Commonsense

Logic. Fact. Putting two and two together to get four. That’s commonsense to me. Evidently not in government circles.

Too often we have witnessed the political world misrepresenting the real world. This is done to sway public opinion, mostly, but it also ‘sways’ elected representatives to veer off course to support an action that simply doesn’t make sense to his/her chosen value structure.

Let’s see if I can offer an example of this. Hmmm………

How about support for American farmers and all they do to support our American way of life?  We provide them with guidance on crop rotation, crop planting advice, market trends, and development of foreign markets for their outputs. All of this is aimed at maximizing their return on investment while softening the impact of bad growing conditions and open market price competition that could sink thousands of farms in less than one growing season. We provide low interest loans to farmers. We subsidize higher education options for farmers. We fund agricultural research to increase productivity of both labor and the science of farming.

But then, the president who says he supports American farmers, upsets the global markets with trade wars and tariffs. The farmer pays the price. Their families are economically devastated. The more help in this time they need, the more it is promised. But then a government shutdown blocks that assistance as well as the very basic agricultural supports listed above. All is in doubt. Help is not at hand.

This picture is brought to you by ideologues who missed the classroom sessions on diplomacy, tact and strategy. Instead of discussing problems and possible solutions with opponents, they unilaterally lowered the boom with crude tools of power: trade wars by tariff.

The hell this has produced for American farm communities and their families is mind numbing. With no end in sight.

As you contemplate that picture, consider all the other industries decimated by similar actions. American automotive manufactures are reeling from supply chain interruptions and prices of common goods like steel, glass, electronic components and much more.

Let’s not forget higher education that has been on a tail spin of inflation for decades. This is the engine of ‘can be’ in our society. This is where generations are educated to brave new futures and fresh beginnings. This is where research solves problems, invents new products and whole sciences, too. Yet government support for higher education simply has not been there to fund the costs. Students and donors have had to step up. The dividends from these investments are enormous to both student and society. But costs are now weighing down generations of students as they attempt to start bright new lives and families while paying off student loans. This is the hidden tax of modern day America. And it is an unfair tax on the middle class and the poor.

As a nation we suffer consequences far beyond our imagination from these imbalances. And these are just two such problems. Higher education and American farming. Two arenas important to the future of America.

Yet our elected leaders find no solutions to their ideological problems. The government is shut down. The ideas are blocked off. Communication is stifled. Commonsense is not allowed in the room where leaders are supposed to meet and commune with one another about important things of the people.

Where has their commonsense gone? Where are their values? What has become of their purpose?

The system of governance in our beloved land has become an entrenched monster of low output.

We can argue about a president who pretends to be a leader while he bulls his way around the china shop. But can we fix the bloated decision making apparatus of both federal and state governments so they work better, smoother and more productively than the behemoth that saddles our nation presently?

What answers can we come up with that will solve the current mess and yield to a better tomorrow?

I’ve been writing in this space for over 7 years on all of these matters. I have offered ideas, solutions and defined problems succinctly. No takers. No one stepping up to do the hard work.

I know we are better than this. I’ve seen the ‘better’ before; I know it is possible today. Why then do we not listen to one another to learn of potentials and possibilities. Perhaps those positives will spark commonsense solutions so we can all get back to work?

Back to work. Now there’s a good thought!

January 16, 2019