Do we need to do more in the US? Yes... Of course. Here are just a few of the "domestic problems" that should and MUST be addressed, and in some cases, my own ideas about solutions:

1) Illegal Immigrants

We have MILLIONS of illegal immigrants (not all Mexican, but they are an extremely large percentage of them) in the US. Mexico and Canada are the only land-borders we have.

Those here illegally MUST comply with our laws, and become legal. Amnesty should only be that they be allowed to register as aliens, and all checks and verifications be performed as if they had crossed legally. This is only for those already here, and only for a period of time. After that period, anyone caught here illegally should be IMMEDIATELY sent back to their country of origin (except those who can prove they are political refugees.) NOTE: Anyone who is here illegally to seek medical help (and not to just give birth to a US Citizen) for something not available in their country of origin should be handled differently.

The first stop for anyone from another country who enters the US should be CUSTOMS and IMMIGRATION.

And one of the laws those seeking permanent allegiance with the US should be that they must learn some form of English. No more multi-language textbooks. No more multi-cultural schools. We are AMERICAN, a multi-cultural society, but as a "melting pot", not a "salad bowl" (as I've seen described elsewhere). If they come and do not wish to become an American Citizen and learn English, they are given Temporary Status and MUST report to someone periodically (think probation). If they've been here temporarily before, and there's been no problem, they can be treated differently. Otherwise...

2) Employment

Unemployment is low at 4.7% in April/May 2006, but think about this: April 2006 statistics show that there are 7,123,000 unemployed workers (16 and up) in the US. Of those 381,000 are discouraged over job prospects.

See tables LNS14000000 (Unemployment Rate), LNS13000000 (Unemployment Levels), and LNU05026645 (Not in Labor Force, Searched For Work and Available, Discouraged Reasons For Not Currently Looking) at U.S. Department of Labor - Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey.

I have a suggestion:

Oh, and while we're at it, it's WAY past time to raise the minimum wage. $5.15/hour is about $200/week (assuming full-time employment) or around $10,000/year. Take the approximate 20% taxes and other items from it and you get about $8000/year. And we wonder why so many people in America are on Welfare? Why there are so many homeless? Why people can't afford medicines and doctors? Why both parents (and sometimes the kids) work to make ends meet? And MANY places that pay minimum wage or slightly above, DO NOT ALLOW full-time work, because then they may HAVE to pay benefits like health and life insurance. And, God forbid people should work MORE than 40 hours. Some corporations make sure employees are on SALARY (exempt) so they DO NOT HAVE to pay overtime, then REQUIRE it, sometimes by setting deadlines so unrealistically that the only way to get it done by it IS to work overtime. (Indiana is an at-will state, meaning you can quit any time you wish, but the company can terminate you at their own whim at any time. Unions may help this situation and others, but many local unions make so many other stupid demands that many are not trusted any more. For my take on Unions, see my "To Union or Not to Union" piece.)

3) Education

When I grew up, we had "Fun with Dick and Jane" reading, spelling, math, geography, history, occasional gym, music and art classes (the latter two my favorites) and others, and all were taught from separate books. You were "held back" if you didn't "make the grade". While it may have been a "blow" to your ego, it did NOT mean your self-esteem was destroyed. If you didn't/couldn't do the work, you either got "remedial" help the next year for classes you failed (that COULD hurt self-esteem, but you tried even harder to stay out of those classes, and many took them and did extremely well in later classes), you took Summer School to learn what you didn't before, or you retook the whole school year. If a person was OBVIOUSLY smarter than the rest of the class, there was the possibility that he/she would be passed on to the next grade early. There was little worry about the "socialization" skills, because if they didn't "socialize" in with the class and failed, they were "held back". This did not reflect on their character, much.

Now, parents and others expect their children to be able to do what we all did in the 1st or 2nd grade in KINDERGARTEN, if not Pre-School/Day Care! They DEMAND their students be passed on to the next grade even if they don't "cut the mustard," and, if they don't, they will SUE the school system.

"New Math" was the most difficult we had. Now everything seems to be combined. Geography, History, Math and Reading are all in the same books. Kids are expected to be able to spell words we never even knew (internet? computer? divorce? relief? - no it's not "R-o-l-a-i-d-s") not particularly difficult, but do YOU remember having to learn spelling them in 2nd and 3rd grade?)

Bullies were dealt with by bringing their parents in to the principal's office and they and the kids "had a discussion", sometimes with the principal paddling the kids, then and there. Parents defended their kids even then, but you KNOW when they got home, the kids were punished. Principals (and parents) PADDLED children who misbehaved (usually bend over and one thwack with one of those fraternity-type paddles, too), and when a kid "got in trouble" at school, it was NOTHING compared to what they would get at home. I'm sure there were cases where the punisher "went too far" with it, but no one was arrested or sued (that I know of) for child abuse. Now, if a teacher or principal punishes a child (no matter the age, no matter the infraction, and sometimes, no matter the punishment), parents SUE. If a kid mentions that he/she was paddled at home or shows a bruise, even if it's from actually playing outside, the FSSA is called in. Ridiculous.

