Republic Rules - The U.S.A. is a great representative republic.

… do you blindly keep doing it or do you try something else?

You’ve heard this before… and it has truth in it:

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again yet expecting different results.”

One of the inherent weaknesses of our government and political system is the momentum gained when a “program” is instituted. First off, very, very rarely is a government program temporary, even if it is originally intended to be so. By its very nature, a program tends to lend a certain amount of power to its creator… and gains support from those who are employed to administer it… and absolutely gains advocates in those who directly benefit from it… and certainly has backing from social and political groups who support the philosophy behind the program. If someone wants to stop that program, there’s a lot of impetus to overcome.

For the moment, I don’t want to address whether a particular program should exist in the first place… that’s a different discussion. Suffice it to say that I believe government should NOT be involved in certain activities. But, IF the government IS involved in a particular activity, to be successful it should at least be a positive force… the money spent should accomplish the most good possible… and, like the doctors’ oath: do no harm.

We could scrutinize many government programs to see if they meed these goals… and, I fear, many would not (or would be marginal). Perhaps they will be the topic of future discussions.

Today, however, let’s simply touch lightly on just two general categories under which there are many programs at the federal, state, and local levels:

• Education
• Welfare

The basic question is: are the programs in these areas achieving success?

Let’s start with WELFARE… and I’m sure we can agree that none of us want anyone in the United States to want for food or shelter. Indeed, the very basics of human existence should not be an insurmountable challenge in our great country. But I often wonder if our elected representatives, in their roles as managers of the country and its programs, are actually trying to solve the problem or just paying it lip service.

When it comes to the welfare of our nation’s citizens, I recognize that there are times when people need assistance “now”. My preference would be for charitable organizations to provide that support rather than government as I believe they are more efficient, involved, and compassionate. But, that aside, I think the immediate assistance should be a small part of the overall solution.

It is far better to teach a person to fish than to give him a fish.

Presumably, the ultimate goal of the “war on poverty” is to eliminate poverty. After spending billions of dollars over the years, has it been successful?

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Without taking into consideration changes in the way poverty has been measured and other such statistical “tricks” that can distort reality if not factored in, the graph reveals that the poverty rate has been relatively stable for more than 30 years. This is without taking into account some significant increases in spending:

Source: SocialSecurity.gov

Again, not to pick on the poor, but to demonstrate the lack of results in the face of much greater spending, look at the highlighted lines. BIG increases. There has to be a better way to take care of our people! The lack of better results makes me suspect that current programs may:

• Just provide money to those who qualify rather than addressing the cause of their poverty
• Assistance programs are simply “used” by recipients, making them dependents
• Little progress has been made toward solving the major underlying issues that lead to poverty:
  • Mental illness
  • Lack of education
  • Substance abuse
  • Teen pregnancy

And this does NOT address the biggest increase of all, the Social Security program, but that’s a completely different discussion altogether.

Of course, it’s easier to talk about solving these problems than to accomplish it, but IS that the focus of the programs? Are government programs concerned more about addressing the symptom and not the cause?

Here’s my answer: since better results are not being attained over a long period of time, it’s time to try a new approach. I’m not suggesting a complete and radical switch… that would be entirely unrealistic anyway… but a transition from one approach to another. It is time for a change!

SIMILARLY…

Our education system seems to have completely lost the objective of educating our future leaders. Instead, it has become arguably the largest political force in the nation and is more concerned about its own growth and power than actually teaching our youth. While there are many criteria used to evaluate success in this area, the old “reading, writing, and arithmetic” would should probably be the basis… but I’ll boil it down to the most important (in my opinion): reading. If a person can read, they can learn to do the others on their own! So, what is the state of literacy in our country?

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Without going back even further into our history, it is clear that the past decade (and likely far more) has seen a decline in adult literacy in the U.S. And, while acknowledging there are many fine, skilled, motivated, and dedicated teachers and educational professionals working within the system, it remains that results are not meeting expectations. And this is despite the significant increases in money spent on education:

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

In my opinion, this sector has become so institutionalized that there is a need for a fundamental change in how it operates. Rather than simply providing dollars to the current education system as usual, I believe a voucher system … where school vouchers are given to parents and THEY decide which schools to send their children (and those dollars) to… will inject a market-correcting mechanism that will “fix” the system in the shortest time possible and with the least amount of effort. The “consumers” will decide what is best and those decisions will be made locally and by those with the most to gain or lose. The results will be an education system that will be forced to respond to the needs of their “customers” as never before and, to survive, they will adapt. It is time for change!