[Mind-numbed Robot]

What would I do?

Your suggestions require changing reality no matter how sound and logical they may be. I would suggest that eliminating obstacles to free enterprise in this country would accomplish the same thing.

What must not be overlooked is the root cause of the present situation - the growing influence and near dominance of the left (Communists) in this country. Google Communists Goals and be astounded. Destroying America and Western Culture and free enterprise has been their goal since 1848 and, with the success of the Reds in the Russian Revolution of 1917, their influence has been growing in Europe and America.

The are manifest in labor unions, teachers unions, government employee unions, our universities, the environmentalist (who do great harm to our economy), many personal injury lawyers who also limit our freedoms and cost our society lots of money, and many other things. Leftists politicians have enacted restrictive laws, always for our own good, of course, which greatly handicap our competitive position in the world. Without all that baggage we would not be losing jobs and industries to other countries no matter how cheap their labor is.

Stand up to them and their stupid deceptive ideas and these problems will be solved.

[chimera]

While I do not dispute the corrosive and pernicious influence of leftist ideology in this and other Western countries, there are other factors at work as well, some of them of our own making. I have been around a while, in private business, government, and academia, and one thing I have noticed above all in recent years is the rampant growth of rapacious, raw greed and selfishness. I understand that greed has always been an aspect of human nature, but only in recent times have we seen its destructive effects visited upon so many with devastating results.

Now, before anyone flames me, I am not speaking against efforts of individuals to improve their lot in life through hard work and achievement, building a better life for themselves and their loved ones. Lord knows that I have done that myself, and my parents before me for my and my siblings' benefit. But I do not believe that the headlong pursuit of personal wealth at the expense of one's fellow citizens and country is a healthy expression of this desire. In fact, in the end, it destroys those who practice it, thinking they are gaining material wealth for themselves while in fact they are losing everything.

Changing reality? Well, I guess I don't know what to say about that. We change reality all the time. Sometimes all it takes is a change of heart for a key individual or group. I do not believe that the destiny of our nation lies only in the unseen and sometimes capricious forces of the international marketplace. It lies within the hearts of its citizens, and in their character and moral constitution. We are a free people, free to make choices as individuals and as a nation. We can choose to control our own destiny, or sell it out in the marketplace to the highest bidder, gaining a little wealth for a few in the short term but losing something beyond price in the long run: our existence as a free and sovereign country.