. In the Southwest, people have backyards even though there isn’t enough water for this. States such as Arizona & California consistently overdraw the Colorado River.
Suburbs have made us so car dependent that our government is compelled to have its nose in the business of the Middle East, even when the U.S. should keep out. With the current unrest in Libya & other Middle Eastern countries driving up oil prices, people in the U.S. are starting to complain about gas prices. The president & Congress feel compelled to act to keep oil prices under $4.
I’m a native born U.S. citizen. It sickens me that so many people in the U.S. endorse American exceptionalism—that God favours this nation over others & that we should be number one. People in every country think that their nation is best. It sickens me that people in the U.S. THINK IT’S OKAY TO BUILD MILITARY BASES OVERSEAS, BUT WOULD NEVER LET ANOTHER NATION BUILD A MILITARY BASE ON U.S. SOIL!
This is a national problem and Obama needs to take the lead in educating the public. It will be hard to succeed in this toxic political environment but he and anyone else who aspires to leadership in this country have to try.
I believe Ron Paul is taking a very solid stab to correct monetary policy demonstrated by the FED. Zakaria hints at it, but doesn't go into detail. The fractional banking system is failing in the long-term and everyday people need to be educated as to why. The majority wants the economic problems solved now, yet they don't realize there is nothing that can be done to salvage the "right now", we need to start worrying about America 2013, 14, 15...not March 2011. Warren Buffett said: "Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.". Ron Paul is attempting to plant that seed by trimming the FED's wings.
education is the key. there are too many ignorant people in the United States these days. fat and lazy and now HIGH is not how u compete with china etc.....
Chris,
You do understand that what Rand Paul advocates is what has led to this countries falling behind right? Even Jeffrey Sachs brought up th ridiculous idea that the abolition of the DOE is a a BAD idea. Ideologues are the problem, not the solution.
it is very true what we invest in will grow,for good or ill.Still the sacred cow is not entitlements,we have robbed trillions of dollars from payments made by trusting or subjugated U.S. taxpayers and now they tell us it is broke! Well where is that money? An awfull lot of it was spent on "defense" a.k.a. military adventurism. Never mind wether you are a hawk or a dove,billions could be cut from the defense budget by a serious audit and eliminating waste ! And then there are a raft of things most folks won't talk about like foreign aid; 50% of wich never leaves this country while less than 20% actualy impacts anyone it was intended for. The elimination of waste not investments and social contracts like s.s. could easily set us on a path to abundance.
The US spends more on defense than the rest of the world combined. Who are we gearing up to fight? If we just reduced our per capita defense spending from ($1,710.90) to the average of our NATO partners ($948.48), we would reduce our defense budget by $244,514,285,298.
There is always the problem that if “the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail”. If our military was much smaller, we would have to be much more accommodating to our allies and much more careful about the conflicts we get into.
I agree military spending is out of control a country's military should be for domestic defense. If there is a country that we need to help miltarily let us do it as a coalition. Let's make sure before we go into a country we have clear goals and withdrawl date firmly in place. The number one thing that robbed The Soviet Union of it's world power status and caused its collapse was over militarization. The parallels between the former Soviet Union and the USA are incredible. The USSR spent 10 years in Afghanistan and it caused them to collapse. The USA has almost been in Afghanistan for 10 years with no end in sight it's alarming to say the least. China is moving past us as the world's foremost super power because of two things in my opinion. They have embraced renewable energy on a country wide scale and they have a massive transport infrastructure. They are building more and more commuter bullet trains and rail lines everyday. The USA invented solar power yet China uses it a lot more than we do.
There's a prevanlent myth that the govt. is inherently wasteful and a lot of money could be saved ferreting it out and eliminating it, and everyone would be better off. The truth is that wasteful spending depend on each person's point of view. If i t doesn't suit a person's interest or it doe not personally benefit them, then it is wasteful spending in thier perception. However, the exact same spending can be viewed as worthy and warranted spending by someone who personally benefits or perceives it as beneficial. So, the actual wasteful spending lies in the eyes of the beholder. Furhtermore, due to dedicated, honest civil servants, wasteful government spending and fraud is no more or less than it is in the private sector...it's just that the govt. and civil service are an easier target especially when govt. spending is more visible than private sector spending. I get tired of people whining that the govt. is wasteful and civil servants are lazy, self serving, and incompetent. If the truth be known, they are more educated and dedicated than their private sector workers. And the demographic statistics support my statements.
Agree 100% with cutting defense, BUT this will be a bloody battle because MIC (Military Industrial Complex) stop being about defense and is MORE about jobs, high paying jobs (America's longest and largest social white collar welfare program) and arms shipments.
America is the largest exporter of weapons, followed by Russia, China, France and Great Britain- interestingly enough all permanent member of UN Security (go figure). Also, we can do away with billions spent in Foreign Aid by dropping BILLIONS America provides in Farm Subsidies to US Farmers. US Subsidies ot Farmers far and away is much much more $$$ than Foreign Aid.
Americans have been duped for last 40 years; no different than citizens of Greece hearing last year its polictiicans claim Greek politicians lied back in early 2000s. AMERICA NEEDS TO CONFRONT ITS OWN OLIGARCHIES; who control America's agenda. If not Americans are doomed.
There's no point to having a fireside chat is it's going to be discussing more spending on useless programs like hide speed rail and green dreams.
President Obama has been very disingenuous about the effect of running trillion dollar deficits year after year. He says we need to cut the spending, but not now. If not now, then when? Obviously not on his watch.
As Mr. Zakaria has pointed out, we've been putting the United States on fire sale with low interest rates, a declining dollar, and cheap credit. Obviously the Federal Reserve system is not working. Banks are failing, we're moving from investment bubble to investment bubble, and that's why investors, companies and people have low confidence moving forward.
I doubt there will be little change over the next 18 months with a presidential election coming up. There will be a few trims here and there of the budget to keep the Tea Party off the backs of the Republicans, but it won't be enough.
We'll probably have to see a dollar meltdown and a full fiscal melt down before it's too late. Hopefully we won't loose all our freedoms when that happens.
CNN forums are nothing more than love-fests for this White House occupier whose major accomplishment in over two years is in saying a lot, flying around at taxpayer expense a lot and doing very little that will will fix anything, so how do you expect the brainwashed, dependent masses to understand that it takes people with a work ethic to move the country forward?
Wait..so we should NOT invest in the long term stability of our country by making transportation easy and cheap, and also making energy cheap and plentiful?Oil will not last forever. Gas will equally not last forever. These "Green Dreams" you seem to hate are the ONLY viable future of energy. It's either we make a nice smooth transition now, or our children and grandchildren will have to have it all collapse in on them, THEN transition. It will be violent, and it will break this country for a great many generations if we have to do that. Do not split this into political camps,this isnt a matter of blue and red. It is a matter of our national security, our pride, and our future as a independent nation.
You wanna know what's a real dream. That Oil companies are our friends, and that we somehow cannot live without them. You know what I would call that?The biggist pipe dream in our history. You go on thinking that green is a mistake, and i'll bet you everything that when push comes to shove, all our gasoline sucking cars will be rotting away in twenty or fifty years time.
....so we could take 70% of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and invest it into infrastructure. I know it would only leave 30% for those living on it.....but they only had that money deducted from their income ever since they started working. That wouldn't be considered stealing would it?
We didn't have these problems before Reagan and the GOP handed the wealthy the 70% in tax cuts since 1980 and destroyed our currency value and liquidity. Our jobs have left proportionally exposing that trickledown economics is fraud. This isn’t magic, just plain old robbery.
Another of the brainwashed masses. I'm old enough to remember what Reagan was able to accomplish with the mess Carter created. The next 2 Presidents, Bush and Clinton, built on what Reagan began. The second Bush was so-so, but looks like Einstein compared to this "legend in his own mind".
C'mon Big D, stop blaming past administrations and even. goodness, Reagan. That is getting real old very quickly. The problem we have now is the cancer that resulted in the bank failure of 2008-9 has made its way to the federal Reserve Bank. All the Obama administration has done since its unholy inception is to SPEND, SPEND, SPEND. You can't even get Obama serious about cutting a few billion from a trillion plua budget. Our problem is EVERYONE thinks they are ENTITLED to someone else's money. If the currtent administration doesn't nip spending in the bud and doesn't begin to show some support to business, businesses are going to locate somewhere they can do business and those countries will GET THE JOBS.
If the UNABATED SPENDING and HOSTILE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT continues we are headed for a meltdown the likes of we have never seen. It will start with the devaluation of the dollar and the loss of the dollar as the global reserve currency (it has been the global reserve currency for the past 50 years, haing replaced the British pound sterling after WWII.
If the dollar dies on the vine, you left wing socialists are going to get your wish, commodoty food lines, hyperinflation and dependence upon the GOVERNMENT for everything. That should make you and your boy Obama really happy right?
QAside from buying gold, I am going to buy Brisitsh pounds and sock them away for the day the dollar craps out – it is coming sooner than you think if Obama continues to insist that he have his way spending us into a balck hole. Heck, the government is still having to assume billion of dollars of debt from Fannie and Freddie – if youi don't believe me – check it out for yourself.
Dave and Jim please leave conservative la la land come come back to reality. "The second Bush was so-so" Really?!?!?The point Zakaria made in this discussion is that the problems with our economy have been going on for a long period of time. And yes policies put in place by Reagan have been part of the problem. Reagan grew the national deficit by 186%! During his time in office the wealthy did very well financially but the majority of Americans did not see much financial growth and the poor really struggled. You can't just ignore or rewrite history because its inconvient to your political world view. And Zakaria agreed with the measures taken by Bush and Obama to save the economy. Its really easy to criticize what the president did from the sidelines but if he had of let these giant banks fail we may have had a second great depression. And please stop with all the socialist, marxist, anti-american nonsense and debate like adults without all the over the top name calling.
dave is just mad a black man is in office. we dont work for the gop anymore get off our tit
The rich have to pay taxes. It works. It worked in the past and it will work in the future. When they accumulate so much wealth that the system stagnates, it collapses. The problem is liquidity and the value of our currency and a rich person that could never spend their interest is a drain on the system and devalues work. The poor can never work enough to have anything and the wealthy never have to work to stay wealthy. This isn’t just a simple cycle. This happens whenever you have a class that operates as royalty.
Many forget that during Clinton's presidency unemployment was at 1% on average. Many also forget that while we weren't out of the red when Clinton left office. His administration had us on the path to the black and out of debt. Then W became President and got us involved in this generation's Vietnam. We need to get out of Afghanistan and Iraq we need to let those people handle their own problems. If Tunisia, Egypt and Libya can depose their dictators and establish a democratic society by themselves so can the Afhanis and Iraqis. Stop babying these people bring the troops home!!
So are you trickle down supporters going to assert that deficits don't matter? That we can keep cutting taxes, and shifting the nation's wealth to a few while cutting spending on education and HC for our children? Those very same children that we need to educate to remain a global superpower? The only entity with sufficient clout to change challenge the power of the oligarchs and there unwillingness to change the economies daynamics is the government.
@Mcaswell82: During the last days of the Clintons presidency, they had retired the 30 yr T-bond because they didn't need to raise as much debt anymore. Its difficult for me to fathom that was in 1999, a short 12 years ago.
I think those two sorrowful wars are constantly in the background, grinding us down. We really need to get the heck out of there as soon as reasonably possible.
It looks like seeing systems superficially by appearance does not allow thinking heads to see the fundamental problem: money. A financial system is wrong and it begets ambition, selfishness, greed, wars, etc. Rather a money-less society would do better without it.
you're kookoo for Cocoa Puffs!
I don't ever see us going money less as a country. But what about a global currency? I mean does it make sense that the USA exists in a global economy along with the rest of the world. But we all use different pieces of paper to represent our economies? Also why do we need 50 states if we consolidate 3,4 or 5 states into different provinces we could save money that way too. I now it's a radical idea but something has to be done to stem the tide of recession!
Banks and businesses could use the trillions they have stashed away to CREATE a good future for this country if they really wanted to. However their ideal future is filled with docile insecure workers and little or no taxes to pay. Government has no money to invest.
I look at global trade and can't help but notice how uneven the playing field is because all of us don't abide by all the same rules.
First of all, the rest of the world is NOT catching up. Our GDP is 3x our nearest competitor. Sure we have alot of issues to be fixed like not giving green cards to smart foreigners that are educated in our great schools. Of course we have many problems, but the rest of the world is way worse off. would you really want to live in India or China? Puhleeze...
Our leaders will finally get the message when we cannot borrow. That is likely about a year away if we keep piling up debt like we are now. When we can no longer borrow, we will have trouble paying our bills and will enter a true crisis. Leaders will be forced to make tough choices, and we will be extremely vernable to attack from ones that hate us. Sad it will have to come to that in what at one time was a great nation.
Adnd why do we have debt? More and more tax cuts, especially where it will do little good for stimulating the economy, giving it to the rich. Wars and more wars, questionable wars that benefit cronies. Defense spending that dwarfs any other nation on earth. Entitlements spending that needs to be reformed sooner rather than later. And health care spending, of which 50 percent is contributed by government. The need for reform is great, but as Fareed said, it is our antiquated political system that prevents reform and one party in particular that seeks to maintain the status quo and the power of the oligarchs.
Keep our groove?? are you kidding me? we lost our grouve in the Clinton Era by selling out for the ALL mighty buck.
We opened the doors wide open for corporations to move, leaving us jobless, or employing us with WalMart service jobs. Every time we give out a multi-billion dollar stimulus, we all spend it on products from China. Think about it. we should just transfer the money directly to China. We need high skill jobs that product product and technology that can be sold GLOBALLY. Working at the local pancake house just wont cut it.
Fireside chats and similar methods to promote buyng AMERICAN. And get a real president.
The problem with this country could have been seen 30 years ago with Reagan's opening of our markets to Japanese products without the accompanying demands that Japan buy a similiar amount of high tech goods from the USA. This was continued by Bush I, Clinton and Bush II by including Mexico, China and Korea. No country can allow imports in the quantities we did without requiring reciprical exports. The collapse of our industry, our technology and our economy is directly tied to these trade imbalances. Without those imbalances we would be in much better shape than we are now. Without a change to our trade policy this country will collapse.
If anyone of you believes for a second that Zakaria wants anything good to happen with american then you are more of a fool than he is....
An imbecilic comment worthy of the right. The insightful comments of his panel of economic and historical experts are rightfully baffling to one with a closed, enslaved, and archaic mind as yours.
You could have saved us the long read and just explained that we could vote the first socialist president out of office in November of 2012.
We finally have a president who rightly sees the government in having a constructive role in remedying the problems with our economy brought on by the insensible economic policies of the conservatives. I also do not see our government nationalizing industries so your "socialist" comment is just rubbish.
The economic problems here in the states are at all levels of the ladder. You have a lack of direction and education at the lowest levels. Over-consumption and lack of foresight in the middle class. Corporations and companies that keep dropping the bottom line below reasonable levels (in an effort to compete). Special interests that circumvent the political process. Politicians that don't know any better than you or me on how to tackle such a large topic and in an effort to keep offices indefinitely don't tackle issues that take real effort. The POTUS being nothing but a figurehead in most ways and unable to generate more than a conversation and catch phrase about the change this country needs. If real change is going to happen and the people tasked with making it happen don't feel the immediate need to address it then it's up to the American people to.
Everyone is talking about the weak economy, and no one explains why the economy is weak.
Here are my few cents. When we talk about economy we assume that it needs to grow in order everyone to be happy. But do we really understand what growth means? Let me explain what I mean – if we double the output every 10 years (this is an exponential growth 2^n), this would mean that after ten years we have consumed (produced) as much as all previous generations before us combined plus one. The exponential series goes like this – 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, etc which is 2^n, but most people don't visualize or comprehend what exactly that means, As I said 4 = 1+2 plus one (which is the previous two numbers plus one), also 8 is 1+2+4 plus one, from here the conclusion if we double the economy every 10 years from 1 to 2, then to 4, then to 8, etc this leads to a vicious cycle of ever increasing production and respectively equal amount consumption.
Now the question is – Can we sustain such a scenario of economic growth?
Let's analyze that. To sustain any growth we need in general – tools (machinery), workers, and energy. But since we want to grow the economy, we need more of all of these three components (plus more productivity of course). As we have seen above if we double the output we have produced more than all previous generations ever produced plus one. In a simplistic way this means that we need such amount of energy that all previous generations ever used plus one. Now where do we get our energy from? If one looks at the department of energy site, one would find the answer. Our energy mix is like pretty much carbohydrates – oil, gas, coal (about 86%). Oil being the largest part – 40%. But all of these carbohydrates are finite resources. There is a limited quantity of them on the Earth. They represent hundred of million of years of solar energy (broadly speaking) stored into the Earth.
So can we sustain such economic growth when our energy resources are limited? Just look at the price of oil. It is a basic economics principle – supply and demand. Higher the demand (our economy wants to grow and double every so many years) and with limited resources, that eventually will be depleted, the price is bound to go higher and higher, since we will need more and more to grow the economy.
So my conclusion is that we can not sustain this, unless we start thinking how to resolve the looming energy crisis. As Woody Allen said in one of his movies – Later is sooner than you think.
The United States is 13 Trillion Dollars in Debt. That is an absolutely insurmountable debt, especially when the bulk of the countries manufacturing jobs have been move offshore.
Fareed, just a quick comment. why we need to go to marrs or moon, when City of New York alone is laying off 6100 teachers. there is no money to teach our kids on the ground. why don't we put Nasa on hold for sometime.
Surely you jest, we can not even keep Obama to his vow....remember?
Allow five days of public comment before signing bills-Obama
The right go to Drudge and get their daily dose of vitriol that blames everything on the left and the left go to DailyKOS and HuffPo to get their daily of vitriol that blames everything on the right.
Fareed, mercifully, stands as a voice of reason amongst the cacophony of partisan chatter.
I hope people that can make a different in Washington listen to Fareed's words. They make sense.
Let's start at least by raising the retirement age in Social Security, sooner rather than later, curbing drug patent royalties to the drugs most commonly paid for by Medicare, and dropping the Bush tax cuts, so we can go back to the tax rates of the late 90's, which produced some of the most fiscally responsible budgets of recent history. Let's trim the defense budget by 10%.
But for the love of all that is holy, please leave research & development and education alone. Those are investments we will need to compete in the mid 21st century. Let's not sell the next generation out, because we feel were "entitled" to programs that are already bloated and broken and driving us to bankruptcy. Let's also admit that billionaires can afford the tax rates of the late 1990's. Especially considering the economy and deficit situation was stronger when it was slightly higher, and the economy has tanked and the deficit gotten worse since it was lowered.
In other words, lets put away the blogs like DailyKOS and Drudge Report, and start talking to and listening to adults like Fareed Zakaria.
What is the point in raising the retirement age when no one will hire you when you're fortyfive. The suggestion is ludicrous.
Not true. I retired after 31 years as a mail carrier, and went to work the next week at $7.50 per hour in isp, the rose to $14.50 after 10 years as the company grew and went into web hosting. I retired after 10 years, no benifits, just onto the postal retirement and social security at 65 here last week.
Tom, Fareed stated a fact when he said the "American dream" or "days of being able to support a family off of un-skilled labor" are over. My boss is a 61 year old EE and he's not going anywhere. We have another manager that is 76 who holds a EE bachelor’s Degree and an MBA. He shows up to work 5 and 6 days a week at 7am and doesn't leave till 7pm. He does this by choice and I really do believe it keeps him from aging. It's never too late to learn a new skill set. Hiring managers want competent individuals that know how to get the job done, they don't care about age. They don't want people who just want to retire and grow old.
I read yesterday here or in CNN that some private insurance companies have overcharged medicare in the millions. No wonder Medicare costs so much
The filthy corruption of private insurers is doing it 
Source: ABC news, Brian Hartman,
((((((((( Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colorado exposed the dirty tricks. :O
HHS IG: "Staggering Wast" as Insurers Overcharge Medicare Patients, March 4, 2011, 6:41 pm..
Text: A new government investigation finds insurance companies have been overcharging taxpayer patients by overstating how much they pay for drugs. The cost to tax payers is nearly $2 BILLION A YEAR ! THE HHS INSPECTOR GENERAL FOUND THAT UNDERR MEDICARE PART D, A REBATE PROGRAM DOES NOT PASS SUPPOSED "SAVINGS T5O CONSUMERS, INSTEAD IT KEEPS THE REBATES !
I see people mentioning healthcare as part of the economic trouble we're having. I have a question does it make sense if I see three different Drs that I should need three different blood tests and three different sets of X-Rays? Drs do that though to avoid lawsuits and that's crap. You as a patient should be forced to have 1 set of tests/bloodwork done and it should be shared with all your Drs.
No, sir. Fareed wrote for the democrats before, now he does the other side? mmm.....sounds like ambivalency!
Thank you! I get so tired of listening to wingnuts. There is enough blame to go around. I'm a baby boomer and I'd like them to at least start talking about cuts to Social Security and Medicare especially for those of us that will be getting a pension from our jobs. It's crazy to have us old people having it easy while our grandchildren are not being trained for the future. We don't need a retirement full of vacations. I'd like to see our future generations taken care of: put more money into education, health and dental for children. If we'd have waited for consensus with other countries, we wouldn't have drained our country of yet another generation of young men and a lot of our money. It's a good idea to lead, but if no one is following you, you need to evaluate your leadership.
Fareed falls far short of my standards for competence.
Stupidity must be valued in your part of the world. Dr Zakaria was an editor of Foreign Affairs magazine at an early age. Just because his views are not shared by most conservatives says nothing of him but loads about America's right.
I wish more Americans shared your way of thinking.
"Are Americans willing to sacrifice short-term consumption for long-term investment?"
First, I read that as "Are Americans willing to sacrifice short-term 'corruption'...?" Consumption, Corruption. Ether way, politicians aren't willing. The most broad-ranged, critical decisions as a nation are now made with the focus on the 2-year election cycle. It's time for 6-year terms, no re-elections. Our politicians are not acting in our nation's long-term best interests (our citizens aren't either), thus America will continue to deteriorate.
If the politicians aren't doing their jobs then we only have ourselves to blame. We put them in office, we keep them in office, we are the ones that demand they engage in hyper partisan politics, we are the ones that demand that they spend us into debt and destruction, we are the ones that let them engage in useless wars, we are the ones who bare the responsibility as we are the ones who elected them.
Couldn't agree more Chris R
Libyan Rebels need to become a COUNTRY. They need to organize, cooperate, coordinate, communicate and ACT like a country. This is what the Qahdafi clan are doing, REORGANIZING. Then they WIN!! Rebels of Libya become a country, organize, cooperate with yourselves and communicate as a COUNTRY!! Then NATO can help. USA can help. Let the world know YOU ARE A "COUNTRY!"
Are we reading the same article Mr. Carlson??
my goodness. At first glance, I thought the picture was of a classroom in Afghanistan!
Thanks for keeping the attention to a subject that in misguided patriotism is ignored; there is an urgent need to admit there are serious problems and worse, the problems are systemic resulting in an almost ungovernable status given the gridlock in Washington and certainly unable to plan beyond the next election cycle. Serious review of policing the world, at least two fabricated wars, failing health and education systems, unfunded liabilities, armies of lobbyists promoting private if not foreign interests demand a fresh policy review and a plan for the long run. Instead of war the funds should go to promoting universal post secondary education to all americans that demonstrate desire and capacity to learn.
You're absolutely right, but most people are too ignorant or politically biased to understand what ails this country. When will we wake up to reality and stop listening to these so-called experts who make all kinds of suggestions instead of the obvious ones, such as the ones you mentioned?
Everytime I listen to Fareed, I wish he could run for president. Intelligent, measured, globally conscious. What a trasure.
You and me both. Either way I think I'll write him in on the ballot.
Obviously, that was supposed to read "treasure". Sorry for the typo.
I disagree with Fareed's belief that spending should shift out of social security into funding of schools, research, or stuff that furthers enterprise. This county is not just about business, making money. First, I don't think these goals are mutually exclusive. One doesn't have to offset the other. Second, Fareed needs to consider the logical extremes of his arguments because that's ultimately where such policy or principle ends up. If we start de-funding social security and shifting those funds to projects that further the economy, then everything ultimately will value based on its link to furthering the economy and enterprise. As such, eventually, someone will suggest that we don't need retired people, or that elderly and retired people be asked to simply leave the country, go to Costa Rica or something, because what it means to be American is to be in the rat race, contributing to further and strengthen the enterprise.
Balance is certainly essential.
and you just hit it on the head. We need to stop polarizing the country an start looking at things in a more moderate view. Politicians on both sides need to start realizing that they represent all that elected them, but they do still represent those who did not.
From the way he talks, he speaks primarily as a macroeconomist, that is he views the picture as a whole instead of just one portion. Besides, our GDP is so low because our imports>our exports. We need to invest more on the infrastucture of busines:ie buildings for companys, tools, tech, items actually being made here, etc.
Btw, this is the basic formula for GDP
Gross Domestic Product=Consumer Services+Investment+Government Spending+(Exports-Imports)
Guess which two are low, hint:Look what I typed above
I do not agree with you
I don't think you are facing the economic realities and debts this country has. Sounds like you are either elderly yourself or a liberal. As a lifelong Dem voter, I have come to see over the last couple years that the views of liberals tend to be devoid of any grasp of the realities of money - what we can afford, what we owe, and so on. The far left would take us down a path of destruction, IMHO. All these pro-union protests are based on "feelings" - "we are being attacked", "we are feeling disrespected". And the whining and gimmee culture goes on.
Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid all need a haircut immediately - perhaps 5-10%. And there needs to be nicreased taxes for additional revenue. Shared pain by all. Kind of like the Obama deficit commission came out with recently.