HOWEVER, child abuse DOES happen - physical, mental, intellectual, spiritual and sexual. There have been enough cases where sometimes the only "friend" a kid has is the teacher or principal. And even principals and teachers (as seen in MANY recent cases) take things to extremes.

Back when I went to school, as we walked home, we discussed how we'd like to get a bottle of nitro and drop it on the school from a helicopter. Now, kids would be suspended or expelled for even mentioning this. (How would a kid get a bottle of nitro and a helicopter?) I used to work at a store after school (from about 5th grade on), stocking shelves and cleaning up. I carried my box-cutter, and as a boy scout there were times I carried my pocket-knife and/or sheathe knife on my belt. Again, now kids are expelled even if they take them directly to the principal's office after accidentally leaving them in their knapsack after a camping trip. I NEVER thought to use either on ANYONE or ANYTHING at school. Why do kids today? And GUNS? We may have talked about those on the way home, too, but we'd never think of actually using them (and most of us had no idea how to get hold of one).

Fighting happened at times (at school and on the way home, and again, we WALKED - about a mile each way), but the kids always got into trouble. Hell, we even got into trouble for messing around wrestling on school grounds after school once. (I was in 4th grade, my brother in 2nd, and most of the friends from my neighborhood were in the same grades.). We had to give up our recesses (one kid took the paddling option!) until we had written 1000 times "I will go straight home after school" and turned them into the principal. (I don't recall actually having written a full 1000 times before the principle "let us off" after a couple of weeks, but believe I had 800 or so. My brother had less, but he was two grades younger. We, of course, never told our parents until we were well past high-school! It was handled at the school. We could have written the sentences at home, but then the chances were that our parents would have found out and WHAM!

Parents, today, MUST work. There's almost no way around it with the costs of food, housing, utilities, vehicles, gas, etc. BUT, they must also spend time with their kids. When our kids were young, our video games were connected to our family TV. We could not afford many, so we got games we as adults liked too, like Mario Brothers and Link/Zelda. We WOULD NOT LET the kids play them more than an hour at a time on school days and were "antsy" about it on weekends, until they reached a certain age. We knew what the games were, and made sure they knew what was real and what was not on TV. (Our generation just KNEW, apparently. Even though we had a few odd people who thought Dungeons and Dragons were "real" at times, we knew ... Maybe this was because there wasn't the (un)realistic blood splashes when people get shot... Maybe it was because when we asked our parents about things they answered us.)

4) Homelessness and Starving People

This is something I don't really know that much about. I've never been homeless and, if you've seen my picture, you can tell I've never really been starving. However, news stories, infomercials, and various other sources point to the problem.

Why isn't there a mandate that a large percentage of the moneys donated to charities that help around the world be spent here in America, until this situation is handled. Maybe this could be tied to the populations involved.

Why do people always say "NIMBY" (Not in My Back Yard) when others come up with a plan to rehab a building that is currently an eye-sore in the neighborhood to make it a shelter? or a low-cost (for those on welfare-only) grocery store? or soup kitchen or other places these people can eat?

There are old school (and other) buildings just outside of many towns across our state (Indiana) and I'm sure there are others near many other cities and towns across the country. Most appear to just be sitting there and rotting. Why can't they be used? Yes... They will need SOME repair, and in many cases, asbestos and lead-paint removal, but ...

We are the richest most powerful nation on earth. There should NOT be ANY homeless people here. There should NOT be any starving children here. I realize that drugs are a major problem in the US (see below), and they MAY cause SOME of these problems. However, consumer debt, especially in the form of high-interest loans and credit cards are the culprits. And in many cases, it's more the "Dick Dastardly" and "Snidely Whiplash" corporate owners, moving to another country, foreclosing on people, etc. Maybe it's time to do something about THEM!

Anyone notice that "back in the day" when you defaulted on a credit card the interest rate ROSE, but usually one 3-5%. Back when the general interest rates were 18% the default percentage was 21%. When general interest rates dropped, the default rate stayed the same. Now I see cases where it's 25-33%! That's LOAN SHARK territory. And all you have to do is be late on a payment ONE TIME (and sometimes not even on THEIR card, but someone else's or some other loan!) No wonder there's so much credit-card debt. No wonder there's so many American's going bankrupt.

5) Drugs

6) Other Medical

Many people cannot afford to go to a doctor. With this "Age of Specialization", many of the family and general practitioners have been basically relegated to the role of "traffic cop", handling minor problems and sending people off to the specialists of the current problem they are having. Of course, the GP/FP is paid for this service, but what that means is that they must quickly diagnose the patient, maybe order lab tests, and "pass them off".

