We need to Americanize America

I believe that we need to Americanize America, and this needs to be done on multiple fronts. There are certain values that are clearly American and can be applied to the problems America faces.

I believe we need to Americanize Healthcare. I believe that a healthy citizenry results in a healthy nation. I believe that if every American were to be guaranteed an annual checkup, the overall cost of healthcare in this nation would drop dramatically because the best medicine in the world is preventative medicine. If all Americans had the opportunity to discover health problems early in the cycle, we could dramatically reduce those costs covered by such government programs as Medicare and Medicaid. This simple step could do wonders to improve the overall health of the nation and increase productivity which would increase growth of the economy.

I believe we need to Americanize Education. I believe that an educated citizenry will result in a nation that is not simply capable of competing on the international level, but a nation that leads the world to a better life for all. Right now, the United States is behind much of the rest of the industrialized world in education. Americans are some of the most creative and innovative people in the world. I believe it is the job of government to insure that the citizenry has access to the tools it needs to insure that the nation succeeds. I believe that every problem America has ever faced or ever will faced requires an educated citizenry and that it’s a crime there are those in this nation who do not agree that all citizens should have free access to educational opportunities throughout their lives.

I believe we need to Americanize the National Debt. The single largest National Security Crisis this nation faces is that the People’s Republic of China holds so much of our National Debt. Our nation cannot stand so long as it remains indebted to one of the most brutal regimes ever to exist on this planet. We must end this debtor mentality and we must never allow ourselves to fall into this pattern again. Americans are a capable people and we are capable of paying our own way in the world. We do not need to mortgage our children’s (and grandchildren’s) collective futures to a nation which will not allow its own people the basic human rights they deserve.

I believe we need to Americanize our Emergency Management System. I believe that regional Emergency Management Districts must be formed to react quickly and efficiently to any natural or manmade disaster we may face. I believe that there are regional challenges that those who live in the various regions of the nation are better equipped to react to than men wearing suits in Washington Ivory Towers. I believe that proper coordination of resources across these districts will allow for the quick and efficient reactions required in a time of national crisis. Such districts cannot be formulated on a political basis, but must be based upon the types of threats geographical regions share. The Gulf Coast, for instance, would have an Emergency Management District which is primarily geared for rapid response to hurricanes while the West Coast Emergency Management District would be more equipped for a rapid response to Earthquakes.

I believe we need to Americanize Homeland Security. I believe that relying upon men in suits who live in Ivory Towers in Washington making up color coded threat assessment systems is worse than a farce, it’s an abomination. I believe that Americans can do better than dependence upon duct tape and plastic sheeting. I believe we can formulate a better system to analyze the data, assess the threats, and protect Americans. I believe that such a system, when working in tandem with the Emergency Management Districts, can focus efforts and resources on real threats to specific targets rather than raising national alarms on nebulous threats without specificity when some politician’s approval ratings drop.

Finally, I believe we need to Americanize the War on Terror. I believe that attacking any perceived threat head on with the full force of the American military is beyond foolish. It’s a deadly strategic blunder that will do us terrible harm in the short term and even more and worse harm in the long term. I believe that small, strategic operations that address specific threats will do more to win the war on terror than committing our troops in an ill conceived war against a paper tiger ever could. I believe the brunt of our military forces must be reserved for those times when it becomes necessary to address nations which truly support terrorists with funding and resources, not wasted on phony charges of non-existent weapons of mass destruction.

I believe we can Americanize America, but only if Americans are ready for the hard work and sacrifice that is necessary for us to lift ourselves up and take a position of leadership in the global community. It won’t be easy, but Americans love a challenge and have always risen to the cause.

Great post! I couldn't agree with you more. But how will we pay for it given the debt that chimp boy has left us? Might I suggest repealing the tax cut and cutting military expenditures in half over 5 years?

instead of wasting it on inefficient pony baloney "security" intiatives.

that to you "Americanize" is still a positive thing.

I agree with all your points.

that these are areas where so many people could agree.

Let America be America
It's not American to let people get sick and not help...
It's not American to keep people enslaved by ignorance
It's not American to make our children and our children's children pay our bills
It's not American to be unprepared for emergencies
It's not American to attack someone who hasn't attacked us

:patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:

:patriot:

Nominated for Greatest page.

:)

Alas, it has now reached that point in the history of empires in which the quest for civilization and humanity has been surrendered to greed and the need to "protect" our accumulated wealth from the rest of the world.

Our educational system is now more geared to produce obedient workers than to education.

Our much touted healthcare system is dedicated to enriching the corporations that own them rather than the people they treat.

The National Debt, whoever holds the IOU's, is engendered by our national obsession with accumulating things, and our refusal to pay as we go.

The Emergency Management System and Homeland Security are so deeply mired in political and financial interests aimed more at protecting privileged property than the lives and welfare of citizens as to be in need of replacement.

"The War on Terror" is the sheerest nonsense. It does NOTHING to address the root causes of revolution (terrorism being nothing but a tool of revolutionaries). As has been seen most recently in Iraq and throughout our dreary history of interference, subversion, assasination, murder, and genocide, aimed at "protecting" us, they have been aimed at "protecting" our "vital national interests" aka our financial "interests".

Although I concur with much of what you say, I believe the tide of history is now running against the American Empire.

Hopefully, the transition will be to a peaceful "2nd class power" rather than a devastating and bloody collapse into outright militarism/fascism followed by civil war.

The only way, that I can see, that what you are talking about can come about is for the American people to grow up and realize that our very way of life is suicidal because it thrives on the backs of the majority of the people of the rest of the world. And, that they have become weary of carrying us at their expense.

We are rotting from the inside under the philosophy of "I've got mine and I'm not giving any of it up."

Rather than take a postion of "leadership" in the global community we need to become a part of that community and try cooperation instead of insisting on dictatorial power and the adolescent idea that we have to be Number One.