"The underlying causes of the crisis are cheap money, too much spending, too much borrowing, and too little investment."- I don't think Obama haven't identified this, these are practically difficult for politicians to implement as some of them may result unpopular in the short time span of 5 years term.
Thank you so much! You make CNN watchable again. I love you and your show! I hope you stay around forever! I can't wait to watch you every weekend!
Glad you're watching on TV and looking forward to seeing you around here on the web. – Amar (editor of cnn.com/gps)
For about 25 to 30 years, I have read and heard of statistics that said the U.S's day of unbridled spending would have a day of reckoning in the second decade of he 21st century. So, here we are, and the predictions – more of less – appear to be true. I blame the public – the voters – for most of our problems. We kept voting in pol's that recklessly disregarded that facts and, equally, recklessly gave away our house. Now, we are believing foolish drivel again: Somehow the debate has turned from righting our economy (new regulations, investments, etc) into an argument that wants to blame public employess for the mess we are in. I think that we are hopelessly insane. Why do we follow these Pied Pipers – both Dem's and GOP's that refuse to address the real issues? Thanks Fareed (Eliott Sptizer too) for seeing throught the fog.
From up top: "Are Americans willing to sacrifice short-term consumption for long-term investment?"
No, they are not. It is clear so far that Americans' highly consumptive lifestyles are non-negotiable. Further, our current economy is totally invested and reliant upon this level of consumption. Can you say; "20 million barrels a day?" Betcha can!
Energy sources are fundamental economic drivers. How can we expect to compete with economies where the average per-capita energy consumption is a small fraction of what it is in the US? While they (China, India, et al) are managing to grow their economies, the US is running smack into hard limits to growth. These countries are, and will continue to be able to out-compete the US for essential, more expensive, harder to find resources. We in the US have squandered our birthright on short term comfort and gain. This economic meme cannot be "restored".
End of Empire ........ Time to discuss what's next.
Well said. Come on, CNN. I'm equal parts ashamed and awed that the oil companies have threatened every mainstream news outlet in this country to the point where we're not discussing the #1 reason for the end of growth. The impending oil shortage will hit us harder than every other country. So we have to rely on the Economist to show us why we're about to be the biggest laughingstock on Earth? See the chart: http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2011/02/energy_prices
I agree—our idiotic political system is set up to respond to crisis, not prevent it. And we can't even get that right: cases in point, 9/11 (Go shop!) and the recent financial collapse (No one goes to jail!). See who else in the world uses the presidential system and let's stop fretting about our lack of results. The only way to truly vote these days is to boycott the products of the corporations who own the politicians we don't like. Yay democracy.
America punishes and crucifies productive people and productive genius in a way that no other country ever would. We also reward nonproductive people and place them on a pedestal of inviolability, or admiration. The permutations and combinations of this economic damage run into the trillions of dollars annually.
We get back to being #1 by stop kissing the rest of the world' s a s s ...
Well, America is also the part of the world. #1 is not just a number my friend, its so many things which make something #1. To sustain the #1 position, what we need is hunger. The same hunger we had in 1950s. That hunger filled up so much energy in the youth and look what we have today and we can proudly say we are #1. But do you think the youth of America has that hunger and the energy for the future. On top of that we only had Russia in 50s and now, we have, China, India and they both have what we don,t have and I have not mention the other countries yet.
I must admit that the problems of life and the world are extremely complex, in that one fix to one problem generally is doomed to fail as that one fix is only one tentacle, yet, there is a maze of tentacles (in the thousands) which affects/effects/infects one another (the whole).
However, and despite those complexities there is a simplicity to viewing, understanding and resolving all in life and the world.
We choose to take the easy way out, the low road and there are a multitude of reason for that, but, the most prevalent (in my humble opinion) is that we think we are smart and refuse to admit that we are dumb as a door knob. We focus on those areas of expertise we have been schooled or trained in rather than using natures greatest gift to life forms, the ability to analyze and rationalize, just plain old thinking.
We rely on the teacher, the professor, the text books computers and our parents to provide us with the facts/truth and we accept everything as the gospel and without question except in the area of social and sexual norms. All else leaves us in the herd, marching off euphorically to the slaughter house.
Everything mentioned by everyone and then more is what is wrong with our country and the world. But, we can't fix the budget without properly fixing the various components (emphasis on properly). We can't fix those components without fixing those we send there to fix things. We can't fix them until we fix ourselves to be able to identify what needs fixing and who possesses the ability, knowledge and desire to fix everything. We cant fix ourselves until we fix education (to become smarter). We can't fix education until we fix all who work in education, administrators and educators.
We must start with understanding that Washington is broken because we are broken (both individually and collectively). Without that acceptance we will continue to drift into oblivion and extension. I have no problem with delving into how to repair the various tentacles of our society as I have not thrown in the towel, but, if we do not posses the desire and will to explore totally new and extreme thoughts and concepts it is fruitless to address individual tentacles/problems.
Wow, a thoughtful response, laid out well, and non-partisan. I might very well disagree with you on several issues but I believe we could have a discussion. Then I read the comment below yours and I think, we are truly doomed if most Americans think that one person, party, or issue is to blame for our current and future situation. Based on many of these posts there is not much hope for avoiding a serious decline in US.
I sincerely thank you for understanding and responding, even though we may differ in some respects. But the mere fact that only you (1 person) responded is indicative of my comment about how smart we think we are. Everyone, but you, so far, has gone on their merry way giving no thought to the possibility that curing one issue/problem at a time achieves little or nothing. At least, be desirous to explore and engage.
You are the reason for me not throwing in the towel yet. You at least said, hmmmm, maybe he has something, we could talk. Thank you
Newt Gringrich wants to restore America to its former greatness ... Barack Obama wants to change America into a socialist third world country. Hopefully American will be able to survive the next year and 8 months of Barack Obama ...
and, hopefully Obama won't be around in 2012 ... Now, that's hope and change we can believe in !!!
Listen to what you are saying. You are trying to tell me that the GOP, loaded with old hags, backward thinking, church nuts, and Teabaggers are going to put this country back on top. Half of these people are either stupid, in bed with oil execs, or only care about their own interest. We need to replace the entire government with some new blood. Most of these politicians are disconnected, especially any Tea Party member. We need some sort of Silicon Valley exec to be president, if any one can fix a deficit then they are the only hope.
Taxes worked after the robber barons created the last great depression. We seem to have the same liquidity problems caused by the rich becoming super rich and a burden our system cannot support.
The big debate is around whether or not we want a larger central government or a small central government. I stand with those that think a large central government is slowly ruining this country. Time for each of us to stop blaming someone else and go make our own way in the world. Looking to the federal govt to solve your problems is shameful and a sign of weakness. The more dependent you are the less free you are. I don't know why so many on this site are so opposed to the very basics of this great country – free enterprise, limited government and self-reliance.
Wrong, the debate is how to keep our country healthy and free. Your ideals of a weak unfunded government creating jobs is wrong and the track record is solid proof that your terms like “bloated central government” are nothing more than unsubstantiated rhetoric. We have higher deficits and the worst economy and job market for decades because trickledown economics is a bad joke, not a working economic system.
a very informative and well explained perspective Mr. Howard. I learned a lot. We're all wiser from your contribution.
why don't you write something infomative instead of smart comments....come up with something of your own....
This kind of thinking has gotten us to where we are now. Parochialism is defined as "narrowly defined in scope, dealing with only small sections of a problem". Selfish thinking will never solve the problem, our politicians need to deal with the problem and not worry about the backlash, BE BOLD.
Getting rid of the current president (By an election or impeachment) and putting a president into the office who believes in Americas greatness and not someone who apologizes to every tinpot dictator in the world.
Tin Pot dictators do not respect that.
When you have an opinion that makes sense, we'll let you sit at the adult table.
wow, that's all it takes to restore us to greatness. And it's so simple. Thank goodness you found the solution to our country's many faceted problems. We could have already resolved the near collapse of our economic system, the unrest in the East, the competition from the far East, if only Obama hadn't made a couple of apologies. I should'a had a V8! (accompanied by the sound of a tongue clicking against the roof of one's mouth). My hat is off to the writers at Fox News.
Again....all you do is critcize???
Those "emergency measures" undertaken by both the Bush and Obama administrations have significantly extended the recession. You'd already be recovering strongly by now if they'd just let the banking sector fall.
Note how Europe still struggles out of recession and countries like Greece and Portugal hold them back. Unwilling to let anything fail, the drag down all of Europe. Whereas, Iceland, which had no safety, and literally every bank collapsed, is now growing strongly.
These "crises" are corrections, and you need to let them correct in order to move past them.
That said, Fareed is entirely correct about the looming spending problems facing the United States. Many western countries face this, but none so dangerously as the USA.
These banks and bankers are major campaign contributors. The root of the problem, then, is that we need to ban all paid political advertising on television and radio, where it is most expensive (and vicious). Then no candidate for office would need to run hat in hand to these special corrupt interests to beg for campaign money to fund these ridiculous commercials. What will ever become of us without these nasty political advertisements?
Sally,
Even if we outlawed all paid political advertising, 98% of the media are owned by Republicans and they would provide FREE advertising if it came down to that. We need to reinstate the fairness doctrine and require ALL broadcasters to carry factual interviews and debates of all of the major candidates. Then outlaw ALL political advertising, paid or unpaid. Those that don't should lose their licenses immediately and permanently. This doesn't take care of print media but print is dead anyway.
America will not act because too many American's will continue to bury their heads in the sand of exceptionalism. We simply will be unable to believe that the Europeans have it right and we have it wrong. Even though I don't agree with all of his recommendations, I applaud Mr. Zakaria for getting the diagnosis right and persistently batting away the drivel being pedaled by the right.
act locally, think globally.. thanks Fareed. always like your reporting. its about time more and more positive news comes out in the media about good things like hope & never giving up. The American people have a way of doing that, you know.
I'm quite confident that the US is screwed. If Ron Paul is elected in 2012, I think there is a slight chance to recover, however I believe the opportunity for Dr. Paul to fix America was lost in 2008 when Obama was elected. Things have gone too far now, there's no going back. America is bankrupt, is hated by almost everyone and is rotten through and through. The politicians have sold the country out while the people slept, and now the only thing that the US leads the world in is debt. We are all in deep deep trouble.
I'm disgusted with American Politics. The Republicans win or they lose, but the result is the same: They win. They ran the economy down the tubes. But do they allow some real reform of the system. Of course not, they won't abandon their big money friends. Its not about patriotism, its about keeping the money comming in. Well, I've had it. You can take your politics and put them where the sun don't shine. After 66 years of life as a democrat, I'm through. I have never voted again since the last presidential election and won't. I can't vote republican and the democrats are incompetant.
This country will not survive if the Greed in Wall Street continues and corporate america continues to buy politicians.
Then we have our Government spending billions on military basis in Europe, Asia, the Middle East,etc. Isn't it time that those regions take care of themselves and spend their own resources "fighting the commies" etc. We need to focus on America, not North Korea, not Libya, not Russia...
"Greed in Wall Street" and "Corporations buying politicians"....be real. How do you "demonize big oil..big corporations" people not see the plank in your own eye?
Do you see the unions buying politicians? What is the whole fight in Wis about? Ohio about? Who is the biggest political contributor to the Democratic party? How is it that you demonize some corporations because you think Republicans are in bed with them..(although I never hear any specifics) yet you don't demonize Democrats being in bed with the unions, which force union dues and spend it on the Democrats...? You don't demonize Democrats for creating and jumping in bed with new "green corporations"....
They aren't trying to get rid of corporatations involvment in politics....they are just trying to create ones they control. It's all about a power grab...all in the name of "going green". Much like our housing system was destroyed all in the name of "affordable housing"....
Come on man....open the mind.
If the us outsource jobs outsside the usa, why need education? Like everyone here to sell Chinese products? Taxing is the only way can let the jobs back.
outsource is crime!
Fareed is right. The US has been dis-investing for a long time, and it shows. We have fallen behind in lots of areas, and it will only get worse unless we start addressing the real problem. Washington can make a difference, but there needs to be leadership on this issue. Obama is trying, but so far his exhortations seem to have fallen on deaf ears.
For all of you folks who think that America would be just fine if we would squeeze a little more out of the poor and working classes to improve our competitiveness, think about this. America ranks 4th in the world in competitiveness (largely because of our size, access to higher education and YES wage flexibility). Yet we have only the 23rd best infrastructure, and are a humiliating 41st in infant mortality. Worse still, America is no longer a place where anyone can make it. In a 2005 study of social mobility across generations – basically how likely is it that you can move out of the economic class you were born into – the U.S. came last of the six countries examined, behind Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Canada and even Britain.
America is certainly a piece of crap today compared to the one I thought I would be inheriting.
America's future is all used up.
my solution:
1. increase education spending: we are so focused on sports which is fine, but lack emphasis on competitiveness, math, science, and our own English. Because scholastics isn't nearly emphasized, we are not as innovative.
2. add tax incentives for parents to be more involved with their kids. As a result, we can slowly decrease prison expenses.
3. remove the concept of welfare into more like, get you back on your feet and treat it like unemployment. thus you are motivated to get a job.
4. encourage personal savings. That's where real growth is, not on credit. therefore we as individuals can afford more longer term
again, all this is ideal. but too many people have too many lawyers and unions, which in turn make things convoluted to make significant changes.
Fareed has made some excellent points. The below are my contributions (some will be controversial):
First, abolish the notion that we are the world's policeman. Either we do things in unison with other countries, and stop assuming an unequal burden, or we do not act. Even in Libya.
Second, China just announced that it would spend a record $68 billion for the next year on its defense. And the USA will spend over $700 billion for defense. Who are we competing with?We are spending over 10 times what China does and why?
Third, we have hundreds of installations overseas. Rep. Ron Paul has tried for years to have a "BRAC" study these for realignment/closure/whatever with no success. If Paul's legislation became law, we could save billions.
Fourth, we have thousands of troops overseas. Why? It it benefits the host nation, why not bill them?
Fifth, every city, state and the national government owns thousands of hard assets. Why not sell them? whatever we need, we can lease back.
Sixth, every military installation in the USA has excess buildings, lands and whatnot. Why not lease these to commercial interests.
The list is endless. Too bad our pols do not have the courage to follow up.
They haven't lost their courage, you have to have something to lose it. They are too busy filling their own pockets to take the problems of America seriously.
Bob said: " every city, state and the national government owns thousands of hard assets. Why not sell them? whatever we need, we can lease back."
Sell to whom, Bob? The Chinese? The transnational corporations who outsourced our jobs? The megabanks who are stuck with trillions in forclosed assets which they can't give away? Or maybe we can have a National Asset Lottery, raffle off the National Parks : Free burial plot at Arlington with the purchase of 5 tickets. Jeez!
@GHung - We are already losing America piece by piece to foreign investors. The amount of land and shares in publicly traded companies that have been bought up by Saudi nationals is frightening. They also own large percentages of American banks, such as Chase Manhatten. The ironic part of this is that America made Saudi Arabia rich by buying so much oil. Now they own us... figuratively and literally.
Getting financial control back of our country is essential, and greatly reducing our military budget would be a step in the right direction.
America will never return to it greatness without a revolution. We are mired in regulation, plutocracy, and mediocrity coupled with Graft and Corruption at the highest levels of government. We can not overcome corruption and greed at the ballot box because the next set of politicians are trained by the ones still there to leave their beliefs and morals behind and join in on the pillaging of our country.
Corruption is thickest at the local and municipal level, and in the lower courts, where lying by authorities is standard operating procedure, and where they always pat each other on the back. At the highest levels of government, at least they always have to consider the possibility that someone may be watching – such as an international news broadcaster. And the worst aspect of local government corruption in America is to be found in the public schools. American public education, which was founded to promote Christianity and civic strengths such as an educated and informed electorate able to vote intelligently, has been at war with the very concepts that founded it for the past fifty years or more. It is also at war with its own taxpayer base, which it is killing and driving out of their homes. 100 years ago, American public education was a bellwhether of middle-class strength. Today, American public education has been a key factor in undermining the American dream, and destroying the American middle class – and our politicians seem completely blinded to that fact.
Social security needs to go. That's number one. The program has lasted longer than it was supposed to, it was supposed to be for the generation before the boomers to help those who lost breadwinners during the depression and WWII and were unable to invest and save because of those losses. It was never supposed to be a long term program. Whenever I hear someone say "Well all I got is social security" I ask the question "Why? Why is that all you got? Did you ever save or invest any of your earnings in the years you were able to work? Or did you live beyond your means by buying goods you shouldn't have, or by having an excessive number of children you really couldn't afford to have?" I have no pity for those living on SS alone. You made your bed now lie in it, and stop putting the burdens of your mistakes on your kids. Now that the boomers are getting to the age to collect there is going to be even MORE money required for the program to continue to exist. Just rip the damn band aid off already, because it will eventually have to come off.
Also, if someone also tries to pull the disability card as a reason why they are on SS alone, I work at a company with many disabled people, one man has NO ARMS and he's supporting not only himself, but his 3 foster siblings and going to school. He takes no hand outs. There is another person here who is LEGALLY BLIND and working on computers. "I'm disabled" is a debunked excuse to not work anymore, there are many opportunities nowadays to work remotely, and a lot of accessibility tech to assist with a persons needs.
We also need to stop cutting funds to education and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), those are what makes a country a leader in this day and age, and where we used to lead, we are beginning to follow. We also need to stop enacting laws that drive businesses away from wanting to invest in this country. Highest corporate tax in the world. Who in their right business mind would want to walk into that?
No actually some of us worked hard and saved but we were ripped off by the bankers and charlatans on Wall Street and have nothing left. Some of us are still looking for the same opportunities that we had to work and prosper for so many years that are gone and most of those jobs are gone forever.
I am sure your holier than thou attitude doesn't allow you any compassion but you might try it sometime.
A good deal of my earnings WERE invested – into the Social Security fund. Benefits are somewhat out of line with payments, so some reductions may be necessary but SS is not a gift. I made other savings as well. A lot of people didn't or couldn't. It's a safety net for many. Are you willing to take care of aging parents in your home? Keep watch 24/7 so they (we) don't wander off as we lose our bearings. Time to think things out (and act), not time to make simple (and disastrous) knee-jerk 'solutions'.
This may be hard to believe for you, but millions of Americans live in poverty. No, they don't save and invest. They pay rent and the electric bill and hope there's enough left over to eat.
You're right, except for two things: We need to privatize education. Public education is a failure. The more taxpayer money "invested" in public education, the worse it gets.
Secondly, Social Security is not a welfare program for freeloaders, in most cases – although there are people who have come from other nations to the United States at retirement age to collect it. People who paid into it over the years are entitled to be paid from it as well. Social Security should be made voluntary, to be sure, and it would be better run as a privatized program, or the Government should allow private corporations to run similar programs. But most of the whining about "oh, now the baby boomers are retiring, oh no, they should all die" is a byproduct of age-bigotry tinged ignorance, not foresight. Social Security is not really the biggest problem we have. And if it is dismantled or modified in any way, the changes should be voluntary and gradual, not drastic and cruel.
If you have been reading the papers for the last twenty years you would know that the jobs have declined along with benefits. If you have been able to continously work and save for your adult life then good for you... but everyone knows except you that many if not most workers have been dealt out of that 1970's American dream.
Social security as I have always understood it is set up to stand alone and should have nothing to do with the general budget of the nation. Why it is always referred to as a fiscal problem confuses me.
I think if we want America to be number 1 again, we must elect politicians who believe that freedom of speech does not involve money, and corporations will have to back up and stop running the country from behind their bribed stooges.
The disheartening thing is that it's standard politics, but on steroids. Each party always tries to tax snd regulate the other's constituency, while giving benefits to their own. No news on that count. The distressing thing is that, apparently, nothing beyond that standard agenda is on their radar, and the agenda is in overdrive. Were rationality to prevail, they'd acknowledge, for example, that social security has NEVER contributed a penny to deficit, but has had its surplus used for other purposes (by both parties). It's "tear-down" politics that has nothing to do with building up the US.
Big budget items mentioned are Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Why is there no mention of the ridiculously large 30% of the budget consumed every year by Defense and related items? Why is this always such a sacred cow? If you have ever been in the military or worked on a Pentagon project you know how much inefficiency and waste there is. And that doesn't even address whether spending more than the rest of the world combined (including our allies) on "Defense" makes any sense at all.
I don't understand why we don't use the same tactics that FDR used. Why do we have people on welfare when people need jobs? We could be paying these people to perform public works projects. We would make America a better place by upgrading infrastructure, energy sources, building roads, rails, and monuments, while at the same time employing people and not adding to the deficit.
If we look to the past, its easy to see that the economy depends on the fluidity of exchange. The cheaper and easier it is to ship goods, the more money businesses have to hire people. The easier it is for people to move from place to place, the greater opportunity each person has to find a job. The cheaper and cleaner it is for companies to use energy, the less it will cost to do buisness and live. We just need to stop having children, or have a new family structure so we don't become over crowded.
How does fully stopping having children help? The birth rate in Japan dropped too low, and the population of the aging became too great for its economic vitality to continue. I believe the ecosystem of the earth and society itself would benefit more if more educated people with good intentions actually had more children and taught them by example how to live responsibly. Most of the births in the United States are among the relatively uneducated. Many couples with advanced degrees wait to have their only child until well into their 30's, and many similarly educated people have no children at all. Although there are exciting accounts of people breaking away from inner city or rural cultures that do not support education, this pattern tends to yield an ever growing population with little interest in science and investment in the future. These patterns suggest that another child or two in educated families will benefit society and the ecosystem.
The real takeaway from the Japanese example is that they may not be number one or two any longer, but they are the third strongest economy in the world. They don't seem to mind that, opting for a slight drop in population to importing hordes of non-Japanese. Contrast that England, a similar sized Island that has imported hordes of non-British from Asia, Africa, India, and other places. What do they have? I much higher crime rate, ongoing destruction of their culture, including the countryside, huge unemployment problems and an ethical struggle about what to do about it all. Pretty tough to compare these two, because it gives the lie to the concept of Multiculturalism. Also, Japan is a model for how to downsize a population while remaining strong economically. The world will crash hard, and sooner, not later, if we do not address the expanding world population.
I think that people should have kids only after thinking a lot on it. There are too many people having kids just because they think it what you do after marriage. Leave baby-making to people who would happily give up a lot of time and money for kids and don't rush the decision. We aren't living in the past without good knowledge of reproduction and how to avoid it. Most of us don't need a lot of kids to work on the farm and some spares. If we followed this thinking, I'm not convinced our economy would suffer. There would be less people to care for, less baby toys made in China to buy, (And then possibly by other foreign made things–Americans are addicted to cheap goods. You often feed China's growth when you shop at Walmart, Dollar stores!), and less of a population to take a toll on the environment. And yes, we do take a toll. It is too fast for the world to keep up now. It isn't liberal, environmentalist brainwashing getting to me. I don't watch TV or listen to the radio. I read different sources. My conservative dad told me when I was little about how we need to look for different, cleaner sources of energy soon. It just looks pretty obvious that we should, we should care about growth and pollution. Look at times and countries who aren't and you will see how it is clearly bad.
I don't think that by slowing our population will hurt things so much. Yes, Japan isn't exactly doing well and their birthrate is slow. While I am a Japanophile, I cannot say I hear big complaints of their falling behind in their place in the world. They need to work on who they put in their government, but I think they'll get better soon. Even without the population. And heh, maybe someday they'll have independent robots filling in their population, working to take part in their economy. Their robotics are beyond ours. They seem to accept green living more, also, less as a political thing? I think Japan is an OK model. We need to stop worrying about being number one so much. Let's just stay near the top...
I'm so sorry, but the America Number One is something about the pass....
The BRIC....Brazil, Russia,Indian and Chine is the owner the boll now....
Brazil last week get a Number seven...put the France under foot....this nation ,Brazil not have any problem with another parts of world...no have Vietna, Afegnestain, Iraqui....in your history...have tecnology, oil, strong agriculture,industries,water evere where...ecology,tourismo industry and, the most importante...have a pacefull ,fun peoples living and working there. Americal will die among your racism,wars and human espirit and fast...very fast peoples
Use our own resources, such as oil and most of the world's enconmies will collapse.
The US has 4% of the world's population, but consumes 25% of the world's oil. The world is running out of easily accessible oil. The cost of oil extraction will climb steadily, and reserves will decline. Most of our oil comes from other countries, and drives our trade deficit ever higher. The day is fast approaching when the dollar will no longer be the currency used for oil transactions. Alternative energy as a replacement for oil is proving to be a very big challenge. Uranium, copper, precious metals, and rare earth metals are all becoming scarce globally.
Rather than thinking about America's future, we had better start thinking about humanity's future. We are running out of everything needed for an industrial economy. The US is driving many of these declines with our insanely gluttonous consumption. China is using a lot of resources, but that's because the US is an insatiable market for China's products. We are a nation of spoiled brats.
Oil and its byproducts (fertilizer, tires, pesticides, etc.) are essential to modern agriculture. The price of food is skyrocketing in the developing world, and causing social upheaval. The US is burning oil in SUVs and giant pickup trucks. This generation seems determined to use up every last ounce of natural resources on this planet. I am 100% certain that the present level of consumption in the US will not continue. For one thing, we are a bankrupt nation. For another, we now have powerful economic competitors, which we have not had since World War II.
We in the US are very good at finger-pointing. But I think Fareed is right: we have chosen to burn our wealth and resources on personal consumption, at the price of economic growth and infrastructure. So this mess is OUR fault. Every time you shop, you cast a vote for your country's future. On the other hand, the consumer should not be expected to lead a lifestyle change. Our leaders should be leading. They are not. This is not just a lifestyle issue, or a growth issue. Oil depletion will place the lives of hundreds of millions of people at risk worldwide. Where are our leaders?
