General Discussion

We have become entirely insular. Americans travel much less than most western people. There is a lingering attitude that the US leads the world in technology and innovation. That was true when we invented the semiconductor and so many other things. But it is no longer true.

We once dominated in aviation technology. Look at Boeing now.

We have long dominated in military hardware, but the Ukraine war shows that a $5000 drone can destroy a million dollar tank, or whatever comparison you want to make. And the innovation in this area is coming from Turkey, Iran and Ukraine, not the USA.

Much of the 21st century economy will revolve around decarbonization. This includes more efficient transportation (personal EV, but also mass transit), large-scale energy storage, and wind/solar generation. China has made huge investments in all these areas and is now dominating. China has the fastest intercity trains and is now building even faster trains using magnetic levitation.

All of these things affect the wealth of America in the future, and therefore, the quality of life we (and our children) will have in the decades ahead. Yet practically none of this was discussed during the campaign, either by the media or by the candidates.

Ever since Reagan's "The government IS the problem" days, we have been in decline in competitiveness on the world stage. This drains our society of quality of life, at the same time that billionaires have been sucking a vast amount of this wealth for themselves. THis means that Americans now almost universally say the country is heading in the wrong direction, no matter who is in charge. That is why we are seeing pendulum-swing elections so frequently. We need to find a leader ASAP, I mean very soon, who can start to make this case for why we are losing standing globally and what we need to do to get mack in the game. The pendulum will work for us in 2028, but only if we stop doing the usual value, nebulous, milquetoast stuff and get a leader who will really speak to these issues of national concern. A good place for such a leader to start is to read every one of FDR's major speeches. Americans are unhappy today. They will be much less happy in 4 years. We need to get to work NOW.