In my opinion, there are three main problems driving our
current political gridlock. All are based on poor thinking skills.
Americans should be willing to learn from other societies
and other groups. For example, too many of us arrogantly assume Europe has
nothing good to teach us. They assume
higher taxes for the rich and safety nets for the poor hinder economic
progress. But in fact, the European
Union with a total of 500 million people has the world’s largest economy and the
most Fortune 500 companies. They produce an economy almost as large as the
United States and China combined.
When you look at the data, several European nations consistently
do better than us in most socio-economic categories, including less infant mortality,
less chronic disease, less poverty, less violent crime, less drug addiction and
less suicide. They live longer and spend far less on healthcare.
In study after study to determine the best places to live,
France or some other European nation usually tops the list, while the US rarely
makes the top 10. What is that saying
about our Wall Street driven, trickle down version of capitalism?
We tend to base everything on economic growth – GNP. But we
often fail to distinguish between economic growth that increases the overall
well being of society, and economic growth that diminishes overall well being. As
Americans, we need to ask whether a dollar spent on sending someone to prison
is as beneficial to society as a dollar spent on education or healthcare, even
though both add to our GNP in the short term.
We need to question the idea that government is always bad
and tax cuts for businesses are always good – that the free market can solve
all our problems. In economics, politics, social issues, healthcare and even religion
– a thorough and objective look at our global neighbors might surprise us.
That’s not being unpatriotic. It’s just using common sense.
Second is the naïve assumption that most modern politicians
from either party have the best interests of our nation at heart. Most are
mainly concerned about getting re-elected and keeping their party in
power. Opinion polls tend to drive
policy rather than the well being of society. Fear and fiction are far more
effective than facts - which again illustrate our poor thinking skills.
People need to seek out facts from credible sources. For
example, as politicians debate the sustainability of Medicare and Social
Security, how many know that Medicare, unlike all other private insurance
companies, is prohibited from negotiating with drug companies over drug prices?
Talk about corporate welfare!
Third is the false dichotomy between science and
spirituality. Science is a way of thinking that considers all the facts and
questions assumptions that contradict the facts. It remains open, logical and
skeptical.
Spirituality, which usually accepts a broader way of knowing
than traditional science, should also be open, logical and skeptical. Unhealthy
religion limits itself at the beginning by forcing certain beliefs on people,
even when those beliefs are unreasonable and contradictory. People are often
forced to choose between the scientific and the spiritual - which is silly.
Not surprisingly, such foolish thinking allows us to be
exploited by politicians and other self serving groups regarding issues from
climate change to economics.
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