They have forseen all of this. They are like the smart squirel who forsaw the winter coming and stored up. The difference between them and the average American is they have all the true information while we are feed what they want us to know. I agree that Americans spend way to much. But by putting into America we help develope it within.
Lately the powers that be are not putting back in. They see whats about to happen and they are the storing up.
It is definitely a leadership issue. One economist has described America as DC to China's AC. Why nothing get's done here and change comes rapidly to China. China is adaptable because of Authoritative Capitalism. Perhaps what is sad is that the middle class that has born the brunt for the last thirty years and is now decrying the Republican slant are wrong – they have to bear the brunt even further if our society is to get back to growth. That is why the situation in America is so dire – the Republicans are correct about the changes needed even as they will not suffer the necessary pain required to make those changes, only the middle class will. The middle class must give up defined benefit for defined contribution and they must go back to school and pay for that schooling with whatever little savings are in their pension plans. Social Security must be raised to 70 and Medicare must raise co-pays and other forms of deductible. It is the liberals that must pay but that said Warren Buffett has admitted that at least not to seem too unseemly the super rich should have their taxes raised – mind you the conservatives are correct here too – that won't accomplish anything – but at least its a worthy token to the middle class suffering.
I agree, and American car makers should have been trying to put cars fueled by alternate sources on the market 20 years ago. The technology was there, they just didn't because it was easier to keep pumping out the gas guzzlers. The most energy-efficient vehicles are almost exclusively foreign-made, and American companies like Ford have barely started jumping on the bandwagon.
America should have been the one exporting fuel-efficient cars to OTHER countries, rather than insisting on sticking to our land boats and winding up having to import foreign cars because of climbing gas prices. The lack of foresight of the America auto industry just astounds me. Detroit wouldn't be in danger of becoming a ghost town if a few industry leaders had bothered to think beyond the next fiscal quarter.
Taxes worked after the robber barons created the last great depression. We seem to have the same liquidity problems caused by the rich becoming super rich and a burden our system cannot support. More tax cuts means more political influence means more tax cuts and the vicious cycle takes us down.
You are correct and it is way past time for real change. It is our responsability to make it happen.
'We are talking about cutting the budget but not actually dealing with any of the major programs that are going to be the big drivers of cost – Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security. ' errm isn't Defense one of the biggest discretionary spends we have – why is this never mentioned? Why do we need such a big Defense budget if when we want it, like a Libya no fly zone, they say 'Ohhh, that's a big job....
We could not rely on our politicians (both sides) to make these things happen, to spearhead and make sacrifices for the sake of our economy as well as make life better for the hardworking Americans. All they are concerned are short term selfish goals; getting re-elected, control both houses and line their pockets with lobby money.
I admire businessmen like Warren Buffet who is willing to make a gamble just to help our economy. Hopefully the rest of the businessmen who are sitting on trillions of cash will do the same in order that America will once again be an economic powerhouse.
You hit it right on the Head. First Swing. I see that you are tired as well. Tired of Liars and corrupt politicians who spend us into a debt that we can not get out of due to their own selfish agenda.
You hit it right on the Head. First Swing. I see that you are tired as well. Tired of Liars and corrupt politicians who spend us into a debt that we can not get out of due to their own selfish agenda. Keep the faith it will change soon.
I am responding to the information I reieved from March 6th 2011 Sunday Morning show that was aired. There was a piece that worried me and it was concerning Home Grown Terror. The piece that concerned me the most was that there was a protest in New York and the protest was due to American Musliams stating that they were being targeted for profiling. I want to say, not that what I say will be listened to, but it is important however We the Natural born Americans who's forfathers toilled the soil that brought fourth the grain form decades past, are the ones who are being targeted. The laws that were put in place to protect us are now being used againt us. This Nation has become soft from fear of our own Law enforcement as well as our Government. Political correctness has caused such a divide in this Nation and this problem will not change but only worsen. It will partky be the reason for the down fall of what was once the Greatest Nation to ever exist. Peole flock here to reap the rewards of the hard working Americans while we wait in fear of this Nation to Collaspe from within, while they reap all the rewards. We are tired and Change has to happen and we the Americans are the ones who will make this Happen. And not by voting. It is time for real Change. This is not politics. This an angry American who is a demograph. I represent most of the ones who are afraid to step up.
God Bless This Great Nation. If you are a leader in this Nation it is your responsability to do the right thing no matter what the outcome on your part is. Leaders are given the authority they have due the the people having faith in them and some use this authority to further their needs and forget why they are in the place of power in the first place. The people are tired and the time has come that real change happens. God Bless America.
"...American companies will do very well while American workers might not." So Marx was right after all?
In general, I find Zakaria's whiny comments akin to those heard during the dreadful Carter years – we suffer under the burden of a national malaise. That sort of discussion led nowhere then and it will lead nowhere now because Zakaria and others fail to appreciate key facts about Americans – namely we are inclined to set out own destiny, to set our own goals, and to pursue our own dreams. At one end, Zakaria routinely laments our declining world status suggesting that our international perception somehow determines our fate as Americans. On the other end, inept leaders have tried to project our power on other countries seemingly forgetting about our own national aspirations. Each fail to realize that what counts is what we want to become, what adventures we seek to pursue, to better ourselves as we see fit.
I do think we face great challenges but watching Zakaria wring his hands will not serve us well. Rather, the critical first step in meeting those challenges is to clearly determine and then to relentlessly strive towards what we the people want to become in the 21st century.
Great post.
KTV: "The critical first step in meeting those challenges is to clearly determine and then to relentlessly strive towards what we the people want to become in the 21st century."
Zakaria did that. KTV, you did not. Instead, you whined. You blindly rejected the important truth that China, India, and European nations are racing ahead of us in prosperity, education, productivity, and health, while Americans have permanently lost their jobs, schools, highways, and retirement savings to looters on Wall Street and in the oil and weapons industries.
Zakaria diagnosed problems and proposed solutions. I don't fully agree with them, since he ignored runaway war spending and the refusal of employers to hire people over age 40, no matter how skilled they are.
But at least Zakaria addressed facts and proposed answers. KTV, you merely whined.
No, Carter tried to get America to address problems head-on and got fired for it. (Obama has learned from that). Reagan made people feel good with charisma and deficit spending, but to what effect? All of "Carter's" problems are still with us, but worse: We are more dependent on foreign oil than ever. Iran is still there making trouble. The national debt is still skyrocketing. Economic inequality is reaching highs seen only in the 1920's. The problem wasn't Carter, it was the American public which refuses to own up to the facts.
I think what is coming; DEPRESSSION goes into high gear
U.S. Dollar RISES
DEFAULT on gov. loans; city, county, state
Public unions hold of corruption will be broken
Rich will be "turned on"
Public will "TURN AGAINST" government spending to stimulate" becasue given to special interests
U.S. public to demand their gov get out of foreign affairs
You can bet that in up and coming economic powers, they're not dismissing evidence-based scientific knowledge by teaching creationism in schools, even as an alternative to be considered.
CANT BE DONE AS LONG AS OBAMA IS PRESIDENT
NO HOPE AT ALL! THE REASON? OBAMA DECLARED WAR ON THE ELITE WHO DO ALL THE HIRING>
AND THEY HAVE ALREADY SAID THEY WILL NOT INVEST WHILE OBAMA IS IN OFFICE SO ENJOY BEING UNEMPLOYED<THERES A HOLE LOT OF IT IN YOUR FUTURE. NEXT TIME YOU BEST BE VERY CAREFUL HOW YOU USE THAT VOTE<IT DOES HAVE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH IT. SO NEXT TIME THINK IT THROUGH...
IT WAS A STUPID MOVE TO ELECT THE OBAMANATION NOW WE ARE PAYING THE PRICE. HOPE YOU SMATER THAN THAT NEXT TIME AMERICA, IF YOU GET IT WRONG NEXT TIME IT WILL BE A NATIONAL SUICIDE! (you can have your part in the death of a nation) THINK BEFORE YOU VOTE!
well of course a homophobe and senile McCain would be sooo much better.
He offers no solutions at all. He says "you will change jobs ten times" as if it is a good or desirable thing. You will change jobs because the company will downsize or send you job to a third world country. This is NOT progress. It is no solution to race to the bottom. Instead of working for 35 cents a day like in China, Americans will undercut them by working for 32 cents a day. Now that's a great solution if I ever heard one. I know people that have lived in Beijing for 25 years and still have not learned Mandarin. It is not something you learn, it is a life process. As he offers no serious options for the future of America, I suggest we listen to a wiser voice. Bring back the middle class by making the playing surface more fair. The game is ridiculously rigged against honest workers and favors banksters and Wall Street bonuses over all else. Much of this is very simple. Why did not one single bank in Canada fail. Why were Canadian's retirement investments safe while Americans retirement investsments were stolen from them? This might be a good place to start. The economic collaspe in America was created and not a necessary evil. Don't tell us this is the way it is. Tell us why you have made it this way.
Great post Edward! I couldn't better express what you've just said.
Throw Obama out period, small to mid-size business does not like this man. They see nothing alike with him the first two year's he tried to hurt them and they "will pay him back"!!!!!!
This man doesn't have a clue. He knows no more than any of the other characters. Get the hook!
The reason the U.S. is no longer #1 may be encapsulated by the fact that we are being lectured on it by someone from Egypt, who has an excellent job in the U.S. I have nothing against Fareed Zakaria. In fact, I think he does a great job as a foreign correspondent. But when he does pieces that seek to make judgment and give advice to the core of America on American issues, it does seem a bit ironic.
Fareed Zakaria is not from Egypt. He was born in Mumbai (Bombay), India.
Please check your facts before you comment.
You cant be for more bankrupt govt and anti business than wonder why things are not going so well:)
There is too many idiots in this country now to survive
We can get back to #1 by making education the single highest expenditure in this country, getting rid of the "teach to the test" system, and putting in its place a system of education that instructs students on logic, critical thinking, the scientific method, creativity, languages, and the arts. America's greatest resource for the past century-plus has been our ability to innovate and bring new ideas to the global market. By educating students on how to THINK, analyze, and apply concepts to reality, then within just a few decades we'd be back on top.
Of course, this will never happen. We as a culture don't value education much, and we certainly don't value intellectualism. When states run budget deficits, education is usually the first expenditure they gut, and our nation is suffering for it. For as long as we under-value real, rigorous education in this country, we're in for a future of recession after recession after recession, and a forever dwindling middle class. If there's one thing that feudalistic states have in common, it's lack of quality education for the masses.
I agree that underinvestment in education is a serious problem.
Yet no amount of school investment can fix the millions of parents who don't coach their school-age kids to succeed. It is these parents, and their underperforming kids, who are doing the greatest damage to our schools. These students who drag down our schools need new parents, not just better-paid teachers.
It is unfortunate that many of these same parents blame schools for inadequate parenting.
It's also unfortunate that our welfare state subsidizes worthless parents to have kids. Let's face it, most of these kids will be damaged goods as adults, thanks to their parents. And who pays for this? Middle-class taxpayers, of course, which means that they can't afford to have big families. So we reward the worthless and punish the productive. This sounds like cultural suicide to me.
under investment in education? Really? Each president continues to spend more on education and that includes George W. Bush. He spentd way more than his predecessor...Clinton. And I'm sure Obama will outdo him.
We spend more...we just throw more into the black hole. Teachers unions have ruined our educational system. the problem is with the middle layer of managment and the unions. They suck up the money. We need to do away with the dept of Education and eliminate teachers unions. Either that or give people a choice. Vouchers would change the way politicans respond. We've seen over and over these charter schools and home schooling that can way out perform public schools. Give the poor families a chance to get their kids into charter schools and private schools. The problem is most definetly NOT under investment.
Bryan – that's not true. A small portion of charter schools outperform public schools. It's wrong to get your information from a biased source such as "Waiting for Superman." (A film financed by the Gates Foundation, which is doing all the wrong things in the name of "improving schools.")
And charter schools that are successful have parents that care enough to get their children admitted to begin with. Those schools often even require parents to volunteer time at the school.
The schools that spend the most on students are also usually those that have the best outcomes.
Finland has the best test scores in the world and are often spoken of by Gates and others as a model to emulate. However, we are doing the opposite of what Finland is doing. They have teachers' unions, support for preschoolers, almost no standardized testing and educators are well-paid and respected. And the recent attacks on teachers are all right-wing fueled. Yes, I would say the move is on the privatize schools. Who will be educated then? Only those who can afford it. We are well on our way to having an upper class and a peasantry. I guess we're closer to the Old World than I thought.
America possibly fell behind through the years because of her pre-occupation in fighting for and some against equality for all its citzenry; which was the thrust of the Civil Rights movement. It was a huge issue. Change was everywhere and as schools were being integrated by law ... perhaps a few of our young Americans lost that extra focus that is needed to excel in various subjects. It is part of the shame of the past. Now you are right to talk about reinvigorating excellence, innovation and the hope of restoring the American dream. If we can see it ... maybe we can begin it. Everything circumvents to education. We start in and with better educators and leadership that will motivate our progress.
The USA is involved in genocide and imperialist policies around the World while China and other powers prefer investment. After all, who cares about being number 1?
Its too expensive to operate a business in America, we have the highest corporate taxes in the world. We have green house gas regulations, the E.P.A. is shutting down our main source of cheap energy (coal). World Government government is being established and America and the dollar has to fall.
This isn't Japan, Germany, or the UK. Americans want a much smaller government. Do that, reduce everyones tax bite by 10-15% and consumerism and investments will get back on track. Cutting all the waste that congress is working on is a good thing...CUT THAT BUDGET TO THE BARE BONES.
CORRECTION: AMERICA is the continent that extends from Chile to Canada. The official name should be..."United States
Of America". That is why we have SOUTH AMERICANS because they also live in the AMERICAN CONTINENT!!!
Nonsense, but fine.
Since when have we, as a nation, fallen so far? The liberal media is so quick to count America as down and out that it is laughable! Please tell me if we are 2nd 3rd or 4th behind what nation. The last time I looked we are still the greatest country in the world! Yes we are in debt however we still enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the developed world. We will overcome these trying times and remain the leader of the free world! All we need are some commentators who will tell it like it really is and stop trying to convince everyone of a doomsday scenario!
Something has been wrong last 30 years if we had to borrow heavily to keep up with other developed nations. At the same time we exported about 15 millions jobs!
Yes, we are the greatest nation on credit!
If we are the greatest country on earth why are we one of the most poorly educated of all industrialized nations? If we are so great why do we spend more on health care than any one but have lower outcomes than many? If we are in a great position why are we inventing less, manufacturing less, and exporting less? Look, the American people have lost their way – they are more interested in beating their neighbor than in helping them. We have forgotten that what helps one of us helps all of us. We are a community and we need to start acting like it again.
As long as we have lawmakers who can't agree on what color toilet paper to use, the American dream will never come back. It is long gone, we go to war on lies and kill people for no reason what -so-ever. We have news people who put out negative reports from anything to everything. Some say this country is the chosen one, and most feel we are the devil. We are the most hated country in the world and we have abused our power to no end, hell we can't even take care of our own, if think we can just look around you. The American Dream don't make laugh. Americna you can;t handle the truth!!!!!!
Thanks, Zakaria!
We need to press for real solutions! The public is not there yet, in large part because it is consumption-oriented, and also fooled by GOP-TP propaganda. What is happening though in MidWest, is slow awakening that cutting education and services is just swan song, nothing will improve, just more accumulation of wealth in wealthy 1%. We need to address military expeditures and health care expeditures, to lower our spending, and raise taxes, to increase our revenues.
Investments in our future will include better and more affordable education and government-sponsored investments in infrastructure that will be relevant in 20-30 years.
No private entity will do that!
Research is the key. Research into energy sources. Research into food production increases, such as innovative farming practices. Research into water conservation and cleaning. Those are the basics. Food, water, and energy available to a dynamic population is what's made America great, and will restore it. Their lack will destroy us. But our government is busy calling their enterprises by false names. For example, touting "health" care, instead of medical care, is a hollow promise. No one can provide health to someone else.
YOu cannot bare bones anything..whether it be business or govt. The Corporate World does not want to invest in the american worker..just sell here in the U.S. Until governments require corporations to recreate a middle income level....the taxes will be insufficient to sustain us. We will end up like China or Mexico...most people will have nothing...there will be a huge welfare class....this works for the republicans and it is right in tune with the democrat way of thinking also.
Right on target!!!
To make a statement under the headline like "As the rest of the world catches up and surpasses the U.S., economically and in other areas,...." Is a bit much. True the economy and spending has lowered us a little, but do you really think that the "rest of the world" is catching up and surpassing us? C'mon. I guess African nations need to start sending aid for us since we are so low and pitiful. Zimbabwe, can you spare a dime ?
I recommend that you re-read what Frank said above:
"America ranks 4th in the world in competitiveness (largely because of our size, access to higher education and YES wage flexibility). Yet we have only the 23rd best infrastructure, and are a humiliating 41st in infant mortality. Worse still, America is no longer a place where anyone can make it. In a 2005 study of social mobility across generations – basically how likely is it that you can move out of the economic class you were born into – the U.S. came last of the six countries examined, behind Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Canada and even Britain."
Students still come from around the world to our colleges - but when they graduate with business and technology degrees, they take their small businesses and their jobs and leave the U.S. because of our conservative immigration policies. India's economy is booming partly because U.S. Immigration and Customs tells India-born graduates that they are not welcome to stay here.
We do not have an immigration policy! These students you mention can stay. The odds of an over-stayer or illegal immigrant being thrown out is infinitesimally small. The INS is a token affair. However, if we did control immigration things would improve a great deal. This need not be some cruel purge of tens of millions. The SS numbers and employer tax reporting tell us who is here and employed. Notify their employers that they can keep the ones they have as of today that they can send their real name in in for a real SS number for them, but no more. Hire another illegal and go to jail. Very simple. Soon there would be jobs for teenagers and then a little trickle up...
Lowering taxes last 30 years brought about one significant change: huge increase in consumption and decrese in investments.
Given our obscene trade deficits, it fueled raise in economical power of other countries through our insane consumption. The only winners are big multinational corporations!
Now we pay price for that!
Aside from the banking and healthcare issues, no one is addressing the other real issue. All the money is going to the top. If there is one person sucking all the air out of the room, then the rest of the people can’t breath. We need to regulate AIR SUCKING.
DEMAND MOVES THE ECONOMY, not tax cuts.
If we regulate upper management pay, then that will force more money to the workers. When the workers have more money to spend, they spend a larger percent of their income than the rich.
A few things happen here.
When people have more money to spend, it creates DEMAND. When demand goes up, so does employment, which means more people have more money to spend.
-- It’s a snowball affect. -–
As more people make more money, they pay more taxes. Now the government has more money to work with. The deficit and the debt can be brought down. Everyone’s standard of living improves. Now we can bring back the prosperity of the 50’s & 60’s. We can start focusing on roads, power grids, bridges, renewable green energy, etc…
Now we may be able to phase out corporate tax. If we can remove corporate tax, or at least reform it, then companies may want to come back to America. - More jobs!! (Snowball affect)
Look - we all know the stats. In the early 70’s, CEO’s made 30X the average worker. Today they make 300X. The top 1% of Americans now receives 23% of the nation’s income. The last time this happened was in 1929 and we know what happened then. No one wants to address this, but this is THE REAL PROBLEM.
If we can’t control the flow of money to the top, then this country is doomed to become a third world country with two classes, the very rich and the very poor.
STOP THE AIR SUCKING!! I think this is the best way for America to get it's groove back.
Thank you for your time,
Jim
Modern capitalism is very flawed. It is an extension of greed and unsustainable without certain conditions, these conditions are not good for the people. Remove most liberty increase police state ideas are the two biggest parts. This continues in the US, and what people are rebelling against in other nations and what we rebelled against not so long ago. This is a world wide problem which exasperates any potential reform. It is an extension of past greed implemented in a more modern way and it is still failure. The haves don't really care and the have nots are getting by the best they can. It is very sad and a testament to who we are that this is what we made.
The Truth is not a dream. These fools are such trators to the Citizens of our Nation. The failure to even consider killing a million moslems every administration or to removing the Zionist from the administration or the truth that 9/11 was a government operation. Until the people speak the truth there will be no repair.
The first article I've seen by Mr. Zakaria I agreed with. I've been so put off by his biased views I've been skipping anything with his name, but read this one on impulse. Guess I'll have to give him another chance. I really like his "trivial" comment on what is being done with the budget battle. Exactly what I think of Wisconsin and other states focusing on small groups with little political power that will barely slow down their deficits. It will take a significant amount of pain for most Americans to fix our economy, but what I see both state and federal governments doing is picking out high visibility items that the majority of people won't object to and the media will happily endorse as news – and getting politicians' names national recognition (as in, re-elect me). Fixing our economy is going to be like body building; no pain, no gain.
Interviewing Zakaria as if he is some kind of expert makes about as much sense as people on here interviewing one another.
We can start getting American back together again with one major, easy solution. When someone asks you what nationality you are, reply, "I am an American" If you were born in the USA, you are not Italian, you are not German, you are not African, you are not Chinese, you are not Spanish. Once we stop concentrating on what makes us different and focus on what makes us the same, it is easy to realize a common goal and purpose.
Secondly, we can stop electing politicians who do the same by focusing on their attempts to be the controlling party instead of focusing on the bottom line.
Third, stop letting newscasters tell you how to think. Creative minds develop creative solutions only when we learn to think for ourselves.
Correct! I never heard a black Colombian or Panamenian being called "African Colombian or African Panamenian". In the USA whoever looks Hispanic is called "Mexican" regardless of the place of birth. However, it is taken for granted that any white person is a USA citizen. Nobody calls them "European Americans". It is common to say that Blacks came from
Africa, BUT what about the whites? The USA will be great when it stops the imperialist policy, racism is erradicated and
USA citizens admit that other people are humans!!!
I thank Fareed for his attention to education.Technical education in building and carpenty and agriculture would be a ogood idea . I have a few ideas that will make it easier for teachers and parents to teach children.
a/ remove all toxic chemicals from childrens and all peoples clothing like detergnets with toxic fumes and laundry softeners and go not toxic and fragrance free. . Chemical fragrances effect the brain and cause irritability This effects brain cells.
b/ Remove hydrogenated oils and tnasfat and false sugars and most of all the corn syriup sugar that causes addictions and also effects learning.
d/ do not allow particle board and formadehdye in school building and in any buildings as parents and kids get tired and cant think if they are being poisoned.
e/ Gpverment to disallow toxic fumes from carpets.
Some of these things including random pesticde fumes in schools and homes witll help kids protect the few brain cells they might have been born with
f/ Demand some kind of standards – education standards to tv and movies.The sick crap our kids are absorbing is horrendous and promotes ingnorance .
iIGNORANCE is the only thing we have an abundance of in usa.
g. Tax the junk food corporations in such a way that they will remove the junk . Tax according to the level of unhealthy ingedients.
FOOD POLICE IS A GOOD IDEA. Amercians want a choice but they are a lready incapable to think straight or even read lables as the parents themselves are brain dead from the junk they are eating.
WE NEED SOME CLEANING UP OF OUR FOOD AND WATER AND PERSONAL USE TOILETIRES AND HOME PRODUCTS AND BUILDINGS SO KIDS CAN LEARN BETTER.Teachers and parents need to do the same .We are a nation of sofa sitting zombies drugged with wrong food and sythetic sugars and junk.
daliya robson
WHOA, not fair. Once we start down "your path" we will need 1,000 more pages. Maybe we could just "sterilize the retarded and lobotomize and sterilize criminals"
Bound to be more efficient.
Fareed Zakaria for President, if he was born here.
Ha-ha-ha sorry he was not. He's just another Indian who wants to be like an American.
You mean USA citizen? South Americans or Latin Americans are also AMERICANS!
Education, education, education hits it right on the head. I'm moving to Hong Kong in April to take advantage of a business opportunity that wouldn't have been available if I hadn't learned to speak Mandarin. I'm also completing an MBA in global management and working on Cantonese - and when that's done, I hope to tackle Korean and Japanese, as well.
A thought for you to ponder; Brilliant One. The man who currently is certified the smartest on earth, that is by IQ, lives in a tiny plain home outside small town works bartending and sometimes bouncer before he rides his motorcycle home.
Since he is arguably smarter than you; What of his choice?
We have always been pretty hard on ourselves, as we were raised with optimism that if we put our mind to it we could accomplish anything. After WW 2, our bogy man was the Soviet Union. Like it or not it kept us focused. Then when they fell apart we starting wringing our hands about the Japanese. Now of course the Chinese Communist have everything figured out, and will over take us. Reality is this massive generation of Baby Boomers is clueless how we got on top in the first place. Like many before us we are an Empire. Empires usually become stretched to the limit and we are. If we though only about our well being we would probably be oaky. If we continue to juggle all these current moving parts while being the worlds cop something will have to give.
Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security.
It seems like we have the solution maybe we need some elected officials who have the guts to do what their tax payer pay check is giving to them to do. It is amazing to me how many people are willing to pay their taxes just to pay an official to do nothing.
Why SS, which is not contibuting to deficts, but not military that is wasting hundreds of billions???
I agree. Let's start with "means testing" SS and Medicare.
let's implement "tort reform"
let's allow "medications" be purchased anywhere.
let's actualy built the "border fence"
let's "get out of the American Taliban mode" on legal pot, gay marriage & military, assisted suicide, abortion
let's "end ASAP all government employment" let them work for national average or private sector compensation
example, in Las Vegas, Nv the highest paid public employee in the state; fireman at $444,000.00
let's allow a single pay simple package of "health care for Citizens"
LET'S stop bringing in un-educated. Instead open to smartest, wealthiest, most educated, accomplished ! !
