I, too, am dismayed at the nearly incalculable loss of American development due to political gridlock! Michael Porter, Harvard Business School Professor and Economist reports, "the political system & the political rhetoric is the problem at the core." http://finance.yahoo.com/news/hbs-competitiveness-study-politics-polarization-trust-michael-porter-104219596.html
Since the 2008-09 recession, we've lost significant opportunity to bolster our infrastructure, to overhaul our education system as well as our opinion that workers can rely upon a now-moldy 4-year university education to 'carry us safely home' for the next 20-50 years of our working lives. Granted American business has evolved by adopting time-and-money-saving strategies, often implementing machines that replace workers, especially for repetitive work. Sadly, the creation of much more relevant training to better equip workers has fallen prey to the insatiable quest for yet more corporate profit.
I agree with Professor Porter insomuch as the American worker has not adequately responded to the rapidity of technological advances with updating relevant training (as have many citizens of China, India, & the Philippines, to name a few) thus finding themselves in a bowl of whine about why they can't make a decent buck or find another job.
If we're carrying a smart phone or sporting a smart wrist watch that can do more than the mainframes of 10 years ago, we MUST recognize that we, too, have to advance our training and education to maintain our relevancy and our value to society and employers. One doesn't come without the other; remember, cause and effect? Folks that have attended futuristic immersion experiences report that soon, Americans will need to update their education/skill sets at least every 18 months for each successive job or career.
Individually, and as a nation, I believe we've shirked too many of our responsibilities and instead degenerated into a massively-costly blame game, otherwise obliterating our individual and collective strengths. When we have slid into this extreme vitriol of pitting one party (and sadly friends and family members via FB & social media outlets where any idea, rogue or otherwise can be liked and/or shared by mega-millions in a millisecond) against the other to the exclusion of meaningful dialogue and negotiated solutions, we are further cementing stagnation, the suffocation of America as we knew her.
What can we do as individual Americans to let our politicians know how exasperated we are? First, we can speak with our politicians, and ALSO listen to them, read the bill information that they email/direct mail us. We need to get reading, or get BACK to reading as the case may be, to know what the facts are in these bills before Congress and our House of Representatives.
We're way too easily led to the slaughter by only reading, 'liking' or 'sharing' sound bites, which are incendiary by design. Let's ask the 2nd and 3rd questions, shall we? Let's use the education we have to add critical input into discussions so we can all expand our horizons and thought processes.
I'm interested in growing my base of knowledge, in becoming wiser. That doesn't happen by closing myself off from conversation, or by refusing to consider an opposite opinion, and empathizing why a particular person is currently holding that position. It is for this reason that I read info from Fox, CNN, ABC, Bloomberg, Huff Post & NPR on a regular basis to glean a more complete perspective.
In closing, my FIX for Washington's political gridlock follows:
1)Each bill that is being presented is assigned a number, and is posted on a centralized website/Dropbox in a uniform font, uniform font size (fixed format) at least 1 month in advance of the vote. NO sponsoring name or political affiliation/lobby group would accompany that post!2)Each bill would address ONE topic only, not be laden with all the porky woes of the world. (This will be helpful to many of our elected officials who may have trouble focusing and finishing!)
3)Members opposing and members supporting the proposed legislation would post their respective ANONYMOUS responses in writing, at least 2 weeks in advance of the vote, using whatever rhetoric, examples they wished to support their point of view, again, absent any names/political affiliations thereon. (Admittedly, the Russians will probably leak this info prior to the vote.)
4)On the day when the bill is to be presented, each member would be given a particularly numbered seat--randomly selected and changed daily--and they would be seated accordingly, with only the member(s) presenting the bill not entering that room. (Admittedly this random numbering system may initially disorient some members.)
5)Once the House of Representatives or Congress people are seated, the room would be darkened such that folks wouldn't be able to look around to detect who was missing. (Clearly if snoring became a huge issue, Zyppahs could be issued.)
6)The person sponsoring/announcing the bill would proceed, undetected, into a room where they would speak through a sound system that would obscure or somehow roboticize their voice such that one could not determine if the speaker was male or female, had a particular accent or not, etc.
7)Each seat would be supplied with a push button Yes/No/Abstain button that each member would push after the idea/bill was verbalized and each supporting and opposing response was read. (This helps all the knuckleheads who didn't read it on the website/Dropbox.)
Can you imagine, the best minds of the entire chamber listening to ideas and then determining whether that idea had merit or not, and voting on just that? Not considering whom owed who a favor, or yes vote, or which party sponsored it, or any superfluous noise whatsoever, that would otherwise detract from the issue(s) at hand.
Imagine if we could just ALL contribute to the furtherance of American virtues, without the trappings and excuses that have held us ransom, to ourselves and the rest of the world? Can you imagine elected officials actually working, instead of just saying 'no', if the idea didn't originate in their political party?
I can. I pray for this, or something like this. And I pray for America--for her leaders and her citizens that we can surrender blame in exchange for taking more responsibility, in our collective pursuit of happiness.