Sunday, April 18, 2010

Preserving America-- Ten Things We Must Change To Survive

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-by Dr. Steven Porter

I’d like to tell you that my new book, Preserving America, is a happy book. It isn’t. I’d like to tell you that as a nation, America is on the cutting edge of greatness. It isn’t. In fact, it is on the cutting edge of great tragedy, and the only way to avert that tragedy is to honestly assess current issues and offer solutions to current problems which heretofore have not been given much attention.

In Preserving America, I have tried to research the origins of our dilemmas and to offer facts which explain their severity. I chose ten topics which I believe are eroding our nation. They are: the decline of the American family, the failure of American education, the corruption of both major parties, the consolidation of the American media, our financial irresponsibility, the insolvency of Social Security, the unaffordability of healthcare, our misunderstanding of terrorism, the way in which we have ignored ecology, and our religious intolerance.

Like an addict who must first face the reality of addiction in order to attempt a cure, America is going to have to acknowledge her problems with a degree of honesty which, frankly, seems to be missing. If she can do that, however, she will then be in a position to find ways in which she can deal with her problems more successfully. That is why I end each chapter of the book with a section devoted to what we can do to solve our problems-- issue-by-issue.

It won’t be easy for us. We have dug ourselves into a huge hole on many fronts, and glib slogans for the sake of gaining political power are only going to contribute to a further decline. I am afraid that meaningful assessments and meaningful actions will not come until the level of pain experienced by our people worsens. We seem to react better to crisis. I guess that is true of all peoples. But the stakes are really too high for delay. We can’t wait for the economy to collapse completely before we right the fiscal ship. We can’t wait for the ecological tipping point with respect to global warning before we curb our emissions.

It is because I see such great peril in so many areas that I have tried to write honestly and to offer solutions rooted in reality. I hope you will visit the book’s website. I hope you will read the book. I hope you will find it of importance to your own lives and to the life of our nation.

And as you read it, please let me tell you what I have told my students throughout my teaching lifetime. Don’t believe me just because I say it. I have referenced my work for you. Check the references. Verify that what I say is accurate. Form your own opinions about the problems which confront us. I do not have the only mind or the only data or the only answers. Let my work be an inspiration and a catalyst for you to join the march of progress for our country and our world.

Thank you for reading this. Thank you for visiting the website. Thank you for reading the book.

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3 Comments:

At 8:09 PM, Blogger SadButTrue said...

That piece of commercial comment spam only serves to drive the message home. Is America just addicted to 'replica' (counterfeit) Jordan and Nike footwear? Have people so little values that they will buy unlicensed goods made by child labor just to save a few bucks? I'm afraid the answer is yes on both counts.

 
At 10:28 AM, Anonymous steve said...

I quit reading after the statement about "social security's insolvency."

It's not insolvent by any stretch.

 
At 7:28 PM, Anonymous robert dagg murphy said...

Insolvency is just a word which in reality means nothing. As Darwin was the first scientist to observe life as it really exists and describe it we need someone to look at our economic system in relation to reality.

We need a cosmic accounting system based on what is really here. Our present system is all based on scarcity when we have abundance. We know what the ninety two regenerative elements are and through the science of Chemistry how to make most anything we could want. All energy comes from the Star Sun and is stored in may forms and comes in daily. This energy is without practical limit. We have wind and tidal power and have learned much about atomic power, mostly that it is unsafe. Science has turned on the cosmic reservior and what ever needs to done can be done.

We must stop thinking in terms of debt, deficits and scarcity. These are all human invented terms and do not exist in reality except in our retarded minds.

Will our economic and social thinking ever catch up with our scientific knowledge?

First we must recognize our good fortune and rearrange our world so it works for everyone not just the few.

Time to stop the game of monopoly as we know who won and start solving humanities real problems through a design science revolution bringing everyone up and disadvantaging no one.

Humanity is in it's final exam. Let us hope we pass.

 

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