The first thing we have to do is get rid of the Fool who is currently occupying the Oval Office.
It's not going to get better until Limbaugh shuts up, Beck goes bye bye and FOX (news) really becomes Fair and balanced. Maybe the Republicans can stop their war on the middle class too.
I agree. Fox leads around it's angry followers like sheep. Blind sheep at that. Ready to believe anything that feeds their anger.
I could not be any more middle class, and honestly beleive liberals think money grows on trees. Have you ever listened to Rush or watched Beck's show? Of course not. Your a liberal who gets news from other liberals promoting liberal points of view. A sound bite or two in the context liberals present it and your opinon is given to you. Sad that your mindset is still in the junior high lunch room
At one time I was listening to Limbaugh and I still tune into Fox, and yes, Glen Beck. I do this because it just proves to me how wrong the paranoid are, and I get it straight from their own mouth.
I used to listen to Rush, Glen and Sean H. I tuned in the other day to SH and he was referring to a birther comment. He used the term "opinion" as if it were not a fact that Obama is a citizen. He wasn't even subtle about it. He and others feed the fear. Our country has been in a state of fear and anxiety since 9-11 and these guys live off it. I tried to listen to Rush as well and after five minutes felt depressed. Maybe it's natural to hear our closest held fears or beliefs repeated by others and think "A-ha, I knew it!" That doesn't mean that fear or belief is true or just. We need people with perspective and common sense to get on the airways and in office to help lead our country. When did educated/intelligent people become the enemy? The governor of Wisconsin didn't even finish college. Why would someone like that value education? The people who voted for him obviously didn't think it was important. Very sad.
why can't we cut 300 billion from defense every year and reap the rewards in infrastructure and education. why do we want to spend trillions defending a core that is rotting, unworthy of the treasure and lives it takes to defend it in it's current state. why not america, create something WORTH defending
WE COULD AND SHOULD, but politicians are bought-n-paid-for-whores and in this case one of thier masters is;
the Industrial Military Complex
Did you know when we build a jet fighter that pieces are made in all 50 states? brilliant if you are making sure there is NO politician NOT on the payroll.
I have not watched this entire segment but caight a portion of it on tv. My only question would be in regards to Fareeds's assessment that the days of a steel worker buying a house and sending his kids to college are over. I ask why? Why should those days be over? What has caused those days to be over? I point specifically to manufactring and illegal immigration. The manufacturing debate is complex but the immigration problem is simple in my opinion. It starts at the top. We should expand immigration task forces to catch and fine both owners, contractors and anyone who hires an illegal immigrant. I am not for shutting off the borders but make it harder for an illiegal immigrant to find and keep work here by penalizing the employer. That way wages can at least increase in the blue collar construction, hospitality and small manufacturing sectors we have remaining. The idea that all Americans can become white collar workers is naive at best. It's really delusional in my opinion. All countries must have three social classes to create stability. Without a strong middle this country is not far from events like those in the middle east.
It wouldn't be possible for the US to do well when it is infiltrated by Israel and corrupted to put their interests over ours.
What crap! What we need to do is tell the Arabs to kiss off.
The big debate is around whether or not we want a larger central government or a smaller central government. I stand with those that think a large central government is slowly ruining this country. Time for each of us to stop blaming someone else and go make our own way in the world. Looking to the federal govt to solve your problems or provide for your family is shameful and a sign of weakness. The more dependent you are the less free you are. I don't know why so many on this site are so opposed to the very basics of this great country – free enterprise, limited government and self-reliance.
Why would you willingly argue for less choice in your life and more government control??
Free enterprise is code for less corporate regulation, which is exactly what got us into this mess. The only way out is to start squeezing the rich. I know, you just pluged your ears and when la la la la la. Today the top 1% of Americans bring home 23% of the nations income. The last time this happened was 1929. It was regulation from a bigger government on business and banks that got us out of that mess. In the 40's, 50's & 60's as probuctivity went up, so did eveyones pay. That was properity. In the 70's through loop holes the wealthy were able to suck all the air out of the room, so worker pay went flat and the rich got richer.
You preach self-reliance yet your beloved corporate America hires foreigners instead of Americans. You have the blinders on bud, your limited government just promotes thievery and slavery.
The chickens of 'globalization' and the 'New World Order' are coming home to roost. Destroy the American Middle Class and elevate the corporate plutocrats with the help of that wholly owned subsidiary of Wall Street.....The United States Government....The Corporate CoupD'etat of America is almost complete. Freedom, Privacy and Prosperity in this once great land are on the road to oblivian....and then something wicked will come this way to set things right.
The demise of America started A LONG TIME AGO!
A nation is similar to a house. It is only good as it's FOUNDATION!
This nation's foundation is WICKED in the Almighty's eyes! THIEVERY , SLAVERY, and MURDER was used to obtain this NATION, which did NOT BELONG to the people who SAILED SO FAR ACROSS THE OCEAN TO ESTABLISH THIS NATION AT THE EXPENSE OF INNOCENT PEOPLE! When a THEFT is committed, and time passes by without the THIEF RECEIVING HIS JUST PUNISHMENT, it becomes EASY TO FORGET WHO IS THE "ORIGINAL OWNER" of what was STOLEN! Know this for sure, THE ALMIGHTY HAS NOT FORGOTTEN!
Thomas Jefferson himself said, " Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is JUST, that His justice cannot sleep forever" These words clearly testify AGAINST the Founding Fathers showing they KNEW FULL WELL what they were doing and that their GROSS SINS would someday mean PUNISHMENT for how this nation was ESTABLISHED. They KNEW that one day The Almighty's righteousness would demand JUSTICE!
All nations must receive their REWARD, GOOD OR BAD for what they have done in the SIGHT OF GOD! America is NO EXCEPTION! Daniel 7:7 tells us "After this I kept on beholding in the visions of the night, and see there! a fourth beast FEARSOME and TERRIBLE and UNUSUALLY STRONG. And it had teeth of iron, big ones. It was DEVOURING and CRUSHING, and what was left it was TREADING DOWN with it's feet. And it was SOMETHING DIFFERENT from ALL THE OTHER BEASTS that were PRIOR to it, and it had TEN HORNS." The World Power that is NOW, by carrying on this same DEVOURING DISPOSITION, is in many ways, an EXTENSION of this FOURTH BEAST. All the BLOODGUILT that has accumulated from this MONSTROUS BEAST is BEFORE THE ALMIGHTY and will SOON receive PUNISHMENT by the Glorified Son of God, JESUS CHRIST and his HEAVENLY ARMY! (Revelation 19:11-21) HEAR THE WORD OF THE ALMIGHTY: "Look! He is coming in the clouds, and every eye will see him, and those
WHO PIERCED HIM and ALL the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in GRIEF because of him,
Yes, Amen (Revelation 1:7) "YES I AM COMING QUICKLY!
wow, we can all go back to 1800 , and wait for the rapture.
Education, education, education! America has absolutely ignored Americans, most importantly, American youth (especially in the south). These kids are dumb, bottom line. I've never felt so hopeless for the future till interacting with what our high schools and colleges are spitting out. Teachers don't care, students care less. Only way to get America back on track is through education of the youth. That's all, that's it. Stop ignoring education. You throw $800 billion at big wig wall streeters who cheated the system and should be in jail, yet thousands of teachers are being laid off in each state because no one can afford them anymore? Kids in Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Northern Florida, etc., are being taught out of books from 1971? Education, education, education should be priority number one!
Nick – I think you're on the right topic, but missing the point(s). We already spend more on education than everyone else. Maybe we should spend more, but not until the system gets cleaned up. We need incentives and choice to create more competition. Bad teachers need to go. Students need to understand the linkages between an education and their lot in life. It's a cruel world and the better prepared you are the more likely you are to succeed.
Nick is right about needing better education, but good education is expensive and should not be a privilege for the privileged. IT SHOULD BE A RIGHT.
JT, your just wrong.
America spends 17% on education
UAE 22%
Mexico 24%
Morocco 26%
and the winner is -Thailand 28%
This is so US-centric. Perhaps it's time for us to wake up and realize that every country has its own life cycle – the Roman Empire, the British Empire, etc – and maybe, just maybe, our prime time has past. Everyone can't be #1. I'm guessing it's China's turn now, until they destroy their environment to the point where it can't sustain their growth. Then someone else will be #1 – Brazil? All of this is based on erroneous thinking, that the economy must be constantly expanding to be healthy. Our economy – or any country's, for that matter – depends on non-renewable resources for growth. It should be obvious that an economy cannot expand indefinitely if its resources cannot. Read E.F. Schumacher's Small Is Beautiful for more details.
"It's called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it." -George Carlin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acLW1vFO-2Q
I love George Carlin, I think he's smart and funny, though cynical. And I don't think our problem is as simple as it's stated here. Our federal budget deficit was caused by over-spending on military and lowering-tax. So I don't think cutting medicare & social security is correct or fair. It's strange that almost all reporters and commentators think the congress needs to address the issues of cutting social benefits. I couldn't figure out why? However, fundamentally, our main problem is our weakening competitiveness. Just look at our young people, very few want to go to manufacture or scientific R&D or engineering jobs. They know they should go to a domestic, government, service industry, heavily protected by their unions. They are not stupid enough to take the burden of the country on their own shoulders, while the rest parasites sucking their blood. Most want to be the parasites, too.
The persons who can save America, are the people who are smart enough to see the problems, and who are stupid enough to believe they can fix it. Good luck, guys.
As always, GPS is on my front burner for Sunday and brings to CNN a great deal of perspective to the world. After reading the comments, I am reminded how ignorant so many are about politics and how government works and can never understand how people like Bachmann and Huckabee get elected. The comment about how great Reagan was is a perfect example, as the record under Reagan was lousy. Paul Wolfowitz has called for a “no fly zone” as have others, and Sec. Gates and Chief of Staff Daley pointed out clearly the difficulty in this. Retired Gen. Clark also pointed out the same; once again, ignorance and a failure to understand reality.
My generation (1942) bares a lot of the blame in that actions with the budget should have been taken years ago, but Congress was bought and paid for and the “few” made millions and billions at the expense of the majority and this continues today. As Fareed pointed out, the U.S. is far down the list with everything from education to longevity and the fall continues. The president campaigned on health care reform and yet, when it passed it seems that many are amazed and act as if it was an idea that just arrived on the scene. The posturing with repeal is just that as there is little chance to none that the Senate will go along and if it did the president will veto. Unfortunately, jobs will remain a problem along with housing and the oil companies will continue to make huge profits and Congress will remain on the take. The best hope is that like Clinton’s second term, Obama will be allowed to lead the country to recovery.
I rest my case!
You are preaching to the choir here brother. Nice post.
Who is Fareed Zakaria? What does he now about the US? We built our country without him, but now he's an expert on what we should do? Typically arrogant CNN.
LOL! I think we built our country without you as well, John. At least Mr. Zakaria knows how to think critically and propose an intelligent argument
This country was built without me as well. My family moved here from Iriland in the 1800's. They made themselves experts and played their part in building the country, and today I do my part.
Agree 100%. This guy is born in India and got naturalized. He came to America to spend his daddy's money at Ivy league schools and now he thinks he knows the answer to everything. He's about as American as snails for dinner.
Just because your family has been in America for more generations than his doesn't make you smarter than him. There are a lot of Americans just like you who can't even speak English properly. Fareed has studied American politics and economics in depth and understands these subjects at a much higher level than 80% of people you consider "real americans".
We spend billions on defense and other government-funded programs. Fine. We can debate what should or should not be funded. Regardless, why can't we mandate that ANY government-funded initiative use only American workers? That way, businesses would still create profits for themselves and provide value to their shareholders, but use American workers.
Our defense budget is too high and our taxes too low for the wealthy. That's the critical issue...certainly not
Social Securtity and Medicare. Besides, we are still very influential around the world and will continue to be, despite the claims of the Tea Potters and Republicans. After all, if we fail, the rest of the world will fail, also. We buy their products and goods. If we quit buying, they will suffer along with us. And they did when we had the Great Recession.
more hamburgers
How get America's groove back?
Take the power out of the hands of the obscenely wealthy and focus our efforts and funding on science, education, and infrastructure. This is not a secret.
"Getting your groove back" sounds as obnoxious and knuckle-dragging as "I'm lovin' it."
America's certainly not getting its groove back as long as people keep talking like that. And with the US being <65% white and dropping, I don't see that changing.
The problem is that he's not describing the future of this country, he's describing the past 30 years but he apparently THINKS he's describing the future.
There is no reason for the average American to care about investing the future of their nation when the benefits only accrue to the wealthy elite either way.
Good points Jason. It's ironic the behemoths of Wall Street and Corporate America which made the country rich are apparently also the ones destroying it. What happens if we have to implement a military draft again...I would have no desire to fight for this country in its present form. How many would flee to Canada?
I'm not going to talk all political, or world economics here, just observations from the streets, from the neighborhoods, all this to show another layer of disastrousness and key points I feel, in my view, are, have been extremely detrimental. Also, note, I have no time to fix grammatical errors, this is not an essay...
Think of these things as like too much salt, or too much smoking that at the end, socially, the ills are so immense and prevalent that NO WARNING helped curtail these problems.
So let me start... so much where the problems of this country are so varied and so unpreventable, perhaps even irreversible that its just ...
Lets see, where should I start... all the things that are affecting this country's future... education.
This is a culture hell bent on nihilistic entertainment. That could be ANYTHING that distracts, sets kids on a thwarted foolish path, and its en masse. This isn't just a few kids, its en masse. Generations lost to such pop cultural things as sports... yes sports. Tell me, how does spending time, following stats, cheering, spending time going to, watching, eating away at sodium fat foods while chugging down beer, dressing up like idiots, throwing, carrying little balls, amount to ANYTHING. And dont give me that "team-work" BS story... please. If you're intelligent you will be a leader or contribute to society, thats just weak tired justification. So, tell me.
Then there's the issue in popular culture in which Hip Hop has dragged generations down a thug-llife way of life, expressing themselves, carrying themselves, the mentality behind it – the sheep off the rack clothing style and mannerisms to the 'don't snitch' criminality allowing mentality to the aggressive, misogyny (hip hoppers are not chivalrous and worse), to the insecurity it all shows, the making up for lack of character, personality, and most dangerously TO education, the idea, the mentality, the cultural tradition that if you're smart, you're not hip, you's aint the chitt. Prove me wrong. Prove mee.... wwrooonnng.
Then you have the obsession with celebrity, all things distractive, the obsessions with gaming, the other huge time wasting idiocy, the obsession with gadgets, the deviations in sexual behaviour and how they are accepted... the acceptance that effeminate behavior in boys, men, is okay... that "you were born" that way... I can go on a long-winded thing about each one of these but I have a Sunday to enjoy, and no its not at no stinking church.
Lastly, and this is one not even the Tea Party peoples have even thought of:
Latino's, and I'm speaking specifically of the Latino's from MEXICO, not other Latino's, mind you Mexicans dont consider themselves latino, so you know there is some HUGE difference that you don't know of that they discriminate against other latino's but I wont go into that here, this is just to clarify the point.
As this population grows, the mentality and culture, the chauvinistic pride they have in their race will replace North or USA popular culture or mentalities. The humanities, the arts that were given birth like say, Jazz, Blues, you name it, will die out because with this group, they bring in THEIR cultural interests which they will NOT give up.
Its evident in their kids. These kids were born here, grow up here but do NOT assimilate, do not develop a pride or change in their traditions, they literally stay immigrant like even in talk and traditions. They dont you say? PROVE ME wrong. Go into these neighborhoods, talk to them, teach them, meet their parents, observe them... prove me wrong.
Anyway, just thinking about it is ultra depressing. Have a nice Sunday.
Thus, any educational reform or complete overhal you present them, give them, will not have a significant impact on them. Again... prove me wrong.
They are under acheivers because they DO NOT want to contribute to the success of the USA. They rather leech off of or thwart any success other than made-quck-fast-spend money.
There is no way we will be back on a "good list," not with the people that are currently running this country. Crooks, that is all I have to say. United States of Crooks!!!!!!
Learn mandarin chinese. Americans today are not interested in busting their but ts for their wages. And the current economy makes the average American wage incapable of raising a family. Who is to blame? Corporate America who sends their jobs overseas. There is no hope for this nation. Give it up and learn another language.
1. We have lost anything like compromise between the liberal/conservative/middle of the roaders. Bring back respect and civility!
2. Take back our government fromt he special interests by funding election campaigns from an additional tax on US Tax Returns. Stop all special interests from donating and thus making these Senators and Congressmen and women beholden to them. It is no longer under the control of the "We the People" but the narrow minded special interests and the wealthy. How much to your really need for God's sake!
3. Social Security is not the problem, it would still be solvent if the Congress had not raided the SS Trust. It need adjustments like, uncapping the SS Income levels from 106K to unlimited, institute a means test. Increase the Ages where possible eliminate all the people who are not paying into the fund. For God's sake we are paying people benefits that do not even have any work history in this country. Stop the nonsense.
4. Medicare is broke because the Medical System in this country is totally broken and under the control of big Pharma and narrow interests of the AMA and not using "alternative" approaches like Diet and Exercise and basic nutrient remedies (Nacent Iodine) that are being pushed aside by big Pharma. Eliminate their control over the FDA which is totally out of line. There are cancer preventions and treatments that work that are outlawed because of the control of the Pharmaceutical interests. Using the basis of PH diet and Pleaomorpism instead of germ theory which is not working. None of this is new. Florence Nightingale spoke for it 100 years ago.
5. Invest in technologies that work as developed by Nicola Testla – that would eliminate the need for all fossile fuels. It would generate a paradgmye shift in the entire structure, workforce, health and future of this country.
It is not hopeless it is just that we are stopped by selfish, greedy self-centered interests in control of our government at all levels. We must go back to our original ways of doing the right thing.
The greed and one sided approach is killing this nation. God help us!
1 word.. family! we can talk politics, we can talk economics, Wall Street, China, military, wars etc BUT one thing no one ever talks about is the nuclear family! America is becoming a loser state because our basic family structure is gone!
To make America great again we need to have good stable families raising good, smart, productive children.
EVERYTHING will fall into place once that is done! W/O that we can debate all these external factors till we're blue in the face and it won;t matter. We have too many single household families having kids raised by strangers in daycare, raised by grandparents or families with BOTH parents working so many darn hours their kids are pretty much indirectly raised by society and .... these are the GOOD families... nevermind the millions of single teen moms or household where the parent is incarcerated or dead!
No wonder we are in such a pathetic state of affairs!
America has two bright spots: 1) Our major universities, and 2) our high tech industry (Apple, Google, etc.)
you're right except you forgot something.. a lot of graduate students in these universities are foreign students.. same goes with corporations.. many scientist, engineers at these "American" companies are foreign folks. Vast majority of americans do not go to college and of those who do, vast majority of them major in things like liberal arts, business, history etc instead of engineering, computer science, physics etc!
I don't think many 'get it' yet... We are too far in debt to ever recover.. The means of, printing money to keep America
afloat has a Certain End...
http://www.endofamerica2011.com
Common Sense.
That's how to get us back on track.
What makes anyone think someone named Fareed or Obama would want to see this country improve?
The spoiled brat plutocracy in this country long ago decided it was every filthy grifter for himself and sold this country down the river for some shiny dubloons. You don't see Germany outsourcing their manufacturing, and you don't see Germany opening their borders to an utter flood of unregulated labor, although they do use guest workers with work visas. Why? because Germany believes in Germany for the Germans. The government is supposed to be the moderating force which blunts the worst predations of the robber baron scum that sits back and collects the wealth that the workers actually make. In the US there is no concept of America for the Americans, and the government has joined forces with the plutocrats to assrape the populace. This unholy alliance of the Corporations with the Government against the citizenry is the textbook definition of FASCISM. If government is so thoroughly corrupted that it cannot separate itself from the unrestrained flow of graft from the Opulent Minority better then that the people insurrect against their oppressors a la the Great Terror. It is by the removal of less than 10,000 undoubtedly that The People can regain their freedom and set up new systems where the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are indeed the Law of the Land, instead of "A goddamn piece of paper" as GWBush, WAr Criminal famously said.
Stop voting republican pure and simple. The are the tools of the elite and have little or no interest, or need, for a strong American middle class. They need the American middle class to shrink and underdeveloped ones to grow.
usa was built on technology and science. today's teens just arent interested (many of them anyway) in science. i graduated from college recently. I met so many people who switched from science to psychology because the science work load was ruining their social life. i was amazed to here that. they are paying 30K per year for 4 years and they are worried about their social life. i wonder how they are ever going to repay their loans, or will they ever? I genuinely feel student loan defaults is the next crisis in the coming years.
Agree 100%. They chose psychology because for a long time 'real-estate' agent made more money than an engineer. That was just plain wrong. Now things are being corrected.
The quickest way I know would be to throw every liberal in political office out on their leftist-socialist-anti-capitalist duffs!
Instead of "We Are The Borg" I guess this asshat's droning mantra is "We Are The Beck". Wake up from your slumber, sheep dip. The majority of the vampire squids and bloated Corporatists that own your world are Republican't neoconservatives or perhaps neoliberals, not liberals, which are generally thought to be some sort of democrats / populists. And thos republicunts do a good job funding their 24×7 Wurlitzer that broadcasts hate propaganda to low powered receivers like yourself. The idea is to keep the small minded white conservatives from waking up and joined a coalition with the liberals and black and hispanic minorities and demanding their rights according to the Constitution. So far it's worked pretty well – the cost is enormous but money well spent.
Do you even know what a liberal or these other labels are? Hint: Obama is not a liberal, he's a Reagan Republican.
@ Matt...I agree 100%. A country is only as good or strong as it's people. Good people = great country and vice versa. It is literally that simple. Good people come from good family raised right when young. Are there exceptions? of course but only a total fool would argue that it is generally not the case.
Why should a hamburger-flipper be able to afford a new car in the USA but be poor in, say, Japan? The American worker had an unfair advantage for a long time. This was the result of exploitation of resources, which basically gave Americans a near free lunch. What is happening now is a correction from this anomaly. It is always hard to get off the gravy train, -but at some point one must. Instead of reading feel-good articles, Americans should learn more science and math, and learn to produce high quality products, which requires more work. Only then can Americans compete. Otherwise, America is just an agricultural country. The engineers who came from abroad will not come anymore, -their own countries have better opportunities now. Most Americans hate science and math, -and want to make a quick buck, say, flipping houses. Those days were wrong and will not come back.
good point. our politicians are too old to understand the 21st century. internet has been a game changer and these guys are still living in the 50s. Asians and East Europeans are computer gods, but I don't see them anywhere in the tech-political spectrum. Washington is still ruled by wasps and country club people.
If America is to get its "groove back", then American companies need to be penalized HEAVILY for having manufacturing and white collar jobs overseas rather than in the states. Republicans want us to believe that cutting corporate taxes will create jobs, but only morons believe that. Every single time taxes have been cut on the corporate side in the last 50 years, the consumer and the every day worker never saw a dime of that money. It goes right into the pocket of the CEO and the bonuses they and the higher paid executives get. Start making companies create jobs at home at the risk of the income of the CEO and the executives and you'll start seeing improvements in our economy – that's the only way. Well not wasting so much money with defense and the military would help too.
America needs to do something fast. China and other powersare supassing us. We need to become a self dependent country like it used to be. America is the land I love but it needs to fix itself before it's to late.
China is the prime cause of our economic situation. If they pulled their credit now, the US economy would collapse. But on the bright side, there would be a huge economic boom a few years later when all the companies came back and the US would start selling more to China than it bought. As it stands now, the US is bankrupt and the dollar is valueless.
The United States doesn't have any natural resources to export therefore the government always relies on manufacturing and industry to jumpstart the economy. This is great for capitalism but not so great for consistency. America was doing great when we set the standard in terms of quality product, innovative manufacturing techniques and general innovation. Unfortunately we got caught by the rest of the world and had nothing to fall back on.
In my opinion, the tragedy with America and its current state is that not one federal or state leader is talking about innovation, creating resources and creating wealth as ways to close our deficit. The US needs to lower its corporate tax rate and provide tax breaks for businesses that meet employment number quotas (what I mean is that the company can save money by employing more people by paying fewer taxes) and our leaders need to reach out to foreign countries to bring their businesses here. Americans want to work and want to remain self-sufficient but cannot do so if the businesses here are cutting staff and refusing to re-hire when things are good again.
I agree, investment is key. Like with highways, the gov should make some large investments into high-speed trans-continental passenger rail transportation. Additionally, we have all known for years that oil was just going to keep getting more costly and volatile. The gov needs to lead on producing investments into alternative fuel sources as they did with TVA. Large projects like these would produce benefits for years, think of highways, and would create lots of jobs from laborers to management to engineers. There are enough unemployed out there that would be willing and able to work on these projects.
Stop catering to the extreme right or left. Keep the jobs in the country, by law if necessary, don't be afraid of the word tariff, recognize that sovereignty is a good thing concerning our borders, and start being civil with each other. I hope it'll happen, just don't see it in my life time.
Once again this guy posts a piece that fits right into the right wing agenda. He forgets to mention that the military is a prime driver of the budget. He forgets to mention that the wealthy do not pay their fair share of taxes. He does not mention that the criminal justice system is a drain on society and that if we spent the money used to lock people up for minor drug offenses on education people would have a better chance of getting ahead. He does not mention that the so called knowledge class has for the most part been a lucky bunch due to genes and better schools and better health care. He does not mention that it is the churches in the country that are working hard to defund science education.
This guy is nothing but a tool for the wealthy.
good points except you give him no credit for all the things he got right .
America's troubles are not a Republican or Democrat issue.