Specialists, meanwhile are paid more. Not much (if they are in a plan, and most people can't afford specialists NOT in the plan), but more. They are (normally) willing to spend more time with you, discussing your problem. However, they now have so many people to see, it sometimes takes a couple of weeks just to get in to see them.

We argue that socialized medicine, as in Canada and England doesn't appear to work (or wouldn't for us), but at least they can SEE doctors when they need to, get the drugs and other treatments they need, etc., and they don't go bankrupt paying for medical care.

Again, the cost is high. Even with the insurance we have, it can easily break us (my wife and I) if one of us, especially her (her main insurance is through work) gets sick. AND, what if she actually has to spend time in the hospital? There's loss of income, hospital expenses, doctor bills, prescriptions, etc. And again, Indiana is an "at will" state. Where she works they use "points". Accumulate enough points for missing work or being late, and you're gone. THEN what? Somehow, jobs need to be protected (no matter the state) if a person takes ill. Disability insurance only goes so far.

It takes some people who can no longer work (I would say those with unsympathetic administrators and doctor reviewers) a VERY long time (sometimes years) to get Social Security Disability, sometimes requiring hiring attorneys they can't really afford. Then there's most likely a "waiting period" AFTER your pay stops. Even if you manage to get it, it all depends on how much you've managed to "put away" into Social Security while working over the years. Then, if help is needed to get appliances so you can actually get around without help, THIS can sometimes take years.

I know of other people with back and heart problems, who can no longer work, who have had problems getting help. It appears that back problem disabilities are difficult to diagnose and, in the heart problem case, they supposedly, could do their last job, BASED ON THE TITLE ONLY (which differs from place-to-place, btw), even with their disability. Apparently, if you manage to say the right things the right way and the right people get on your case, there will be fewer problems. Even so, there are delays:

Government "Red Tape" needs to be lessened for SS Disability and Voc Rehab services. I understand there are plenty of people out there "cheating" the government, but after having received all medical records from reputable doctors and hospitals, it should be obvious if this is the case. There needs to be more people working in these "evaluation positions". My VR counselor works out of Indy and travels to a couple of Work One sites in Boone. She DOES NOT seem to keep up with her email, and I seem to have to prompt her to get even a "working on it" response; Therefore, maybe all counselors need to be trained in the use of email and other internet capabilities. PLEASE NOTE: I'm not saying she isn't doing a good job. I believe she's overwhelmed by the number of people who need help, and therefore, the number of cases she must deal with.

7) Violence - in general

Personally, I believe that spanking for punishment is not abuse if it's not done much and leaves nothing but a pink butt. HOWEVER, as in everything, too much...

While the lack of any real consequences (time-out? grounded to room with TV/stereo/video-games/phone?) has produced a generation full of angry, rebellious teens, many of whom are gang-members, where when most of our generation stepped out of line there were real (painful) consequences, so we didn't do it again. Many of our generation thought this type of punishment was harsh so stopped spanking our kids, instead using the time-out method.

Think about this: Maybe it's because our generation used time-outs, groundings, TV-as-babysitter, video-games-as-babysitter, etc., and didn't pay as much attention to our kids as our parents did to us for various reasons. Many of us didn't attend church with our families near as often as we did when we were children. Our kids did not have as much "social interaction" with their peers as we did. We used to "play outside" all day with the other kids in the neighborhood without having our parents worry about us being kidnapped. Our families would visit other families and while the parents were talking, playing cards or whatever else they'd do, we'd play with their kids.

Of course, with the rising threat of violence, kidnappings, etc., we thought we were protecting our kids. It does seem that our kids' generation are responsible for much of the violence perpetrated on children. It seems they never learned how to control their anger. Our generation learned that hitting (spanking) caused pain. We played hard and got hurt, and realized other things that could cause pain. Our kids never learned that. Now, kids don't play outside much, spending a large part of their time watching TV and playing video games where people are injured, maimed and killed, and many don't KNOW that it HURTS, and that there are REAL CONSEQUENCES when things like that happen.

I know many kids of our generation (and those before) who wished ill on their parents for all of the consequences we faced at their hands, but except for an exceedingly small number, we never carried out any of the plans. Why? Because somewhere in the back of our minds, we knew they were right most of the time.

8) Etcetera

Oh, the list of "domestic problems" could go on and on.

Do I have ideas on what we can do about some of these issues? Yes. On some I have listed ideas. On others, I have "inklings" but nothing concrete, so have not listed them. And on still others, I have absolutely no clue.

If you have an idea that may be acceptable to both political parties and to people of most persuasions, let me know. If they have merit or I feel I need to comment on them, I will publish them on a "feedback" page. Please be sure to refer to the number and heading in your comments. If you do, I can also link them back to this page. And... Remember what I said about "Prejudice"!

by Bill Sanders © May 15, 2006 - email:
 

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