I can think of more important things to worry about than Gary Gamble’s economic freedom index (referenced in letters on February 5 and 19). The United States is still by far the richest country in the world. The fact that eight countries with collective economies of less than a quarter of our GDP are rated higher on this index doesn’t keep me awake at night. What we choose to do—or not to do—with that wealth concerns me. If we want to remain competitive in the future shouldn’t we be worried about the following?
Shouldn’t it concern us that we are not adequately addressing the serious state and federal infrastructure deficiencies that efficient businesses rely upon?
Shouldn’t the state of our education system be cause for concern? Does it make sense that the United States now ranks 17th in the world in reading skills, 31st in mathematics, and 23rd in science? Shouldn’t we be concerned that China, with the world’s fastest growing economy, is now number one in the education of reading, mathematics and science? That success comes in spite of their economic freedom ranking of 135. They are number one because they have made it a priority.
Shouldn’t we be concerned that neither political party is making any significant moves to address our unsustainable entitlement programs?
Shouldn’t we be concerned that the United States spends nearly half of the entire world’s military expenditures? Even after all that spending, we still have to borrow money from the Chinese to fight the real and/or invented wars all over the world.
Perhaps of greatest concern is that we have created a paralytic political system full of politicians lacking the fortitude to deal with real issues. I am tired of hearing politicians of every party tell us we cannot pass our debt to future generations. They can, they have, they do and they will continue to do so, because they run from the idea of cutting money for entitlements and the military.
Balancing a budget not only needs to match spending with revenue, it also needs to appropriately allocate money to areas of strategic importance such as infrastructure and education. We need politicians with a vision of what Americans aspire to be and develop a balanced budget that supports that vision. Without it we will not only leave our children with debt, but they will also be uneducated and unable to compete in the world.
Gary was correct when he called for us to get our house in order. I hope by “house” he was referring to our House of Representatives, the Senate and the White House. What keeps me awake at night is the fear that I belong to a generation too selfish to make the personal sacrifices and tough decisions that will enable our children to live the American Dream that we Americans pride ourselves on.
Jim Mohr
Hovland
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