What we are experiencing is the result of our laziness and entitlement. Americans have only known what it's like to be on top, and we've assumed that's how it would always be. Hopefully, we'll learn sooner rather than later that to be a world leader takes hard work and innovation. Unfortunately, we'd rather watch reality TV and eat ourselves to death.
I started this message by saying it wasn't a political issue, but I want to amend that slightly: The faux-populism of the right, combined with their contempt for "the elite" is particularly damaging. Instead of seeking to inspire and reward excellence, many republican want to condemn high-achievers and create the idea that the way to success is by being an average-joe. Well, it shouldn't come as a surprise that being average is no way to achieve greatness.
yep, blame somebody else. Typical lefty.
Typical righty. Criticize without offering solutions.
(See how easy it is)
I'd love to hear your counter-argument. Do you NOT believe it breeds mediocrity to celebrate averageness, while criticizing as "elite" anybody who is actually accomplished?
On Wisconsin!!!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgNuSEZ8CDw
Here's an idea.... Stop increasing gas prices over some stupid S**T that happens overseas that don't even effect This country's gas prices! Greedy ass mother F*****S!!!!
As long as Free Trade Agreements exist and other countries are allowed to manipulate their currency, we will continue to fall, with no end in sight. We were at the top of the ladder when all these FTA's started, with no place to go but down. Well, guess what, we are going down. All the other countries had no place to go but up. This will continue until everybody meets in the middle. Welcome to the "Global Economy."
To a degree, I agree with you. However, there is a good reason for a global economy. It's the same reason for NAFTA. You want your neighbors to be healthy and not troubled. Example: if your country is doing good and your neighbor is hurting, then the only thing they want to do is kill your cow (it's an old saying), or steal from you. If NAFTA was working correctly then our illegal alien problem might not be so bad. Of course nothing ever works the way it was planed because too many interests get involved and muddy the waters.
Unless Americans are willing to pay $50 for a plastic toy, $50K for a small chevy, or $5000 for an average TV, to advocate bringing all jobs back to the US is UNREALISTIC!
The world on average is getting wealthier and THAT is a GOOD THING! Throughout the entire history of humankind it has proven each and every time to be disastrous exercise when an extremely small majority of folks lives very well while 99% lives in extreme poverty, hunger etc.
The first step is to restore fiscal sanity and approach to progress within the country.
Steps should be taken to close a majority of the foreign military bases (over 800) and return those troops to the US. The Afghanistan war should be wound down and troops pulled from Iraq. Do I believe we will leave a mess, absolutely but the country was a mess before we went in to shut down Bin Laden's operations. We should have done that then exited but let the Afghan's know we will return and bomb the camps if necessary if they do not contain the terrorists. Iraq was a terrible mistake.
Stop foreign aid unless in our critical national interest. We are paying to prop up countries that are "broke" while we are broke ourselves. Sorry Mr. Moore but this country is going broke rapidly but I will take the contribution of your wealth to aid in the effort. Shut down the borders now and hard. Use the returning troops if necessary. Export all immigrants convicted of felonies and provide a legal way for the rest to remain but the borders have to be shut down first.
Eliminate public sector unions including any unions within the federal government.
The federal government should assume the costs of social security and scale benefits of social security based upon current age of worker and years to retirement. For instance a person 55 years of age or older could expect to receive full SS benefits on retirement based on current eligibility, a person 21 years of age or younger would have no SS benefits in the future. One would scale the remainder by percentage based on age.
We need a public option health insurance plan but their must be alternatives for those willing to pay for a higher level of care. Those with money will get the service one way or another so make it legal. Under the public option one does not have access to elective procedures. No facelifts, liposuction, cosmetic dentistry, sex change operations, abortions, etc. Note I said elective not medically necessary.
We stop most crop subsidies. Phase out federal funding for non-essential operations but retain national parks and similar operations like most national monuments, the Smithsonian.
Eliminate too large to fail banks. Break them up now as if they were monopolies.
While some federal education programs should be retained eliminate the Department of Education, Eliminate the EPA, eliminate all non-cabinet positions overseeing operations now commonly referred to as czars.
Raise taxes significantly on those making over $1,000,000 per year.
Eliminate voting for anyone who does not pay net taxes at the level of voting. We cannot have 45% of the population not paying net federal taxes and yet voting for people to give them more benefits.
Provide vouchers for education so parents can vote with their feet to find good schools for their children. Our current system is broken and no amount of cash infusion will change the equation. The system will simply devour it, grow fatter, and the kids will still be the ones to pay.
That will at least be a good start!
How to get America's groove back? Cut government spending in half now, and repeal Obama's flagship project - Obamacare. We couldn't afford government even before it was made law, and we certainly can't afford it after. I'm looking forward to 2012 where we can at least initiate some movement along this front.
(1) Stop political party war against each other. This creates a gulf where no accomplishments can result. If one party passes a law, the other will try to rescind it, like the Republicans are trying to do with the Health Care law. You don't rescind it, you amend it.
(2) correct the shortcomings in all programs that are in dire straits, like Social Security (from which the US Gov't should not be borrowing), Medicare, Medicaid, etc., with simple amendments.
(3) End the gulf between the middle class and the rich. Stop the tax cuts for the rich, and the pharmaceutical, energy corporations, and banks.
(4) Put an end to special interest and lobbyists.
(5) Put an end to the wars and pull our troops out of all of the countries in which we still have them, as those countries in which we fought wars in the past 70 years, like Germany, Japan, Korea, etc.
(6) Place a ceiling at which other countries can buy debt instruments. At present, it seems that China, Japan and the Middle Eastern countries own this country.
(7) End the earmarks for the senatotors and congressmen. It is greatly increasing the deficit. Use the money that has not been used over the past few years to decrease the deficits in the states and cities.
(8) Make sure that parents are just as resonsible for their children's education as the teachers. There is no such thing as a failing school. There are such things a failing parents. Along with this is proper textbooks and funds to allow teachers to teach properly. There is nothing more important than the education of our children. They are ones who will have to bail out this country if it is to survive, which at present does not seem very likely.
The thing you Americans always miss, is that not everything coming from the gouvernment is communism. For example your healthcare system. If you dont stop privatization you will never get social justice in your country. Social justice is not about everybody having a job and do what they want ... social justice is to share some of the money the strong ones earn with the poor ones. But not by free decision – there has to be a law about that! That's what the Germans call a "Sozialsystem" – and it works ... You have to wake up and to realize that pure capitalism will never feed the needs of all the population – pure capitalism only feeds the rich ones. But going another way doesnt necessarily mean beeing a communist. What about a "Soziale Marktwirtschaft" – traslated: social capitalism?
Why are Americans so bullish by keeping their war-driving-inhuman-polluting-anti social-liberticidal-arrogant-ignorant capitalism?
I'am really happy, that I am a European. By the way, – the solution is to remind yourself who rules your country -it's the people! All your people are equal – thats what your constitution says. So ask yourself a question:
You are 90 % of the people, but you have only 10 % of the money. The rich guys in your country are 10 % of the people but have 90 % of the money. What is this for a social equality? If you ask for a reason why you are going down: THIS IS THE REASON! You have to take your money back and RAISE your taxes for high incomes!
Greets from Germany,
the country with the working Soziale Marktwirtschaft
(sorry for my bad english ... i hope I didn't affront someone
You are absolutly right. A little capitolism here and some socialism there. If done correctly, it could solve our problems. However, in America, socialism is a dirty word. I think it's because of all the cold war propaganda in the past and a lot of people just not willing to think forward.
Germany has a strong labor union system and that's why you're kicking our economic ass. I hope America will take a look at the way ya'll do things and take a page from that book.
The US will not improve until there is a major change in attitude about the welfare of the whole country, not just the rich and well to do. America needs to grow up, to mature into an adult society. As long as we allow right-wing flakes to dictate the direction the country is going in, we don't have a chance in hell of competing with, or being accepted by, the rest of the world.
agreed
or left wing loons who insist on taking money from someone who earned it and give to someone be lazy, party it up or sleep with every guy in town and have kids with them all.
America will NEVER get its groove back. In a recent world test, American kids scored 23rd in science and 31st in math. Curriculums have been dumbed down to allow minorities to feel better about themselves. The break-down of the traditional nuclear family floods the schools with unstable kids from single-parent household that disrupt the classrooms. Modern American culture produces no meaningful literature, poetry, theatre, music or cinema. We are witnessing the "decline and fall" of America in one lifetime.
Oh ... wait until the "Peak Oil" ... what will you do then?
The only way to truly solve a problem is to look back in history or time at what action or inaction ( or the core ROOT of the problem is) that brought us to this point in time.
In my opinion the problem lie's at the foot of GREED. By that I mean the money that corrupts our political system here in America.
The wealthy top 5% must invest in bribing politicians with their lobbyist to write or not write favorable laws for them to acquire evermore wealth to satisfy their greed, that is usually not in the best interest of the country as a whole and that most average working people would not approve of.
So until the media constantly focuses average American's rage on the problem full time until it gets fixed, instead just once or twice every election cycle, we will continue in this death spiral of the haves and the have nothings until the majority of have nothings take back our government!
To reach that upper level we must understand its a sacrifice and it takes hard work. To understand that its a way of life. No one that you ever heard of has gotten to their position without it. People aren't born smart they work hard at it. America wasn't the Diamond of the work for nothing. It was because Americans in that time just gave everything they had. Absolutely unafraid of failure because they knew the success that was on the other side was worth it.
Rockefeller, Ford, Carnegie and so many more.
John D Rockefeller net worth in 2007 668.4 billion dollars.
Henry Ford net worth in 2008 would have been 188.1 billion dollars.
Andrew Carnegie net worth in 2007 284.3 billion dollars.
Three men that make the weathiest men in the world today look like childs play. For these three a lone together have 1.1 trillion dollars.
Warren Buffett and Bill gates together can only muster 99 billion with everything they own throw in Carlos Slim Helu 56 billion and you 155 billion still 33 billion less than Henry Ford the poorest of the three.
An I have no doubt that the Men I look up to Rockefellar, Ford, and Carniage work harder than these men listed. Got to stop being afraid to put our money were it can do us the most good while also doing the country the most good. Invest stock market, bonds, cds and don't be afraid to follow your gut. Thats what everyone thats made it big has done. Don't let anyone get in your way of doing it. If you are lucky enouhg to see a need in your area and think you can fill that need. Do it thats what Americans were good at back in the mid 20th century.
America was the mover of the world now its sitting still. Got to get back to moving around again. We can do it and we will do it. Just will take some time. I'm not going to stop until I am a billionaire or I die. Which ever one comes first.
I a physics professor and my wife is a school teacher and we both have felt completely stabbed in the back by politicians this last week and we have both found our programs stripped to the bare minimum. We both supported Obama in the election and went as far as county delegates for him. What I have seen from our government is from both sides of the row. They are cutting all the essentials for maintaining a civilization while keeping all the spending in place for war and supporting the rich and corporate socialism. Currently, we are looking at leaving the country for the simple fact the United States no longer shares our values. The government has failed to represent the people and only represents a small few.
Germany is a good place to be!
I even convinced my canadian friends to come here! And they like it
!
Schools are supported by state budgets, not allowed to maintain debt, and even after federal subsidies for the last couple of years, the federal government cannot continue to make up the state's deficits. The house of representatives would never vote for funding.
Wow...I managed to go through four years in school learning my trade.And as a journyman make it through drafting,and autocad..Only to find out from some woman on CNN that I'm Dyslectic. It's bad enough we can't ride an elevator we installed with people who chose colleage to make the same, or less than I. Use the same toilet while we repair something,or perform some other task to make life better for these people. But to have my intellect so badly insulted, is just ....I'm at a loss for words. Thank God I'm Dyslectic. If I wasn't so talented I don't know what is do.
Americans have been brainwashed to think that we live in a democratic meritocracy when in reality, it has always been the same class warfare by elites and elite wannabes. They rig the system to make sure they are always on top and keep the common man down. If that's the way it is fine, but I don't expect to pretend that America is a wonderful place that the rest of the world should aspire to, even though I know that not doing so will make my situation even worse.
STEM Education...I'm in a graduate chemistry course at a major Midwest state university. Between students, post-docs, and professors, there are about 20 people involved in the course...I'm the only American born in the room. I'm not complaining about the number of foreigners, but the complete lack of other Americans is a disgrace to this country. Our love of leisure, distaste for effort, and need for instant gratification will be our downfall.
"It’d be a slow decline. We will be a very rich country. We will continue to thrive. There will be pockets of incredible excellence. One of the great dilemmas for America will be that American companies will do very well while American workers might not."
...and these pockets of excellence include the inventions like iphone and Facebook.....enough to topple dictators and their autocratic, theocracies.......enough to change the face of planet Earth !
.....so the world will all enjoy government of the people, by the people, for the people !
Think about it.........all it took were unleashing some creative new technologies and great music.....no bombs needed !
@Alan:
For so long, I didn't understand why the founding fathers would only allow landowners to vote. They only wanted true stakeholders - taxpayers - to take a part. Now I certainly do understand - as do many of us. I wish we could deny the right to vote (federal) to those who do not pay federal taxes. That would be a massive step forward, but will never happen since there is a certain party that is invested in those that don't pay federal taxes, and have no stake in this country except as recipients of benefits. They are not true stakeholders.
Pundits would say "well of course they pay taxes". Yeah. But not federal taxes. They would be free to vote in state, county and city elections - but since they don't pay federal taxes, then tough luck. Oh, an SS taxes don't count. I'm talking about real taxes, not that socialist tax which is the bane of our existence. Many people actually get a federal refund beyond what they actually paid in - which is obviously a stealth welfare system.
What are we to do? It appears there is no escape from the uneducated and uninformed masses that clamber towards the government teat. The founding fathers were truly visionary. It's too bad we have strayed from the correct path, because I fear there is no going back now.
Every facet of America is corrupt to the core. It will not be possible for America to ever restore its place in the world without a restoration of integrity and adherence to true democratic prinicples. For too long, America has compromised values for money, edging ever closer to becoming a fascist corporate state which has even started to destroy its own citizens, much like it has the citizens of other countries for monetary and political gain. Unless America becomes a free, democracy accountable to its own citizens, then the world is better off with America having less influence on global policy.
First we need to acknowledge a truth: Tax cuts for top wealthy are toxic for the economy. Few statistics:
+ When we built the highway network which we are incapable to maintain it today: 92%
+ When we put a man on the moon: 90%
+ When we invented the internet: 70%
- Before today's Great Recession: 35%
- Before Great Depression: 25%
The reason why low taxes on top wealthy is so toxic to the economy is simple: Tax cuts for the wealthy encourage Wall Street speculation, creates bubble which burst and damage the real economy.
Rising retirement age is not an option. First, many people over 65 are sick. If you cut them out of SS retirement they go in SS disability. No "savings" there. Second, those still able to work will face the employers discriminations for age. If a person over 60 lose his/her job chances are they will NOT have a chance to find a job again. Removing them from SS will just coerce them to eat their retirement savings and to starve to rely on SS alone after 67 therefore living in horrendous poverty.
The same is valid with Medicare. No private insurer will EVER insure an elderly for an amount of money they can afford. Private insurers are nothing else but profit making machines who happily let the sick to die in pain so CEO can buy a few more Casino tokens. Unless one wants to bring back Nazi slaughterer houses to take care of elderly, Medicare must be kept in place.
Education. US kids are about 3 years behind Europe in math and science. And a competitive nation into the over-technological society of tomorrow must have decent math and science skills. Unless one wants to transform US into new Somalia, then education, science and technology have to be funded more not less.
Yes, we need more revenue and yes at least a decade middle class has been squash and saw their real income (inflation adjusted) stagnating or declining. In meantime almost ALL increase in revenue in last decade has been pick-pocketed by super-rich and Wall Street gamblers. We have no choice but to tax them to fund programs that make us strong.
Cutting programs in order to give gifts for the gamblers who destroyed US economy already it is SUICIDAL !
Get our "groove" back? Simple. STOP BUYING FOREIGN-MADE PRODUCTS. Ban US companies from setting up manufacturing facilities in other countries. Slap tariffs on imported goods. Americans will have jobs again, and we will be able to USE our technology rather trhan having it stolen by the rest of the world. Go into Wal-Mart or almost any other store now...EVERYTHING IS MADE IN CHINA, or Indonesia, or Mexico, or India...it's almost impossible to find an Anerican-made product. THAT's why we are losing...all our money and expertise are going abroad while we sit here watching Dancing with the Idiots and buying cheap Chinese crap. No more NAFTAS, or trade agreements that only benefit other countries.
Once again, your post is an example of how many Americans do not understand how the world’s economy works. You would be the first to scream, if when you went to wally world and had to pay 3 times the cost to get an American made product. As Fareed pointed out, companies are going to where they can get it done for less and that is what the consumer wants--to pay less but Germany specializes in excellent engineering and gets big bucks for better products. We need to stop worrying about the cheap products imported from Asia and focus on developing technologies that are the best in the world.
How to get groove back? Why not start with learning what it was exactly that happened to our economy, so we don't make the same mistakes in the future?
Our government refuses to investigate the colossal securitization scam perpetrated in banking sector, except the staged small fish insider trading charges.
In the colossal cluster fk that banking has become, where does one place the blame? The banking industry itself had contributed over $10 BILLION over the last decade on "contributions" to both parties, as to continuously disband and repeal all meaningfull and structurally important market regulation.
Conspiracy to commit fraud, strict liability for failed financial products and instruments, wire fraud and obstruction of justice, RICO – all come to mind.
At http://www.WallStreetClassAction.com we organize a class action against the banks, the ratings agencies and other financial institutions involved in staging the colossal securitization fraud and subsequently crashing the economy and resulting in over $5 Trillion in asset losses in the US alone.
We realize that our own government is effectively a captured entity, so no criminal indictments will be forthcoming. But WE THE PEOPLE will hold the fraudsters accountable.
Sign up on our site, we already have more than 3,000 users within last 2 days. UNITED WE STAND
http://www.WallStreetClassAction.com
I can't believe we need someone like this to tell us how to get our country back. The first thing we need to do is stop foreign aid as we are the most BROKE country on the planet and we are borrowing money to give it away. STOP that first, then figure out who we need to get out of the country and we can save a lot of money!
how do we get americas groove back? get rid of the liberal democrats and the wacko environmentalists. very simple really.
So that way we can compete with the countries that are overtaking us by having expansive welfare states and strong environmental movements? Great thinking there cajr.
capnmike, the reason our companies have to do this is an extremely high Corp tax rate. Take the money we save by cutting off foreign aid and reinvest in our companies and not tax them to death.
Very similar to an article from an NPR interview of former Republican Senator Alan Simpson..."Reduce entitlements; not aid to the poor!"
THE GOVT COULD START BY PASSING A NEW LAW TO TAX HEAVY ON marijuana USE, GAS GOES UP BECAUSE AN UPROAR IN EGYPT GIVE ME A BREAK, YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THE US CAN MAKE ON marijuana TAXATION ALONE I SEE PEOPLE FILLING THEIR TANKS WHILE SMOKING marijuana... LETS GET THIS MONEY RIGHT... I HAVE ALLOT OF OTHER IDEAS BUT THATS JUST A START.... THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME! CHRISTIIAN STAMFORD CONNECTICUT..
The easier way do defeat china is starting a "revolution" in china through the media and the internet. These low-educated people would believe anything on the internet.
low educated...must be referring to the usa...
For all of you folks who think that America would be just fine if we would squeeze a little more out of the poor and working classes to improve our competitiveness, think about this. America ranks 4th in the world in competitiveness (largely because of our size, access to higher education and YES wage flexibility). Yet we have only the 23rd best infrastructure, and are a humiliating 41st in infant mortality. Worse still, America is no longer a place where anyone can make it. In a 2005 study of social mobility across generations – basically how likely is it that you can move out of the economic class you were born into – the U.S. came last of the six countries examined, behind Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Canada and even Britain.
Nothing will change until we simply stop voting Republican. These people claim to be conservative, but they conserve nothing. Instead there stingy when it comes to freedom, and foresight.
Decline in moral values is a leading indicator for decline of a nation. Need to get the fundamentals right. Why does happiness and good living always has to fluctuate with market indices and prices? There are many happier countries with much less GDP and per capita than us. Look around, think!
It fluctuates with the market because we were idiots enough to link everything we have and do to the market.
- Job is market driven and unemployment benefits are too small
- Retirement (401k or pension) is market driven
- Health insurance – market driven (by job or at will of rapacious for profit insurers)
I have watched Fareed for some time and he seems to say what I and most educated people in the world and in the US have been saying and agree for some time.
The US has lost its mojo and swagger in the last 20 years. Mostly it started with Regan. I'll elaborate. It's almost like a game of cards or a trick of hands.
Americans elected an actor and a good speaker, but Regan went on a tear spending money in the military and cutting government. That resulted in the biggest government defict in history to date. The US economy seemed rosy until the bill came due in the Bush sr administration and we elected Bill Clinton who was able thru some skill and luck to balance and budget and bring back some prosperity to our country.
But, we as a nation did not learn our lesson and went back to our old ways. We elected another Bush and attacked an innocent and harmless country and at the same time borrowed so much money that we broke our economy creating the largest depression in history even larger than the 1930s depression.
Now what do we have. We have a country that has continually cuts the pillars of prosperity.
We cut Education, construction on infrastructure and we attack immigrants. There are many more issues at hands that harm our prosperity. However, those three issues are basic and should be fresh on everyones mind.
What allowed the US to grow in the 1940s and 1950s? Investment on infrastruture, building roads, freeways, transportation and energy. Those investments create jobs and in turn prosperity!
Immigration helped create, grow and build this great nation. But, now we reject i as a sin! Have we forgeten where we came from and how we became so prosperous?
Lastly, education is the most important determining factor in a nations future. With educated people a nation has less crime, less illness, less unemployment and only more opportunity!
Why are we negleting and forgetting the importance of these issues?
WAKE UP AMERICA!
But we can't do any of that if we continue cutting the taxes of the wealthy on the dubious assumption that it is their investment (rather than working and middle class spending) that creates economic growth.
One of the major problems in this country is the indoctrination that takes place in our education system with higher education being the worse. Did you really live in the late 70's when Carter was President and the "malaise" he referred to? This country's morale was at the lowest point it has been until the past couple of years. Reagan brought the country out of that "malaise" . The academy has been trying to brainwash every student since then that it was Reagan's fault. There have been many such eras in our history. The depression of the 30's, The Korean War aftermath, The depression following the Vietnam War, the Carter years, the Bush II years from 2005-2007, the Obama Presidency. Clinton may have gone down in History as one of our greatest presidents if it had not been for his personal flaws.
The "problem" with education is that it fosters critical thinking and demands factual documentation - not the authoritarian, obedient "indoctrination" that is sought by social conservatives.
The "malaise" under Carter was a period of REALISM in which Americans realized that they had voted to destroy Vietnam, that they had elected the proud GOP perpetrators of Watergate, and that they were consuming way too much energy and there was no obvious solution short of threatening allies and occupying Middle East countries.
Reagan ended that sober realism by declaring that runaway federal borrowing was patriotic; that reckless consumption of our remaining energy supplies was virtuous; that waging illegal terrorism against Central America proved our might; and that White House corruption could be practiced proudly and shamelessly hired by people like Ed Meese and James Watt.
In short, Reagan made it fashionable to practice reckless selfishness - consuming everything, torturing foreign civilians, and saving nothing for future Americans.
GAS, GAS need to lower the gas to 1.75 to get people moving again more money in their pockets more money to spend
But NO,NO EXXON , CHEVRON and the rest are having record breaking PROFITS ((( 12,000,000 ))) YES BILLION Dollars for the first quarter of 2011. No wonder people are RISING against their GOVERNMENTS in the Middle East.
OIL Companies getting richer and the people cant get a job
Just so everyone's clear on the budget items Mr. Zakaria is referring to, and to end speculation on how big each item is, here's the 2012 Federal Budget broken down by category, budgeted amount (in billions of dollars), and percent of the total budget in descending order:
Social Security 767 20.6
Defense 738 19.8
Medicare 492 13.2
Medicaid 269 7.2
Net interest on debt 242 6.5
Veterans (benefits, medical) 125 3.3
Civilian, military retirement 123 3.3
Transportation 105 2.8
Other (energy, commerce, etc.) 105 2.8
Unemployment payments 96 2.6
Food stamps 80 2.2
Education 71 1.9
Health research and services 65 1.7
International aid 63 1.7
Housing subsidies 61 1.6
Law enforcement 59 1.6
Homeland security 47 1.3
Low-income tax credit 47 1.3
Supplemental Security Income 44 1.2
Science and space 32 0.9
Nutrition programs 26 0.7
Environment and resources 24 0.6
Family support (welfare) 21 0.6
Agriculture (subsidies, etc.) 19 0.5
Disaster relief 11 0.3
Total (after rounding) $3,732 (billion)
So if you were treating these like your own finances, where would you start cutting? The top four items add up to 2.27 Trillion, leaving 1.47 Trillion for everything else...
How do you figure, and where did you make up those numbers?
Right from the start, social security is not a budget issue, it is fully self-funded for the next 30+ odd years, and depending on future income levels will most likely surpass 40+ years easily.
Social Security went in the red for the first last August, meaning it's paying out more than it's taking in, so no it's not fully funded for 30 years or more.
My numbers are from the fine folks at Kiplinger.
The full detailed budget proposal is available on the whitehouse.gov website, but this is just a nice distilled version of it.
You can also google this:
"Obama’s 2012 Budget Proposal: How $3.7 Trillion is Spent"
And you'll come up with a New York Times website that shows these numbers in an interactive chart.
You have to stop lobbyism in polictics – who rules your country – the people or the companies?
Ask yourself: would you make a decision against the hand that feeds you?
Another point: You have to remember that there were not always Republicans and Democrats: Build up new political parties! What about a social democratic party, or a green party? Wake up America, your little brother is growing up ...
In US politics money talks. And many people are too uneducated to be able to learn from European experience.
We can not even learn from our own experience, because when one try to learn something a professional made TV campaign will brainwash enough people to act against their own interest.
It'll be the "NIMBY Scenario" (Not In My Back Yard) from start to finish. No one will want to scale back their lifestyles, but those same people will think it would be ok IF someone else did though..... Conservatives will blame Liberals and Liberals will blame Conservatives. In the end it will be status quo because politicians like getting votes. There will be dead-locks in at the seat of government and public life too. Talk radio/TV/Internet will get rich(er).
Until there is a common goal that we all agree on (like when we landed on the moon)..it game over.
Come on people, get a better attitude! We still can buy some of the cheapest gas, have abundance of food, natural resources, relatively less corrupt politicians and public servants, and so on.... Why are you creating a ruckus like all is lost? Just look outside the US and compare. Hold on to good things we have and let go of bad stuff.
all you think of is the here and now...that will run out soon...then your under-educated children get a turn to drive...it will be desasterous then...don't get used to the good times folk...it is running out fast...
Fareed Zakaria is a very smart man.
"As the rest of the world catches up and surpasses the U.S., economically and in other areas, how can America get back to No. 1?"
There are many ways in which the US was never #1 and will probably never be #1. If you can't admit that fact then you're never going to improve your situation.
we don't give a smack about education...I am amazed how people of this nation can keep shelving this topic...You all are on your way out of the job market...that only leaves your under educated children to take over...how on earth do you think the nation will retain it's greatness if they can't read or count?
It'll be the "NIMBY Scenario" (Not In My Back Yard) from start to finish. No one will want to scale back their lifestyles, but those same people will think it would be ok IF someone else did though..... Conservatives will blame Liberals and Liberals will blame Conservatives. In the end it will be status quo because politicians like getting votes. There will be dead-locks at the seat of government and public life too. Talk radio/TV/Internet will get rich(er).
Until there is a common goal that we all agree on (like when we landed on the moon)..its game over.
Hopefully this is a simple question, just one I have not figured out the answer to. How can American industry complete with labor from other countries when they have no minimum wages, child labor abuse is rampant, no minimum work-week (40 hours), no responsibility to worry about working environment, no employee benefits, they don't worry about pollution controls, and on and on. It's not a level playing field, it has never been, and most likely never will be in our lifetimes.
We need our new real bubble of buy American...everything American. Have some pride in our nation. All my friends globally still think this is the best nation to ensure your future and be creative. Europeans, Asians....I know many and the only people that don't seem to see how much we can accomplish by taking care of our own needs first ...IS US!
they may think so now...but what after several more years of decline? they won't think so then...so far no hope for improvement...jobs will not come back...
The reason your friends outside the US believe what they do is because of American propaganda. If I were a parent in Asia, I would definitely NOT send my child to the US to study, and would not recommend them start a new business in America. The growth is in Asia, the energy is in Asia, the new ideas are in Asia. The US will eventually regulate everyone out of business, and I see examples of that process almost everywhere.
A selfish, complaining generation you are boomers...spoiled, thinking the world dances to your music...now you will know what it is like to be as the rest of the world...america will not see prosperity as before...not for a number of generations...but I say this nation will be absorbed into a world community and will never be the same again...your children's children won't remember these days so when that new world govt comes about, they will accept it without a fight...
I think Obama and the US Govt in general is about the LAST place to look if you want any kind of solution to the problems the US is facing. The question is how to go about isolating the government so that the damage they create will be minimized. I am generally in the "slow decline" camp, but it is possible that a mass uprising could speed up the decline process. I think ultimately this government is no longer capable of managing the US, and the whole political system here will have to take a full reboot. That of course means revolution.
The Fed Gov and Corporates don't care about America. Jobs and money are moving to China and India. Our kids are retards compared to other poor country kids. The economy is gonna get worse when the baby boomers get older. The national debt is skyrocketing. Crappy teachers and union members are still protesting for more free benefits and fat pensions. In conclusion, this country has no future.
Agree with your post, but it isn't JUST crappy teachers. Everyone seems to want schools to be used for their own brand of propaganda, whatever the type. The christians want their fantasies taught, which would eventually lead to a country of scientific retards. The political class wants to modify history books in order to create a history that never happened. As long as schools function as the indoctrination system for the citizenry rather than to educate, things will only get worse.
it is too bad that most people don't want to face facts as you do SP...
I feel americans should be proud about the fact that America led the world for some many decades. Its time that all countries wake up to provide for their people. Americans are forgetting they are not losing they will only gain. There would be less migration from less developed country .What i see that middle class around the world is going through a major transition , this is no more a US issue alone. Looks like everyone is looking to make perfect specimens of humans.Education is important, but the way we are approaching it is wrong. Making people math or science geek is not the answer to keep the amercian or any dream alive. It is about introducing more creativity and flexibility in education that will pave future innovation. Not all need to be tech geeks , i feel from all this debate about American dream is tied to the fact that not more Americans are heading innovation. Or every american that is an innovator is some sort of 1 generation immigrant. America still owns world class universtity to tap the best talent from the world . The average American is just as disadvantaged as any other middle class in the world. It is just that they are not realizing soon enough like the US. But wake up this is a world reality for neo captialism no free lunches without earning it. US is not alone, every one is fighting for the piece of the pie . By injecting more competitiveness will not answer the problem only sow the seeds for pure marxist philosophy . If anything the haves are world over growing faster that the have nots . And, historically they will exist ..... US is just not accepting the fact that their have nots are worse off than their forefathers.... the developing country are experiencing, even with their highly competitive education system... Education will not ensure opportunity is just a purely theoretical assumption .... what is lacking is opportunity world over....
High tech geeks made the United States what it was in the 1950's through the 1990's. With the trade imbalances allowed by all the Presidents from Reagan through Bush II, those geeks became unemployable. As our technology went offshore so did our economy. Manufacturing and Techonology is key to a country's success. Just look at Singapore, China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan. Without it you'll get what we are now, an economy (and society) in collapse.
You talk about our lack of "investment". Everyone believes investments are good. But investment is a euphemism for spending & the Republicans have convinced the country that spending is bad.
Naa, the republicans still like spending as long as its for guns and bombs. Its only the wasteful spending on things like education and healthcare they don't like.
"How to get America's groove back"
I know! Buy tiny little souvenir flags made in China!
Liberals...You were Spoken to..By NAME...2,700 Years ago in the Bible...Isaiah Prophesied that ..When Christ returns.You will be healed...You are Truly Blessed......................................................................................
Isa 32:1.......Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. .............................
Isa 32:5 ......The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said [to be] bountiful..........................
Isa 32:6.......For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. .......
Isa 32:7.......The instruments also of the churl [are] evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.........................................................................................................
Isa 32:8.......But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand..........................................
Written in Every Scroll..Including Dead Sea Scrolls...Billions of Bibles for the past 2,700 Years, In Virtually Every Language on Earth.
Look it up King James Bible...Isaiah Chap 32..Verses 1-8...and much more information...All inspired words from God...
Wonder what Harry Potter has to say about it? Or Nostradamus? Or Charlie Sheen?
all in perfectly modern day english, where some moronic backwaters repesentative of our country makes outlandish connections from 2000 years ago, when Jesus drank Bud Light.
How to get groove back? Why not start by learning what it was exactly that happened to our economy, so we don't make the same mistakes in the future?
Our government refuses to investigate the colossal securitization scam perpetrated in banking sector, except the staged small fish insider trading charges.
In the colossal cluster fk that banking has become, where does one place the blame? The banking industry itself had contributed over $10 BILLION over the last decade on "contributions" to both parties, as to continuously disband and repeal all meaningfull and structurally important market regulation.
Conspiracy to commit fraud, strict liability for failed financial products and instruments, wire fraud and obstruction of justice, RICO – all come to mind.
At WallStreetClassAction.com we organize a class action against the banks, the ratings agencies and other financial institutions involved in staging the colossal securitization fraud and subsequently crashing the economy and resulting in over $5 Trillion in asset losses in the US alone.
We realize that our own government is effectively a captured entity, so no criminal indictments will be forthcoming. But WE THE PEOPLE will hold the fraudsters accountable.
Sign up on our site, we already have more than 3,000 users within last 2 days. UNITED WE STAND
http://www.WallStreetClassAction.com
^^Total waste of time. You are suggesting to use a hopelessly corrupt system to correct a hopelessly corrupt system. Change will only come from working outside current power structures. The first step is to withdraw all financial support and all personal creative support. Shrug, and walk away.
education, education, education...doesn't matter what you think of the Usa today...tomorrow we will perish because our children have no morals, are druggies, violent, over-sexed, lazy, spoiled, under-educated, under-educated, under-educated, unrealistic, and so on and so on...get it?
No morals? It wasn't the children who spent all the empires gold on foreign wars and terror campaigns. It was current and previous generations. Kids today look to adults as a guide to what is right and wrong. What does Obama project as a moral guide? How about Bush? That torturing people is just fine, that murder is heroic. You can start preaching about morals as soon as George Bush goes before a war crimes tribunal. Until then, blame yourself, not the kids.
Like the end of the great Roman Empire, the Americans are worshiping the wrong things instead of what made this country #1 in the first place. We place so much on sports and entertainment instead of innovations and technologies. Americans worship Justin Bieber and athletes, but what do they bring as far as technical advances or national securities? When Americans don't value scientific advancements and innovations, they will go to other countries where they can reap better rewards.
Our groove was always fictitious.We still hold on to our belief that we are the best in the world. No person can proclaim the top spot if they owe to creditors more than they take in. Let alone a nation. But if we manufactured more of the products we desire so much. Maybe then out of the price increase we will return to save until you can afford. We will then appreciate the high quality goods those dialectical put out.
Fareed is right when he says the ignorance of Americans is pervasive, also shown by the fact that nobody is tackling these problems in Washington. Does anybody remember the 2008 presidential debates? No debate at all on the big global issues Fareed points to, on the contrary, a very big concern on GOP side was how many candidates believed in evolution! What a charade, man!
For the last 30 years the USA has been like a 21 year old working at Target and racking up 4 credit cards so he could live life beyond his means. The next 10 plus years.....a painful schedule of re-payments (no partying, clothes, booze or cigs), or bankrupcy.....chose your poison and learn your lesson. Out.
...so that the Dobsons and the Robertsons could disqualify them right away!
What the heck is everyone talking about??? Whats with everyone's negativity? WE ARE NUMBER 1! USA. All you nerds need to quit hating. lol
Pensions, pensions, pensions – eliminate mandatory social security, allow people to invest their earnings to their own benefit, and begin to come back to normalcy. Eliminate civic unions and come back to normalcy.
Yes Mr. Hitler ! Tea Party will do.
None of that has any value whatsoever. Thanks for playing tho.
Pretty certain the interest rate is going to remain near zero until the government can get a handle on the national debt.
Why isn't there more said on cutting perks to the the politicians.... Are they hoping we middle class & low income people won't notice??????
The recession did wake us up, but those in power realized that they are doing really well, and the rest of us have no power. They don't really want to change anything, other than take a little more from those that have nothing to spare. If this were a "real" crisis, they would be asking everyone to contribute something, however nothing at all is being asked of the powerful. And mainstreet sits in front of their TVs saying "those damn welfare moms"
Thank you. We need to wake up from these damn dreams and face realities.
Tobacco and international arms dealing are what made this country great. They can save it again!
Huxley, are you sure that was not the Polygamists doing that ?
Just what I want for my children: to be super-competitive and super-productive! God, I hate where this world is going. I wish I had never had children. I'm wracked with guilt that they have to worry about whether they're "competitive" enough and "productive" enough. This world we've created sucks.
"This world we've created sucks."
Don't worry, it will get even worse. Have you seen the movie "Children of Men" ? That's our future.
Stop looking to get an OLD groove back, and invent a NEW one. There's a HUGE difference between maintaining core values, and trying to keep a Model-T shop in business in the 21st Century. Use the same core values (Freedom, Liberty, and Justice for All) as a compass in navigating new waters and finding the way forward for America. Every scientific and technological breakthrough brings with it a whole new frontier to explore. The day you stop movin forward, that's the day you get left in the dust.
It won't be that for long anymore. We will be back in survival mode quite soon:
- Oil is peaking by the end of this year or at most in 4 years from now
- Climate change will soon starve us to death and will spread tropical disease way north
Lively American debate! Real Americans discussing important issues that affect us all. Very informative...
"How to get America's groove back"?
That's what you think ... we've "lost our groove"? Had you been around on 4/15/1912, I guess you would have written "the Titanic lost its groove"?
How can you make light of the serious nature of America's demise?
I think we can talk all we want, but until we stop giving our money and resources away, we will fall further behind. FAREED... PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY WE ARE THE MOST ENDEBTED COUNTRY IN THE WORLD AND GIVE AWAY OUR RESOURCES?
No one else has been able to answer this question. Can you?
These other questions can be answered easily... This is the tough one.
How to get America's groove back? Re-legalize, Regulate & Tax Pot!
I agree that might help, but why don't we start by not giving our fu457ing money away?
While I partly agree with the foresight from Zakaria's classic academic approach to economic development. However, there is the issue of innovative investments, which modern technology has and will continue to stimulate that are mainly driven by ideas and the internet, not necessarily coming from the government neither from traditional business cycles. All future economic plans must recognize and constructively tap into the new challenges modern technology is shaping the world. America will always lead because of her diverse human capacities and debates.
but i thought savior obama was supposed to be the one to lift america up. guess all those idiots that jumped on obamunism are really proud now huh.
China doesnt have any morales or a minimum wage.......we do have a minimum wage and a few morales so I do not see how we can compete with that.......Its a losing battle,
A very large chunk of our money has gone to Mexico and the illegals didnt even payu taxes but they sure was a burden on our system.....but you know ........hey what ever gets obama his voters, He dont give a rats ass about America...
Obama has us so far in debt we will never get out.........
Our greedy government has ruined the American factories with taxes and then their is the unions...........they should have take better care of their golden egg...........
China doesnt have any morales or a minimum wage.......we do have a minimum wage and a few morales so I do not see how we can compete with that.......Its a losing battle,
A very large chunk of our money has gone to Mexico and the illegals didnt even payu taxes but they sure was a burden on our system.....but you know ........hey what ever gets obama his voters, He dont give a rats ass about America...
Obama has us so far in debt we will never get out.........
Our greedy government has ruined the American factories with taxes and then their is the unions...........they should have take better care of their golden egg...........
"There is very strong historical data that suggests the way societies grow is by making large, long-term investments" blah blah etc – such silliness.
The way societies grow historically is by having sharper spears and taking stuff from everybody else.
Houston we do have some problems LOL
Zakaria needs to quit stoking this notion that the American age is over now. I don't how many stupid magazine articles I've read by him that we're so far behind because of lack of government investment. All his articles offer you is some fake altruistic solution that America can be rejolted into this 1980s and 1990s type of economic and social growth through "investments" by pouring more money onto Education and infrastrucure expansions. America will rebound, as it always does. It would be very helpfull if people like Zakaria would stop pushing agendas and instead restore confidence in the American people. Remind us why what makes us American! Remind us that we rarely fail! Remind us about what made America great in the past is still here! Quit writing stupid articles making Americans feel like we're not going to succeed without giving up what we have to one day get it back!
By granting illegal citizens citizenship and making them pay higher taxes for 10 years as a penalty,we will solve our immigration problem as well as our economic problem by creating traction and funds that are desperately needed,this is only a supplemental step ,the real solution to fixing our economy is like how we fix our healthcare system(ending all global aid and wasteful spending and granting universal healthcare)except the only difference is instead of ending global aid,we're ending global business,and outsourcing and corporate double dipping at the expense of the american people,mark my words, you will never have the economy we once had unless this is done!Join me in my quest to increase peace throughout the world and the fair representation of all peoples. https://sites.google.com/site/presidentskj
Only problem is illegals don't make much. A average illegal might make 30K yr and the illegal's FOUR KIDS costs more than his gross income. Then what money they make; they send back home. We need those highly educated and wealthy and entrepreneurs. DON’T need poor and uneducated.
We already have educated some of the brightest from around the world and SHOULD invite them to stay and build their lives here.
Zakaria – Please understand that one of the highest unemplyoment is in California(now12.4) and I read a statistic that San JOse(Capital of Sillicon Valley) is the second big city in USA as high unemplyment. Here many very "knowledge workers" lost their jobs in the last 4-5 yeras. The manufacturing gone more than 5 yeras ago and continue with very high qualified "workers"- many with Mastter Degrees and so on. The big lost was done in very high qualified engineers, – then CA tax revenue went down. It is about to change something structural – maybe in taxation, because the design is already going offshore and the corporations idea that the workers are not qualified is not very true – they could keep the design here
Why wouldnt they get someone from America to 'explain'? Sounds like an al qaeda agenda to me.
"So if you think about it, what we’re doing as a country is continuing to subsidize consumption"
Our capitalism is based on consumerism. Does Zakaria think we should have something other than capitalism? He is very vague and superficial about specifics.
I agreewith a previous comment that elimination of waste in government should be a top priority. The GAO has identified over $200 BILLION that could be saved by elimination of redundancies in activities by federal agencies. It has also identified a host of troubled programs that should have a short leash put on their funding until they prove their salt. One example is the FAA's $40 BILLION NextGen program which both the GAO and DOT's IG have heavily criticized for significant cost overruns, dubious benefits, and a host of management related issues. And what does the Obama administration want to do but plus up their funding by several hundreds of million dollars. Anyone who has seriously been in private industry management knows that adding money to a broken process only accentuates the problem. This is what is so depressing about the way government handles things....it just keeping throwing money at problems with the hope that something politically good will come out. Until this way of operating changes I think we are doomed to a hopeless downward spiral in our standard of living.
That may not be entirely true. I work on one of the badly needed ATC system upgrades (other countries are ahead of the US in this area and are currently using GPS based sytems)...so the upgrade is necessary and compared to other government IT projects this one really isn't so bad. I worked on one for the IRS and that was a huge waste..so perhaps the numbers here look daunting but one has to look in much greater detail as to what is going on. NextGen may have waste – but one has to see exactly where that waste exists...
Dow Jones needed something like 24,000 in order to stabilize the economy.
Having lived through the decline of Britain following WWII, I see the same pattern of behavior in today's America: a refusal to accept that there really is a problem and an unwillingness to make the sacrifices that are needed to reverse the process. I believe that, like Britain, America will become a major, but not dominant nation over the next few decades and will be replaced by China or India as the number one world power.
We need to take a page from Germany's play book. They have strong unions and control the flow of money to the top which forces more money to the workers. This way more people have more money to spend. When the average working stiff (like me) has more money to spend, they spend a higher percentage of their income than the wealthy. This puts a higher amount of money back into the economic flow. This creates demand. When demand gets high enough, businesses have to hire more people to keep up with the demand. Now more people have more money to spend.
- It's a snowball effect -
In 1914 Henry Ford understood this. He paid his factory workers $5.00 a day which was twice the going rate. Wall Street called him a socialist. Within a year the community began to see the results. People had more money to spend, shops had to hire more people to keep up with demand. Do you see how it works?
DEMAND DRIVES THE ECONOMY / not tax cuts.
Bottom line, it's time to start squeezing the rich and pump more money to the working class.
I know, every republican just plugged their ears and started going la la la la la la la la.
Fareed repeats the same old unrealistic vision of people moving around all the time in search of jobs, constant retraining, having 10 different jobs and 3 different careers, etc.
All this doesn't make sense in reality. You can pull it off a couple of times when you're young and single, but not later on approaching middle age and beyond. We're talking about real human beings here, not machines that can be shipped and re-deployed frequently.
You can't keep uprooting your family and buying/selling houses every couple of years. You can't keep changing careers, etc. It's simply not practical from any perspective.
The US is in trouble because it doesn't invest enough in its own population: health care is broken (which is a huge drain on the economy and makes the US unattractive to employers), education isn't where it should be, no social services (instead we have the highest incarceration rates in the world), infrastructure investment is lagging other countries, etc. Instead, we invest in the military, wars, and socializing risk (using bailouts), but privatizing profits within a small upper class. We reap what we sow.
The implication from Fareed's comments is that people can solve the problem individually by being more flexible or some such thing. That's very naive. Sweeping changes in government policy are needed, but nothing will happen until things get a lot worse, and maybe not even then.
i have alot of respect for the author.
but! the usa is a empire in decline.
histroy always repeats itself and those who ignore it are doomed to repeat it.
the usa people are the only ones who dont realize this little fact. all other countries recognize this.
that is why theye are trying to drop the dollar as the worlds currency. and this will happen soon.
you americans elected bush twice! that is similar to nero naming his horse a senator.
there are copious other similarities. bottom line? the usa is heading for hyperinflation and economic destruction.
and they deserve it.
I had never much thought about it to be honest with you, but the more I hear it the more it rings true.....we as Americans need to start MAKING THINGS again. Practically everything from our clothes to eletronics are made someplace else. Our infrastructure is terrible, our public school systems are not good, and corporations are now making profits but they are not giving it out by creating jobs. Look what happened when we Americans invested in our own auto industry, yeah many griped about it and called it a bail out, but the industry turned around, is making a profit, jobs are being created and we are buying American made cars again. In my lifetime it would be nice to see us lose our dependence on foreign oil but there are too many hands in the pot, including some of our own, for me to see that happening soon. I live in the nation's 4th largest city and we doing even have a subway transit system here. And if we do get one they will probably have the trains built in Asia.
We are too deep in it already. Everyone talks a good game yo get elected. Everyone wants instant gratification.
Apparently, i can't type. I meant to say...everyone talk a good game until thet get elected.
Mr zakaria,
I think many politicians and economists are not acknowledging the main problem which is the form of capitalism we have in USA. This form of capitalism has let the people of USA down, sold American jobs abroad for short term gains while increasing the cost of services. American's have to pay very very high prices for insurance whether medical or social security. Example being the cost of ctscan in most countries is 10 dollars while the same cost 5000 dollars in USA, why? So that we buy insurance.
We really need to control this form of capitalism and again empower Americans.
Regards
Lalit
Very good!! You should watch Dylan Ratigan on MSNBC.
After living and working in Asia from the early 1980's until the mid 1990's I learned one thing. China, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan are RABID PROTECTIONISTS. Our "leaders" (Reagan, Bush I, Clinton and Bush II) used unfettered imports to squash unions and destroy the middle class. Why? I don't know (other than the upper classes hate the lower?). Why any sane person would allow the trade disparities like we've seen for the last 40 years is beyond belief. Reagan, Bush I, Clinton and Bush II were not insane. What, then, was their reason??? Saving the United States from bankruptcy certainly was not.
Putting greedy unions in their place is a step in the right direction
It's not the unions that are greedy, it's the employers. Today the top 1% take home 23% of the nations income. Who's greedy?
Without unions, you have no liveable pay scales. Without liveable pay scales, you have no consumers. With no consumers you have no markets. With no markets you have no Capitalists. American capitalism, to thrive, must have consumers. (Henry Ford paid his workers high pay because he needed them to buy Fords). There will be no American "Turnaround" without strong unions (Public AND Private) and higher pay scales. Simple as that!
I am always amazed when pundits like Fareed, Krugman or Friedman want to diagnose America's ills and make no mention whatsoever of our ridiculous military budgets–running to nearly a trillion dollars a year and representing nearly half of discretionary spending. These budgets go back to time of the Cold War (which ended 20 years ago) and cover cost of vast system of bases around the world (more than 30 in Okinawa alone) and in the U.S. Most these are relics of Cold War and remain operational simply for purpose of giving a general or admiral a command. We do not face same threat level today we faced against Soviets, and yet Pentagon will receive more money next year than this. We are building 2,500 new F-35 jets at cost of hundreds of billions, 10 new super-carriers at cost of hundreds of billions, hundreds of in-flight refueling tankers a cost of hundreds of billions. I agree with Zakaria that we need to spend more on education, science, and infrastructure, but Pentagon spending is bleeding the country dry.
Personally,I don't give a hoot what Zakaria has to say about anything. He has his agenda I have mine.
Fareed, you have been my hero for a long, long time. However, tonight, I have no doubt that Americans all over the country thought you would have solutions for them...in California, in Indiana, in Louisiana, in Ohio, in North Carolina....it's time to have some down-to-earth real solutions that will help ordinary people get back to work. I think you missed the mark tonight...it was way too academic for people fighting to survive out there. Try again.
We're ghosts walking around who don't know we're dead. We keep trying to reinflate the corpse of capitalism, the monster that drove a knife through our heart. Go back to Hamilton's plan and tariffs that worked very well up until Saint ronnie ripped up the rules. And stop mingling capitalism and democracy. They're different. Regulate, regulate, regulate! Tax all Wall street transactionst.
Absolutely, 100% Correct. YOU ARE RIGHT, SIR!
There is another way than trodding down the path to serfdom the good journalist has outlined for us. Back in the 60s we had it all. We did buy some items from other countries but in ways that were beneficial to our nation.
We can never compete with China on any level. Anyone who says this is either a lier or "thinking" challenged. They produce more college grads 5:1. They will work under terrible conditions for pennies. They don't mind working their kids.
These apologists for NAFTA will never come clean and tell the truth, as they are blindly bound to this ideology. And I'm sure they must feel the guilt of selling their fellow countrymen out.
What we must do is come together as a nation. We need to look at what made us great in the 60s.
Imports in the 60s were minuscule compared to today–yet we had everything we needed, even to go to the moon. Unions were at their strongest in history. The amount of jobs the corporations were allowed to outsource were monitored and controlled, not the "FREE TRADE" we have today with no rules.
For this to work, though, we must all stand together. For the blue collar man this should be easy, as they have taken the biggest hits. Now that technical and engineering jobs are under siege, white collar workers are seeing the incentive.
Basically, we must not only buy American, but we have to take steps to control FREE TRAITORs.
Throwing the party that's in out each election cycle is not going to be effective because corporate America has bought both sides.
It is the demonstration of democracy the teachers has shown us that it the answers. The founders placed it right there in the Constitution: The right to assemble, to petition........They knew that there was a danger that both parties could become malignant. They knew elections wouldn't alway be enough.
This claim about entitlements is bogus. First of all, they are NOT entitlements. Social Security and Medicare are paid for from every paycheck. Yes, more people are living longer and health care costs have risen, so some adjustments are needed. But it's still not an entitlement.
Regarding pensions. Pensions existed in the private sector as well as public. It is factored into the pay people get. Like heath insurance, 401K matching, etc., part of your pay package included money paid into a pension fund. Nowadays the private sector has essentially voided pensions, cut 401K matching, and shifted health care costs to employees, in addition to laying people off and rehiring some at lower pay. Fine, but the idea that people are getting "entitlements" for free is ludicrous.
we haver become a nation of bankers. Wall street is all about making short terms gains. Nothing tangible is done. WE have to go back to our dreams like when we sent men to the moon, when we built the space shuttle..... WE have to invest in the long term and go back to our creative mindset. We need engineers, scientists and great teachers to teach our kids. We need to have a vision to rebuild the infrastructure for the 21 st century and beyond. Like somebody said, we have to control our military spending that has gone out of control and is bleeding this country dry.....
This country has grown fat, happy and complacent. Meanwhile the rest of the world gets better educated and nimble. Time to wake up America and get educated and get competitive again. The world is flat.
WELL... Zakaria is obviously the one we should be listening to... I mean, just LOOK at how wide-set his eyes are and how DARK his eyebrows are!! He MUST know what he's talking about!
Goodness, it feels like we've been trying to get our "groove" back for the last three years. Oh, wait we have.
Unfortunately, we will not get our groove back; we have passed the point of no return. We are a nation divided between the “libs” and the “cons” where facts or rational thought do not matter. All most of us do is point at each other and declare the other wrong, evil, anti-American, or all of the above simply because we disagree in their opinions. It is all-out ideological war; a war that we will all lose. Sad.
Unfortunately, I would have to agree. Americans can do great things when we rally together, but I don't really see that happening at this point. The divisions and entrenchment of the divisions just seems to be growing among many factors.
To make matters worse, people have stopped thinking well. The underpinnings of morality, as well as the foundational blocks and values on which the country was founded, have nearly crumbled beneath a superficial appearance that they remain. Nothing is there to really ground what America is anymore. IMO, all it is going to take is something to spark things off, and they will get bad, REALLY BAD, really quickly.
Catches up? BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAAHHAHAA
We need to blame politicians (on both sides) who are still pandering to special interests, rather than the good of the American people. Our deficit is composed primarily of medicare, medicaid and Social Security payments. Fighting over how much to cut from education/infrastructure/social programs don't amount to savings of 1% of the budget.
I work in the medical field and know that American's pay much more for the same EXACT products than Europeans or Asians pay. The US needs to audit its healthcare spending to ensure we aren't overpaying for the same drugs and devices as other countries.
Americas long term prosperity relies on investing in our future (a better educated and competative workforce), and reducing the impact of healthcare costs in the USA. However our politicians care more about keeping/kicking out Obama in 2012 so nothing will ever happen!
Europe is completely different than the U.S. They operate under a socialist system that works only because their population and culture is different. There aren't as many lazy and selfish people there that would take advantage of the system, and then be supported by bleeding heart liberals that would somehow try to blame every problem on someone else so they could continue to leach the system. There is a lot less tolerance for crime, discipline is still somewhat of a virtue, as is maturity. They also seem to have learned that overpopulation is bad and that there is a certain population limit that allows for sustainable use of finite resources...and better quality of life.
One way to get the country back on track is to stop catering to every frivolous political agenda. Gay marriage, Don't Ask Don't Tell, abortion, witch hunts against law enforcement and the military, giving lots of resources to countries that refuse to control overpopulation, and many other political agendas need to go away. All this media-driven stuff that provides for a minority population at the expense of the vast majority, or that provides for another country altogether (especially ones that refuse to recognize overpopulation as the root cause of their ills) at the detriment of America need to go away. We can entertain some of them when we get back on our feet...but that won't happen as long as they are wasting our time, the government's time, and the legal system's time.
The "minorities" pay more taxes than stupid and low-educated people like you tho. I bet you are one of those stupid christians who HATE everyone except gullible christians.
Stop dreaming and start working. There are no more free money and welfare.
Your grandkids have to pay for your diapers and food stamps because of these lazy and greedy baby boomers and bankers.
Bigredmikelv said "Social security needs to go. That's number one".
You are a moron. I worked and PAID into the system, since I as 16. Now I am 57. Believe me; if I had invested the money I threw away to Unccle Sam, I would be a Billionaire now. Instead, the government wants to pay me below what I can live on when I retire. I apid in already for over 40 years. The GOV owes me. I can't wait until you reach 66 and can't work anymore and see what you think then.
Think before you flap your jaw. Some of us have lost our savings to divorce settlements, etc., thanks to the sharp lawyers in this country.
The only reason we are in a mess now is our jobs were outsourced and minimum wages are way below practical minimum of $18 per hour. So, next time you open your mouth; think!
Of course they are catching up. We gave them the technology, the foreign aid and their people came here for refuge; sending money back to the mother country. AND the UN still uses us as a police force.
All they need is to arrest all the people whom stole this country fund and repossessed all their. Asset like they do the drug dealer..
Sorry.
It is broke.
Georgie did it.
Humpty Dumpty can never be put back together again.
Here is another example of why things are so broken. People are locked into the blame game of one party against the other. If you know anything about economics, both parties aren't really that different. And, if things are economically bad... it is quite likely both parties are to blame. Our only way out is to start thinking differently... and NEITHER party is anywhere near close to doing so.
straight and to the point!
We have to start thinking more long-term... even if that means forcing it to happen. One idea would be a 'term-limit' on the sales of stocks. Essentially, you buy, you have to keep for some minimum time, like a year or longer. This would allow companies to start doing longer range planning. People also need to start thinking longer term about their savings and spending (esp. credit).
One great example of this that everyone is drooling over recently is the success of Apple. IMO, a lot of their success recently has to do with the company having a ton of cash on-hand, and a level of popularity that allows them to act long-term (they have a level of immunity from their investors). And, note how they have gone against 'conventional business wisdom' in a number of ways. I think this is because 'conventional business wisdom' today is basically idiocy.
Bottom line, if we don't ALL start thinking more long-term (companies and individuals), it is all going to get VERY VERY bad, and won't probably take all that long to get there.
Getting the US Groove back? Start with this 1- implement an energy plan to eliminate foreign dependency (Natural Gas,batteries, hydrogen etc) 2-remove US troops from endless wars 3 -Buy American products only 4- cut the fat in DC instead of union layoffs, remove overpaid politicians that make empty promises....
The article says it well. We are not even in a position to talk about restoring the American dream. Before we can do that, we need to get back to the basics. The Declaration of Independence where it says:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
The Gettysburg Address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvA0J_2ZpIQ where it states: "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom— and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
We also need to listen to the words of the Battle Hymn of the Republic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJJm5amVw3w
When we raise the salaries of the poorest workers, when we give a living wage to the poorest workers, when we make sure that the poorest workers have adequate food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and health care, we are not creating competitors, we are creating customers.
If we push for a living wage in third world nations we do the same. The foundation of our republic is also written on the Statue of Liberty: A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
If we can remember that we were oppressed, over there, wherever over there is, get that lump in our throat when we see suffering anywhere, and then do something, God will provide what we need. In the mean time, he is giving us the rope to hand ourselves with.
Perhaps America should file for bankruptcy, write off the national debt, and start over again, or your grandkids have to pay for your diapers and food stamps.
The only way to restoe America's workforce is for companies to realize that if they need skilled workers, then they will have to pay and train the American workforce for these specific jobs that require the specific skill they are looking for. Americans can not afford the time, travel and expense-and companies should be aware of this-to go back to school for these "silled jobs". It would be a win-win for everybody concerned.
We have invested billion dollars into education, but we end up with a bunch of crappy and greedy teachers and retarded students.
Exactly! Business is forcing workers to spend too much money and time getting higher education–tech school, college–just to get a first job, then go BACK to school to re-train when their skills are made obsolete. It's time business trained their own workers., like in the old days.
You act like every American is a spend thrift. The real cause of the massive expenditures is War. Now if you want to be King of the World shut your mouth and pay the bill. I have been paying into Social Security since I was 16 years old washing dishes in a small country dinner. The government was there every payday all my working life with its hand out on payday and taking my money. Now you want to cheat us? I say NO pay Social Security and stop using Social Security Money for War and there will be plenty of money. Also, the Constitution says: Every citizen must support the government According To Their Means. That means the more your income you have the more you pay in income tax. Well it not that way in America anymore; the Rich ride for free in our society. So tie a rope around your neck and jump off the nearest bridge along with the “Other Financial Advisors” who destroyed the American Economy and escaped the Federal Prison System altogether……………
Regarding the idea of help from the West for a no fly zone or, airstrikes. I would like to quote Theodore Roosevelt, who I believe said it best."We here in America, hold in our hands the hope of the world, the fate of the coming years; and shame and disgrace will be ours if in our eyes the light of high resolve is dimmed, if we trail in the dust the golden hopes of men."
The opportunity to help fulfill the dreams of democracy by those who yearn for it must not be missed. The West sees itself as a beacon of light for the world. Well, it's time to shine that light on some of the darkest places on earth.
Money men, put aside your constant quest for power and influence. Help the politicians you influence put aside your concerns and do what is right for the world for a change; as opposed to what is largely right for you.
How can we extol the virtues of democracy and stand idly by while those who dream of it are extinguished and crushed under the heel of a brutal, uncaring dictator who is totally lacking a conscious
To those who have it in their power to help, grow a pair and get to it. Do so and we will back you up. Don't and it will be us who feel the shame for, it will then be clear for all to see that, you have none.
How do we get our groove back? Really?.... Is it that hard to figure out? Well let take a quick look at this...from a laymans point of view. Aside from the crooks in our government(Federal and States as that is a whole different animal) We as a country make next to nothing....all we do is CONSUME. Unions had their place in history and need to now be History. What do you think you would do as a US company when you have to pay a Union person 45.00 hour to screw a bolt in a piece of equipment, when you can pay someone at the same skill/intellecual level overseas an 1/8th of that wage....As a company, regardless of spirit, are FORCED to go overseas to stay competitive. We as a country have nearly eliminated the middle class...there is mostly the poor and the rich...thA claste system. As for our political system that gets NOTHING done on either side have created this mess. Both sides are against debt, against taxation, want to make jobs...but they are the law makers, they are the ones that make the taxes upon taxes. !00 years ago, we did not have the 1/8 of the taxes today and were the the richest country in the world and you idiots are wondering how America is supposed to get its groove back?
George Washington was against our government creating political parties as it (our country) would become divided and nothing would get done. Thank you Democrats and Republicans! We are just a shadow of what we once were, and probably would be on Forbes not the best countries to live in list if their was one.
Eric, a very thoughtful and concise post, if people will pay attention. It is not entirely the fault of unions, as they do represent the best of American workers but rather that we have moved into a global economy, and this highly skilled work force will have to change with it.
I think that this program may very well be the most important program on television for this year---or it will not get the attention it so badly needs. The young men interviewed for the start up company could represent the future for the country, and the emphasis on education was extremely clear.
A country’s “well being” could be seen through the lens of its middle class, in that a broad middle class brings more prosperity to more people than an expanded millionaire’s class, without penalizing anyone. It needs to be remembered that there is a good chance that if you are reading this, then you may well be in the top 5% of wealthy in the world, if you take into consideration of the billions living on $1 a day. Granted, you cannot live that well in the U.S. on $25K a year, yet if compared with the rest of the world you are part of the 5%. We simply do not feel wealthy or even financially secure. Do we as Americans, even care about the rest of the world?
One of the things that I caught from the interview is that these two bright young men seemed more interested in “how many people” used their applications than in how much money they made. If the standard of success is measured first by the money a company makes, rather than how well it takes care of its customers and employees it may well speak to the health of the culture.
What we have in our nation is a total failure of Presidential leadership. After 2 years of massive wasted corrupt spending we are deeply in debt and edging up to a financial debt crisis that could turn into a collapse. The American people recognized what a disaster Obama was creating and gave control of the House to the Republicans. The Republicans are trying, but they don't dare address the issues with Medicare and Social Security that need to be addressed because Obama and the Democrats will block everything and leave try and kill them politically. So they are doing what they can, and Obama and the Democrats are already trying to tell the nation that they will be starving children to death for the tiny cuts they are proposing in Obama's massive corrupt spending. Obama's new budget makes it clear that he will do nothing but play politics. His budget is the worst failure of Presidential leadership in our nations history. When a President refuses to lead what is the nation to do? What we have to do is what we did in 1980 when Jimmy Carter was failing the nation. We need to kick Obama to the curb and find a leader like Reagan who will lead us back to the path of growth and prosperity. The best candidate I see for that right now is Chris Christie of NJ. Its time for honestly, integrity, truth, and a man willing to lead the country down the tough, but right path!
It seems I remember that Clinton left a huge surplus and that 8 years of Bush ate it all up and left us with a huge deficit. Obama came into office facing two wars, one of which was a lie, and a “busted” economy. I wonder if you could be honest and divulge your feelings about a black president, as your attitude is typical of that image.
It is the Normal course of events for countries to rise and fall; do you really think America is any different than all the countries and republics that inhabit history? No, America has had its day in the noon day sun and is being eclipsed by other nations. It's a normal process just like birth to old age and death. We are no different than any other country that came before us or will come after us. If you think America will be here in a thousand years, dream on..... Aristotle said, "Time Destroys All Things." You can take a lump of rock and set it out in the elements in enough time it will devolve and be no more. Stop worrying about 20 generations from now as the future can take care of itself............. Forget if there will be an America is a hundred years as you won't know the outcome anyway. Live for NOW, today as that's all you really have!
you know what the leader of country should be a middle income earner with quite a strong education. not someone rich. this person also has to make their own cash. but because these people are rare and are easily kicked out by richer and more powerfull people the chances of this happening is slim.
Excuse me, Mr. Zakaria, but I don't live to be "super-productive, super-competitive." I am not a MACHINE! Life is not about winning the "global competition" and it is not about continuous growth, whatever that means. I have one life and I want meaningful work, a family life, a spiritual life, a community life, and some leisure and pleasure. And there had better be some Social Security and Medicare for me at the end my working life. Don't even THINK about touching that!
Too bad. The world is evolving. Feel free to be left behind at a lower level of evolution.
Let's start with a problem that could be fixed, if we could somehow overturn the lawyer-politcal complex: tort reform. A buddy of mine just had successful open heart surgery. How in the hell could the bill for that come to $280,000 !!! It's no wonder we can't compete, and see jobs being outsourced. Democrats - what do you say? Could you see your way clear to relent on this subject of tort reform or are you so fixed in your ways that you don't mind seeing America go down the drain due to your stubborness?
At the G8 summit Obama urged the other nations to spend their way out of the recession. They ended up "agreeing to disagree". Now, they're recovering at a faster pace.
Opps.
Guess all those other countries knew something after all.
If American defaults on Social Security in any shape or form, it will be the very kiss of Death for it (America). That action will be its undoing........................... No one who labors or works will trust it again and the masses will rebel and refuse to cooperate in any way with the American Government as after all it's nothing but "Cheat" is it not? The masses will be completely correct in their evaluations and the Government will Never Regain their "Good Faith" again. So if you want a quick death for American Default on Social Security.......................
That's exactly what Republicans are trying to do with their "The sky is falling!" deficit-cutting agenda. Take down the federal government by taking down Social Security and Medicare. Make American workers TOTALLY dependent on corporations for their health and retirement security. We are practically slaves to corporations as it is. Destroy SS, and we're totallly slaves.
The 400 richest people in the US have more combined wealth than 1/2 of the US population.
http://www.reachoutjobsearch.com/2011/03/we-are-not-broke-400-wealthiest.html
Don Montalvo
I always enjoy Fareed’s insight, but I find it somewhat ironic that he chooses to discourse about economic policy when his educational background reflects otherwise.
At a time when even the greatest economists of our day scramble to find a solution, Mr. Zakaria takes it upon himself to say that we Americans should be more like the Chinese, all the while completely ommitting the sad reality of their third world state of affairs.
The Chinese have prospered –yes. But, that was achieved through a system of production that draws many comparisons to the times of the Egyptian pharoahs and Roman Emperors.
Years ago, we Taxed Corporations who extracted natural resources from "public land". Why was that tax removed? This would mean all oil companies using off and on shore drilling would pay huge taxes along with all other companies using our natural resources. This would add billions to our economy
Money/Gold runs this World and America is all out of it. Do your really think the Super Rich give a %$#@ about America? They can change citizenship on a whim. The Super Rich have become so powerful even Washington can't control them as they own Washington, DC. Napoleon made a famous quote, "The hand that lends is above the hand that borrows." So the American Government will do just what its money lenders tell it to do and nothing more. We are all in bondage as you are Free, Free to sleep under any bridge you chose. The America we knew a young people is gone and will never return......... ever.
The title of the TV program "Getting America back to number 1" indicates America is not number 1 now, which is incorrect. Please correct the misleading title. Thanks.
Mr. Zakaria is correct. This is what happens when American companies look only at the bottom line of profits and forget the sustainability of business. Too much globalism in business is being handled the wrong way. Get rid of unions and keep American workers employed on American soil. Get rid of unions and there will be no desire to outsource. Support American companies that employ American workers. Put a moratorium on immigration and round up the illegals and deport them. Then, those unskilled Americans will have jobs and the skilled Americans will have jobs. It's also not our business to police the rest of the world or bail out stupid corporations and stupid Americans who overspend.
The problem is that the US subsidizes the security of western civilization.
Unfortunately, our "Groove" has been, by and large, sold to Asia.
We've cut the legs out from under our middle class and sold their livelihoods out to foreign outsourcers.
And CEO's will continue to do it until they write themselves the last fat bonus check.
America wasn't defeated–it was auctioned.
Nina:
I believe your question concerns Bush II's abolishment of the Department of Energy's enforcement and oversight role, which many believe to be responsible for the manipulation of oil contract futures by the Oil Industry - an activity that many also believe is currently happening. There is evidence pointing to a connection between the recent uprisings in the middle east and the activities of a select group of individuals most likely responsible for those activities.
The Libertarian Party, whose political leanings are dictated by Big Oil, has long lobbied to eliminate any regulatory obstacles to their continued control over the global economy. As Jane Mayer pointed out in her highly regarded New Yorker article, a secretive campaign by the Oil Industry has been underway for some time in the form of strategic online pro-fossil fuel rhetoric dissemination.
Whether or not Fareed Zakaria is speaking on behalf of those interests in this piece is anyone's guess, but I think Bush II's ominous warning still rings true now perhaps more than ever before: "Americans are addicted to oil." And like an addict who sacrices everything for the sake of feeding that addiction, Americans are sacificing their way of life for the sake of feeding their oil addiction.
Right before WWI there was all this "free trade" and globalization, etc..... and great dislocations of wealth. The storm clouds are gathering again and I don't think America will collapse in a vacuum but go down in a hail of lead and fire. Once the "average" American realizes that they have been reduced to serfdom and poverty more and more coal will be thrown into the boiler and the heat will rise and rise this there is an explosion of some type, a major war, rebellion or insurrection. Even the Roman Empire was scared to death of the raging masses. All it takes is one day for the American people to say, "I won't do it anymore." and it's over. Just as the people of Egypt did. None of this has to happen if American will come to its senses. I don't know if it will or won't? Time will tell.
This notion that America needs to be "No. 1", that divine providence has chosen us to be the very zenith of civilization in every respect, is a large part of the problem we face in the world. This is not to suggest that we should strive only for mediocrity, but that the cost of our inflexiblity and willingness to succeed by means of domination has been too great. We've traded our principles and values for record profits that enrich only a select few. We've allowed what was once a republic to be transfigured into the grotesque shape of an empire. We're all culpable, we're all complicit...and the evidence of our collective failure to challenge our own institutions is all around us here at home.
Fairness is not weakness. Compromise is not surrender. Empire is not everlasting.
It can be said with little bias that the majority of American military Generals, Admirals, and Chief of Staff are deeply conservative. However, that power has been offset by checks and balances that inherently rely on America's multi-party political spectrum. While Republicans were funded largely by Big Oil and other fossil fuel industries, Democratics looked toward the working man and his labor unions, whose proud and moral convictions represented the vast majority of the country's sentiment.
This is about to change. For the last 30 years, the conservative party has been ensuring the gradual decline of that funding by the systemic removal of those unions. Once the influence of Democratic politicians in the country's affairs has lost its foothold, there is a very real possibility that the check and balances that once ensured the US military's loyalty to the people of the United States will put to the test as Generals, Admirals, and Chief of Staff alike are left to rely on their own moral compasses to use that power responsibly.
“Improving” the education system not going to help since even now we loosing high tech jobs anyway. Production is already off shorted so experience, talent and skills follow the production so it is there as well – you cannot raise high tech skill here without high tech production here. However the problem is solvable and in very easy and effective way – smart taxations: If corporation want to produce oversee but still want to sell services/products here – to America – tax them, tax them, tax them. It already happened with auto industries – first all cars been produced oversee, but our government applied smart taxation to the corporation that produce cars oversee but try to sell cars here and guess want happens? – now Toyota, Honda BMW, Mercedes, Audio, etc., etc, etc – basically all of them have production here, in America. Apply smart taxes and in two years all production (and software development, and computer industries, and everything else) will come back – simple like that. One more thing: government should protect interest of the country as a whole, but business not supposed to – business’s business is a bottom line – make money. This is a government job – through protectionism and smart taxation provide condition for the business that it would be profitable for them and make business’s sense to return their production back to America.
The corporations and companies in America don't want an employee the want to own you, to own your soul. To be the sole source of, food for your family, medical care, retirement (if the offer one anymore). By getting you in this position if they say jump you had better jump and ask how high do you want me to jump, Sir? The don't want any type of escape hatch like Social Security where you can "Quit" working for them at 66 years of age. They want you in eternal bondage to them. It all about Big Me and Little You in its worst form. A friend of mine who works for a major American Corporation said to me, "They have done everything to me but murder me." That's what the new American workforce has to look forward to in the times now and ahead. Most American corporations are a cross between a brothel and a slave farm. Upward mobility? Dream on.. there is none for the average worker, none.
Many, many reasons to understand the extraordinary strengths of the US and for optimism in the future:
1) The US is the world's largest manufacturer, with a gross output of nearly $5 trillion ( >$2 trillion in GDP contribution) producing 20% of all the world's manufactured goods, a market share it has held for decades – Japan and the EU have had their shares decline precipitously, something rarely noted – also America produces one-third of all the world's high tech goods. (manufacturing jobs have been lost in less competitve industries, yet has remained strong in higher value industries)
2) The US spends 35-40% of the world's research and development money, guarenteeing future prosperity
3) At $15 trillion, it remains by far the largest economy in the world, 3x's larger than China
4) The US is deliberative, self-critical, and self correcting, and so unlike some of those in Europe and the Middle East who incessantly criticize the US, America is dynamic and fluid, changing as it needs to–identifying problems and rapidly fixing them, remaining forever adaptable and formidable and certainly the most extreme opposite of stagnant or 'flat footed.'
5) Its unmatched culture of leading universities, think-tanks, public debates, entrpreneurship, coupled with its domination of technology and science provides it with an extraordinary productivity and potential.
6) Despite what some may say, the US, without imposing, has the most attractive culture the world over; this is a reflection of the overt and subtle things about America and Americans which makes it so emulated and great.
7) The net worth of Americans even after the 'Great Recession' is some $60 trillion, a sum equivalent to the entire world's annual output (GDP).
And regarding China:
1) It will be the first nation in human history to become old before it became rich, an enormous and techtonic shock to its already fragile social fabric
2) As of 2010, China has peaked in its labor force – every year going forward, their will be more 'pensioners' (although there is no safety net) than productive laborers
3) Tibet, Xinjiang are just two most restive regions – political stability is a shame there – read the most authoritative strategic analyzers today, STRATFOR, as they have repeatedly predicted massive calamities for China ahead.
The uprisings in the Middle East are by rigged. Big Oil is using the windfall profits from unregulated oil futures to fund their control of the military. It's only a matter of time before secular government is totally wiped out and we all have to go to church on sundays or face the moral authority. Face it. It might as well have already happened.
Too bad so many on the far left are seduced by the nearly unquestioned power of a one-party authoritarian state like China; they may occasionally claim to have concerns, but deep down centralized power is intoxicating to the left, you can see it in each and every one of their actions and words – centralized power as they see it, allows the 'good' people to do, well, 'good,' while keeping all the 'bad' people in check.
While taking the prosperity, security, opportunities, and stability of the US for granted, they spend an inordinate amount of time hypocritically and shamelessly criticizing and damning the US, all while the US defends their right to do so.
They are blind to or dismissive of the literally tens of millions killed at the hands of sick leftist policies, whether its China's cultural revolution and great leap forward, Lenin and Stalin, Cambodia's Maoist Khmer Rouge, countless leftist communist guerillas in Latin America, India, and elsewhere or what have you.
Their minds are truly, deeply, unapologetically ideological, with an unmatched hatred for those who disagree with them, capitalism, and god forbid, those who make more than they 'approve' of.
Its sickening to see some taking pride in criticizing the US and capitalism, the former has promoted the latter with the effect being the greatest reduction in worldwide poverty in human history, but don't tell this to the left, they live off of hatred of the US, are committed to centralized control and eternal damnation of private enterprise and capitalism, and could care less what others think.
The anti-capitalism, anti-growth left lives to criticize the US as seen by some posts here. Class warfare (with significant doses of laziness and whining) is the ultimate clarion call for the left, the most important pillar of their ideology, and the fire that drives them towards socialism/liberalism/progressivism/marxism/maoism/communism or whatever 'euphemism' du jour they choose to use for totalitarianism. The left is shocked that people wish to live as free as possible with as little interference from the state – they are aghast that most do not want to submit all their rights and free will to the 'beneficent, all-knowing, wise, well-intentioned' left. So silly of us. They can't help but get enough of a place like China where those dumb enough to question the Communist Party are crushed. The dreams of the left...
Please tell me how I, too, can arrive at this nirvana you seem to have achieved. I long so desperately for the same simplicity of existence. With or Against. Win or Lose. Left or Right. Armed with a head full of absolutes like those it would be so much easier to navigate the confusing ambiguities of the world around me. Please. Be my mental missionary and convert me to your religion. Tell me. What's your secret...?
Our politicans (both parties) are idiots and cowards. We need to be looking at $1000 billion in cuts, instead we are arguing over $60 billion in cuts. The federal government has become morbidly obese and far too powerful. We have to significantly scale back its role in American life. We need 30-35% across the board cuts, nothing off limits.
Do we as a country and its people really want to strive to be number one in all things? This is a story we as a people have bought hook-line-and-sinker for the past 60 years. Obviously it does not create harmony in the world to strive to be dominant-number-one when we can respect each other and work together at the level of like-minded human-beings who want live a life of love, joy and peace – not inside a to-big-to-fail global Corptocracy whose defining goal is to bring all things unto itself in a master / slave cast system.
Once again our military budget is not included in the discussion. Talk about consumption! If we could find a way to get out of the war business it would solve most of our short and long term economic problems.
"in Washington, for political reasons, the only thing that people can agree on is to cut the investment part of the budget and no one dares touch the consumption part of the budget. The net effect is that we’re subsidizing consumption and starving investment, which is a recipe for failure."
Very precise!
However in order to get America back to No. 1, I think we need also Grass Root Democratization in the United States.
Recently Honolulu Star-Advertiser published a report about nepotism in hiring practices of a charter school in Hawaii, and editor’s view calling for tighter rules against it to prohibit schools from becoming family trees (you may read them on the web here:http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20101205_Charter_school_stands_accused_of_nepotism.html and here:http://www.staradvertiser.com/editorials/20101208_Tighten_schools_nepotism_rules.html.)
According to the report, Myron B. Thompson Academy Public Charter School principal Diana Oshiro picks “certain people with certain characteristics and blink loyalty to work under her. Based on this standard she brought in the school staff four of her relatives. One of them had nothing to do for two years, two were not qualified for their positions at the time they were hired if normal standard is applied, and they all enjoy especially favorable treatment at the school. “I was surprised to find a family can own a public school, and it’s not the family whose name is on the school. In their deeds and actions, they treat it like they own it”, former Thompson teacher Justin Nidgion said.
Why this happened?
Some people blame it on lack of anti-nepotism laws in Hawaii. It may be true but only to a certain extent because the state does have ethics laws to cover it. What the school lacks to avoid nepotism is checks and balances of power. Although the school has its overseer, school board, but in practice the board can’t watch over the principal effectively and routinely, therefore the principal easily got almost absolute power, "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” For example, all Thompson teachers are on year-to-year contracts, it makes the principal able to establish her kingdom in the school by firing people who dare to face up to her, such as Elizabeth Blake, vice principal at Thompson during 2001-05, challenged Oshiro over the performance of her relatives and was later fired.
Certainly Thompson school is not unique. In the United States president and governors including their cabinet members, congress and the Supreme Court are checked and balanced to prevent anyone of them from becoming a ruler of the country. However at lower level leadership, such as division chives, branch managers and group supervisors are not under checks and balances. They possess the power, like private companies owners, but they selves do not take the risks as the latter do, instead all citizens in whole swallow it, thus inefficiency and waste of money and human resource become intrinsic problems of our governments. Moreover they may occupy their positions as long as they desire, and make the divisions, branches and groups their own independent kingdoms by one way or another, like Diana Oshiro in Thompson Charter School.
People cannot tolerate it any more, they want fix it now! But how?
First and foremost, we must recognize that America’s democratization has reached only halfway point, our grass root democratization is not start yet, we need it and we still have long way to go in order to deepen our democracy. By contrast, a lot of Americans believe that our country has been perfectly democratized and what we need to do is to encourage and support democratic movements abroad.
Secondly, we have to supplement civil service system and public founded services with its common employees’ checking and balancing their bosses by granting employees the power of approvals of budget, recruitment, and promotion of their units.
Thirdly, we need to limit non-elected civil and public founded service leaders to one term in service, and restrict a term to five or six years. It may be extended to another term if subordinate employees agree. Common workers in front-lines know their bosses’ performance better than any ones else, and are more knowledgeable and experienced in their served area, they are able to well act similar to elected representatives of congress, without any extra payment. With their checks and balances on all levels of governments, our democratization will get big progress and the principle “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” will be made real at grass roots of our governments.
once again this Muslim loving idiot try's to protray American as a has-been.. go look at some charts of world wealth distribution and you'll see where the money really is..
As a manager at a very large telecommunications company, I have been very troubled by a trend that I see in those who work for me. For many years I was seeing generalized attitude of entitlement by many of those who worked for me. These were local talent. U.S. citizens. I would need them on occasion to work 50 or 60 hours a week to get caught up on their work. I had many, many of them tell me that they have a life and refused to do so. Also their skills were starting be lacking and they were unwilling to take training courses we offered in order to be more productive. I would very consistently voice my opinion that they needed to step it up. I heard it many times...we don't get paid enough to do more. We will do more when we get paid more. This thinking is totally opposite to my way of thinking. My way of thinking is you do more and work hard, you are then noticed and then comes the rewards.
As with many companies over the last few years we were forced by our superiors to lay off the local workers and brought in those from India and the Philippines. I noticed several things immediately. They were much more productive, worked as many hours (within reason), and had what I think the ones we laid off lacked... that is a hunger, a drive to succeed. Those who got laid off openly complained to those who took their jobs about how they should be ashamed of themselves and how could they sleep at night knowing they had taken away jobs from people with families.
I still have a hunger,a drive to make my company profitable and it has served me well. I have seen many people get laid off all around me, but I seem to always dodge the bullet because I work hard, I place the needs of the company on a equal level as my own. If my company does not do well, I will not do well and consequently my family will not do well.
If there are no jobs left for you to do, then go back to school like I did. I spent 10 years in the Air Force and when I got out I could not find a job. I went to college for 5 years and worked a minimum wage job with food stamps for my kids and as soon as i had that piece of paper in my hand I have been very successful and have never looked back.
Yes, the harder you slave to make your corporate masters richer, the longer it may take until they get rid of you, but sooner or later they will. Reorg, outsourcing, restructuring, rightsizing or whatever they end up calling it, or maybe even simply a new boss with whom you have no chemistry – sooner or later you're out. What then? Good luck as a middle aged ex-manager from a telco. No pension, no health care, no job prospects, nothing. At that point, guess how you'll feel about all the extra hours and effort you put in hoping that your corporate masters won't let you go because you are such a good servant. Oh, yes – maybe you can retrain as something else as suggested by Fareed. Good luck – you'll need it!
By the way, you should do a good job for you employer, but please don't be naive. This doesn't give you much protection in today's vicious corporate world.
I wonder why – maybe because corps keep cutting staff to funnel more money to the top while doubling up on those who are left – who are trying to live on a stagnant wage that no longer covers the cost of living and the house payments for their upside down mortgages – nor allowing time to enjoy the fruits of their labor. I guess there comes a point for all of us where we say frick-it – I’m out! In today’s world global corporations roam the world – sucking the life force out of their wage-slave surfs to satiate and expand their own greed. The time draws near – the Corptocracy system of things will fail as their monetary life blood and brain-trust slips away! Greed self-destructs as it bloats from its own self-perpetuating megalomania cancer.
While I agree that rewards should be earned, what you seem to be suggesting is ownership of the employee by the company. I would never consider the work I do for someone else's private gain to be equal to my own endeavors. The very notion that anyone should is an expression of tyranny.
If there were more domestic competition, I think you'd begin to see a marked difference in these attitudes you describe. When people feel more as though they're choosing what they do rather than settling for it because the company they work for is the only game in town, or because it's the only way they can become medically insured, it naturally follows that they'll come to feel less in command of their lives.
Demonstrating merit is not, and should not be, solely the responsibility of the employee or worker. That's also a tyrannical point of view. The reason you see this apparent lack of loyalty is that very little of it is offered as incentive. Does anyone truly believe that so much of our manufacturing has fled overseas solely because there's a superior workforce to be had elsewhere?
I think what you've seen in your situation is more a response to the economic culture than the simple whining of entitlement. If they had more of a stake in their jobs than a weekly paycheck, or even more of a choice in where those paychecks come from, maybe they'd feel differently about the occasional sacrifice.
The story of cut a billion here – cut a billion there – while the ever growing trillions of Ponzi-scheme debt eats us alive – truly is a dream alright – while we listen to MSM performing mental masturbations of re-arranging deck chairs while discounting the Titanic is sinking. We need to be discovering "we don't know what we don't know" to gain enlightenment to new possibilities beyond this delusional realm in order to explore our wildest dreams to discover a life of love, joy and peace for the future. We must disengage ourselves from this mindless mechanical giantism and control engulfing all humanity on the planet to discover and explore new realms beyond our present perspectives, perceptions and ways-of-being.
Even in the midst of the worst recession since the great depression, we are still the largest economy in the world. What we do with it is up to us. If our leaders choose to abdicate American greatness then the fault will lay with them, not the American individual.
Reply to James. Don't be calling anyone else uneducated.....at least not until you complete the third grade. You are either naive or just stupid.....probably both.
I bet his brother manages a chain of hotels....Maybe if ten million illegals weren't in the US wouldn't be in such decline...
Democrats view appropriations for "consumption" items as investment in human capital.
We can stop all this nonsense of American being #4 by simply educating Americans to buy American made products. 3 weeks ago I went to a Nordstrom store to buy my wife a pair of shoes. Good All American Nordstrom displays practically every conceivalbe $400.00 chinese made shoe ,which probably costs them $20.00. I asked the attendant for an American shoe and he promptly took me to a single display of an American brand called Munro, and I promptly bought a $200.00 pair of Munro shoes which my wife totally loves. We , as consumers, must demand American made products. If we, as consumers continue to buy Chinese, Indonesian, Vietnam, or other products, we are hurting ourselves and our kids. We are putting entire American industries out of business by our lack of concern and naivete about whats going on... and by the way, Nordstrom , as well as all American major retailers should show more corporate responsibility by giving American companies a fair chance.
Well, that American product (Munro) you bought also cost less than $30 to produce. The reason why its so expensive is because of marketing. For example, it costs less than $5000 to produce a Ford F-150 but Ford sells it at +$25k so they can make a profit and pay off the rest of the expenses. Simple supply and demand should show why we demand more of a foreign product - its capitalism! Look at Sony for example, their Playstation3 maybe foreign but its the best game console than Microsoft Xbox360 (It defects A LOT aka red ring of death and also you have to pay $15 a month for internet acess. While PS3 provides free online community if you have an access to internet connection).
Supply and demand, my friend.
Supply and demand.
I don't usually gush over news programs, really. I mean, c'mon. But after watching this program Mr. Zakaria, I just wanted to say "Thank You!!" I recorded the rebroadcast so that I can watch it with my teenage children. IThe clarity and balance with which you presented this complicated topic left me somewhat awed at your journalistic skill. Again, thank you.
Stormy
maybe Zakaria the global loving idiot should look at some graphs comparing America to the rest of the world.. EVERY country in the world would LOVE to trade places with the USA.. go figure that into your analysis...
joe – please look again the graphic showed where we were and whwere we will be – I hoe we can find a way to change the trend for the sack of our chikdren and even you joe
oh no i missed the episode.... yes all too true, the times they are a changing. very sad o see the us go from being the leader in so many industries to being virtually non-existent in them....the us govt still valiantly fights a war by beefing up its defense budget (1.4 trillion for 2011) but is too blind to see that the real war is on the economic and educational front....the govt can still resurrect lost industries in the us ... but for that hard choices must be seen – and – chosen and the commonality of purpose and national spirit that drives other nations like china, japan, even india must exist in the us as well..when things become hard every nation and people 'wake up'...when will the us 'wake up'.... i worked overseas in singapore for a year and they are way ahead of the us in high tech jobs, education, public services, construction, infrastructure, etc...etc....
America grew from selling the world cotton,tobacco,and oil in the twentyith century. China is growing in middle class from selling the world everything we use as consumers. It's amazing how we as Americans fail to see how the descendants of those cotton,tobacco,and oil barrens are so successfully dividing the lover social economic class. As long as we are casting blame on one another. We will fail to realize that our incomes,and standard of living is stagnated over the past three decades. While they continue to grow expidentialy. Thank god I'm a union member. I can see the doctor and still eat.
Coming on I'm pretty sure some of ya'll have skills. Why don't ya'll take those skills that you have and used them wisely that will get you where you need to go. I agree with what Mr Zakaria said take those skills and use them. Might as well start speaking Mandarin cause 5 to 10 years down the road or more than that China will be ranked as number #1 as a super power country. My word is starting speaking Chinese cause ya'll just gonna feel stupid if ya'll don't speak there language if your doing business with them. That was I'm proud to be a Chinese Asian American and speaking there language. Wake up all of ya'll and stop depending the federal government for so much support step ya'll game up coming on.
Fareed, I want to use this medium to thank you for the important role you play in the lives of Americans and many around the world. Unlike many analysts on various media networks in the U.S., you show through your questioning and responses that your level of thoughtfulness, your "literacy" (i.e. you did not just earn a degree but clearly understand why you pursued that degree), and worldview are constantly evaluated to ensure that what you say is indicative of the conclusions you reach or what you come to believe. This was evident in your response to John King last week, when you told him what you thought about the administration's present stance on the Libyan crisis. I do hope your show lives on into eternity. I do hope you begin to breed new minds who will one day replace you and continue to up the bar you are setting. You will remain in my heart as in many, one of the finest intellectual figures of our time. I am rooting for you!
This has moved beyond being in the purview of elections. Elections were meant to give people a choice. Our only choice has become vote for candidate "a" that is controlled by special interests or candidate "b" that is controlled by special interests–usually the SAME special interest.
The founders knew that the voting system could become ineffective. That is why the Constitution guarantees the right to Assemble, to petition–to become actively involved.........Ironic that the founders feared the "democratic mob", but then wrote the Constitution such that the "democratic mob", through Assembly and petition, would be a counterbalance to the powerful–were they to get out of control.
So now we must demonstrate the highest form of democracy–take to the streets in huge numbers and make sure we are heard.
Lot's of good ideas here but the real cause is entirely missed. The real cause is that we have turned our backs on the God of this land who is Jesus Christ. Selfishness and greed are prevalent throughout this once great country. If we would once again lead this world then we had best turn back to those values that we all know very well ie hard work, honesty, integrity, morality, charity and faith. Without these, we will continue down this path and will eventually self destruct. It's started already. All the really great things we once had can be ours again, but we must pay the price and right now we just aren't willing to do that.
What would the political system be, if it were designed for the 21st century? -–The goal is “efficient and effective government FOR the people.”
here is my answer – what is yours?
http://www.JeffBlock2012.com
WHAT IF voters could VOTE on a revolution? What would that look like?
I agree with your statement, but modify it slightly to read ">>>> FOR the American people". We need a government that is primarily concerned with the welfare and well being of our own people first and foremost. Once we have those items fixed, then maybe we can start to worry about interfering in the lives of the rest of the world. Maybe we can expand our horizons just slightly to include Canada and Mexico as American people. That will preserve the oil interests and also allow us to work towards an equitable solution to the immigration situation. With healthy economies from Canada down through Mexico, we can put ourselves in the position of being rightfully able to influence the rest of the world.
Thank you Fareed for your excellent show
my take on America
The most important thing is the power to vote.
Politicians need to create lasting political legacies that provide true honest framework for continuing capitalism with proper regulations that co-create jobs and combats the cancerous growth of corruption.
My solution to politicians
1.Make into law that the 'voting day' is a national day off ( like MLK or presidents day) – Give the power of the vote a chance to flourish. The data recovered from a national day of voting would turn the panties of pro-pollsters into Gordian knots for decades.
2.Make into law truth in political advertising – just as commercial consumers have rights to prevent bait and switch tactics, so should political commercials be fact checked and have the nature of the truth unobstructed by false or leading statistics studies. Let politics be politics.
3.Regulate the false or corrupted statistics produced by every political advertizing organizations. (84% of all Americans agree with my invisible friends) show the methods of data analysis and how the advertiser came to statistical conclusions about X (34% of Americans wearing plaid socks on Wednesdays.)
America's GDP is still over double that of China, and we remain the only military superpower in world that can send troops literally to any place in the world in under 24 hours. America's relative power may have declined in the last few years but the US is not going anywhere.
Dear Zakaria
I’ve spent 1/3 of my life living and working in one of the mentioned advanced western European countries that has been methodically closing the health/ wealth gap with the United States. I also study city building as a profession and I was shocked by Mr. Zakaria’s comment concerning the lack of German innovation (something about- with the exception of SAP) in terms of soft ware applications.
We are basing our innovative future (or at the least giving it the lions share of media time) on what looks to me like an ever improved smart TV/telephone/computer that you can hold in your hand. Incredible artificial monetary values are assigned to the devices and their software based on the long term wealth created by the potential of advertising. I agree the device is certainly handy and represents the future; it would be even more wonderful if we could make it in the US.
Which brings me back to the real issues, the question of software versus hardware, its true Germany hasn’t produced a lot of competition for our unique social network soft ware, suffice to say they have built a innovative and dynamic and nearly sustainable industrial system where the population is educated for future manufacturing, the engineers design not only the highest quality infrastructure but the equipment and software required to build that infrastructure. And the local communities benefit because they have access to employment and advanced products. This comprehensive approach has intern created international markets for their products and processes, helping us all.
If you were to value their transportation and educational/industrial systems their highly efficient settlement patterns and the wonderful quality of life created by these integrated systems, the number would be astronomical. This is where they invest supporting what I would call a first class cultural infrastructure. It is nice to be able to know your friend is having dinner in a restaurant near you or the particular dog food you want is around the corner but it is infinitely more wonderful to know that the way you travel there and the building your dining in is sustainable and all of the other patrons are game fully employed producing both the fun software of life and the other 90% of the real hardware of life.
I have the highest regard for Mr. Zakaria’s analysis and presentation and hope that future broadcast will begin to show that real and substantial innovation has to be in support of this 90%.
We would have to remove and shut down the Jewish Criminal Network. (not all jewish people, just the criminal types and get the ones that aren't good for this country out of here) The jewish crime network has our military killing 90% civilians in Afghanistan. watch 911missinglinks.com. it will tell you who/what the Jewish Crime Network is. then google video search for War Made Easy. HOW PRESIDENTS & PUNDITS KEEP SPINNING US TO DEATH, and Why We Fight, and The Corporation. (also at Netflix); then go to mitworld video and watch Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. They have infiltrated our government at top positions and are using our military to protect their interests (not ours). This country needs help from other countries. There must have been a hostile takeover from within (around Kennedy time?) where dual citizenship Israeli's infiltrated top positions in the U.S. and are now using our military to protect Israel, with no concern whatsoever for the citizens of the United States. Thank you for any help you can provide to get these criminals out of our government.
America is weak due to weak leadership! Some of the questions and answers listed above stated that the cut backs didn't involve Medicare-Medicare-Social Security. What has made America different from ALL THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES-WE CARE ABOUT LIFE–QUALITY OF LIFE–and that is first and foremost in the minds of strong leaders.
When you think about all the monies being paid out to some Arab world–the cost of the Afghanistan andd Iraq- is draining monies from keeping Americans alive and being. When QUADFI Lybia leader was allowed back into the USA for the first time since Reagan voided his visa–and under Obama Administration–Quadfi in 2009–was allowed a visa for Quadfi to speak at the United Nations! After speaking at the UNITED NATIONS–Quadfi traveled to the headquarters of the Nation of Islam! Spoke with Louis Farrakhan. Quadfi donated millions to build the headquarters for the Nation of Islam. After the cordial visit and before Quadfi left the USA–OBAMA GAVE HIM $400,000 to go to Quadfi's childrens charity. Now to turn on a Arab leader who has done so much for the Nation of Islam–is one of the biggest SIN a MUSLIM can do-
If America would stop throwing money around until we are #1 again-and once again earn respect among other countries–WE NEED A LEADER WHO WANTS AMERICA TO BE #1!
Just wanted to say that this was one of the best segments I have ever seen on CNN. Excellent job as usual Fareed!
Mr. Zakaria,
It seems like every time I turn on CNN you are focusing on what is wrong with America and how we are losing our Number 1 status in the world in many areas. I wish you were not on the air anymore. Why don't you quit the news and go start an anti-US non-profit organization and then you can spew all you want. I am tired of hearing your anti- American slant on CNN and I am pissed that CNN allows him to keep doing it. Get rid of him or you have lost another viewer.
Oh, I see, CNN should not report facts or recent events, only....what? Wait, yea just the "change you can count on" right?
Zakaria is no different than any other muslim. In his sofisticated way he tries to screw USA and help muslim cause. Go deep in to his roots. I will never trust this guy. America be careful
What is your age, education and religion if I may ask?
I have watched Farid for many years. He is mouth piece for muslims.
I don't usually agree with Fareed but he is spot on in only his initial points on cutting back on investments and encouraging consumption. What he fails to follow is that consumption itself is an exponential multiplier in a modern economy. We are bypassing indirect investments to our future (I'd call this technology level/industrialization level) and directly pumping it into incentives for people to spend. For states relying on sales and use tax this is great, but it will bust older models of states which tax income and real estate. If is another pass-off from the older generations to the younger as older generations live in states that have high sales taxes and low income and real estate taxes.
What he is talking about is akin to how highly successful businesses run their operations. They tie money/budgets to results/outcomes.
Our government sold out the people of this country, by allowing Corporate America to take the easy way out, for them, and ship all of our manufacturing to China, or elsewhere.
The backbone of this country was in manufacturing. We made it better than other countries. Now there's nothing to make, and we are also reduced to buying shoddy products made in China, many of which, contain toxic substances.
I hold our government responsible, because they did nothing to prevent the wholesaling of America to China. Nothing.
Until that process is reversed, there is little hope for a return to prominence in the world, and indeed, with Obama in charge, we are borrowing money to give away to other countries, trying to buy our friends. What stupidity!
Why does America have to be #1 in everything? That idea is basically not only wrong, but is what drives the USA to spend themselves into the hole that they are still digging.
Every society seems to have had their place in the sun at one time. The Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Egyptians, English, French, they have all, at one time, been the center of learning, culture, and power in the world. The USA has had its turn. Now it will be the Chinese and the South Americans, perhaps. Get over it, USA, your turn has come and you threw it away.
Fareed's article is very interesting and inciteful. From a non-US citizen's perspective, the US appears to have peaked with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 and entered "decline" after 9/11 in 2001. Although 9/11 was a terrible event, the USA's high cost, military response has been ineffective and is bankrupting the country. As recent events in N. Africa and the Middle East have shown us, the root causes of instability and extremism are large numbers of unemployed, often well educated young men between the ages of 18 and 35 in dictatorial societies that offer little hope for the future. The money spent on attempting a military solution would have been better spent on bringing these people into the 21st century. As Abraham Lincoln wisely stated, the best way to overcome your enemies is to befriend them.
I almost stopped watching GPS after seeing Paul Walfovitz on the previous show. Why Fareed invites people like that who were wrong almost about everything they ever spoke about.
I decided to give it another chance and watched the special on getting America back on track. It was very informative and interesting but one statistic I did not understand at all – elementary school enrollment at something like 76% ?
Can someone please explain? How is it calculated, what does it mean?
Thank you
Danka
The Ugly, Bad and definitelyGood
I believe that the majority of Americans (regardless Democrats or Republicans) know that the government is not addressing the key areas (especially in the consumption area) to the extent it should/must in order to start positively impacting the debt ratio.
The Ugly:The majority of the politicians behave like herd-like juveniles having sworn allegiance to their respective teams and the price "The next Presidency".The common objective is lost : reaching the inflection point to start making America healthy again.
The Bad: Politicians are not only supposed to represent the needs of their constituents but they do also have the obligation to translate and educate their constituents on the policies in the pipe-line. Is it so bad to have a good idea come from a republican or a democrat? How come when an idea is popular both sides want to take credit and hours of speeches by politicians, interviews with the media fill our tv screens. Let those people work and only twice a month have interviews scheduled.... When it comes to politics suddenly the notion of common sense and perspective does not exitst.
The Good: FINALLY the United States does not see itself (and takes on the responsibility) of being the MORAL COMPASS of the world. Regarding Libya: The President's stance on following the United Nations decision is phenomenal. The benefits simplified: the outside world is looking more favorable towards the US. More importantly nationally: the money saved by not immediately intervening in a foreign country can be used for re-engineering the US – education, health, employment etc.
I also believe that the majority of politicians want the best for the US – without doubt, however the way they are trying to achieve this is at times puzzling.