Education – Our Greatest Investment

At a time when education budgets are being eroded it is actually a time to recommit to education. Education is the one thing that leads everyone to a better life, more life satisfaction, stronger marriages, a longer life, and less crime. The more educated people are, the more they contribute to the economy. It’s a virtuous cycle. It is time to commit to equal levels of education. The Hallam Charter schools send nearly 100% of their graduates to college. Education is our single greatest investment. We are foolish indeed to shortchange it.

Social Responsibility and Education: The Answer to Everything and the Cost of Doing Nothing

If our society has a core social responsibility it’s to educate our children. This is simply the greatest thing we can do.  Nothing else even comes close.  Nothing.  In study after study, education, especially education after high school, is associated with everything more we want and less of everything we don’t want.  Generally the more education a person has the more likely they are to be healthy, economically secure, happily married, vote, tolerant of others, give to charity and care about the common good.  And to the contrary people who don’t graduate from high school are more likely to be substance abusers, spouse and child abusers, go to jail, be stuck in poverty, divorced and die young.  If we ended all social programs to deal with the symptoms of a poor education and poured all these public resources into providing a world-class life-long education system we might all be better off.

Unfortunately that’s not likely to happen.  The status quo of higher education is a sacred cow and a financial bonanza for free riding bankers who make billions from offering government guaranteed loans to college students.  This is an example where our common good is held hostage by special interests that care more for themselves than our children.

It was Abraham Lincoln who had a vision of free college education when he championed the land grant state college system begun in the 1860s.  Today college costs are outrageous because so little of college budgets are spent on classroom learning.  College tuition has gone up over 600 percent since 1990.  Colleges spend billions on turning their campuses into shopping malls and their sports teams into brands.  And while some universities should indeed be centers of research, most of our children would be better served if most colleges were focused on state of the art teaching.  The biggest breakthrough will come when we quit educating like the Greeks did with live teachers teaching a few students under a pillar and use the web and social networking to enable the world’s best teachers to teach us what we need to learn when and where we need to learn.  Imagine Google and Facebook having a best in class university.  (I have working on such an initiative for the past 18 months.  WeAreCitizenOne.com)

In the mean time we need to bring the cost of borrowing for tuition down as much as possible and increase the availability of grants as much as possible.  In study after study the most efficient way to do this is direct student loans from our government without the greed of Sallie Mae’s bankers and others (Bank of America, Citi, Wells Fargo) playing middle man while adding no measurable value.  In 2008 Sallie Mae, a private bank that does nothing but package government guaranteed student loans, paid their money losing CEO $4.8 million and their vice chairman $13.2 million.  Of course they have a corporate jet.  It’s hard to see what private banks do to earn any of the gigantic fees they earn from these loans.  They claim they provide value by marketing, packaging and collecting the loan payments.  But a parallel government direct program does all the same things at less cost.  I know.  How can that be?  Well large corporate bureaucracies are not more efficient than government ones.  (Just consider GM.)  Offering government guaranteed loan programs through private banks is nothing more than corporate welfare like we offer to the oil industry, food industry and even the tobacco industry.  Meanwhile in an article in the San Diego Tribune on April 13th, Lenders to Oppose Student Loan Plan, it stated that:

“The Congressional Budget Office says that replacing subsidized loans made by private banks with direct government lending would save $94 billion over the next decade – money that Obama would use to expand Pell grants for the poorest students.”

Sometimes corporate social responsibility mandates corporations get out of their business and that all the people these enterprises employ devote their energies to creating a future we need by working for someone else.  (Beyond private student loans I can think of the cigarette business…)  Today the student loan business has created a generation of debtors.  The typical college graduate has $20,000 of student loan debt and many owe $50,000 or more.  This is an unsustainable system.  We could do much better for our children.  Much better.

What are your thoughts on education?  The cost of college, etc?

If I were President…

There is no job in all of the United States as closely scrutinized as that of President of the United States. Even the celebrity scandals with which much of the country seems to be so completely obsessed at times, can not compete with the scrutiny on this one job. Leadership is the glue that binds us together. Whether or not we realize its value, the effects of its absence are unmistakable. Leadership is more than a title, and there are many who have held the title but failed to lead. Since I, like many others, will be closely scrutinizing the actions of the next President, it is only fair that I answer the question.

What would I do if I were President?

Domestic Policy

The establishment of an aggressive national energy policy.

1. An aggressive national energy policy would be the keystone to my administration. Americans believe in and want clean renewable sources of energy that can be produced here in the United States, but the government needs to create an environment that is friendly to innovation and provides incentives to buyers and producers to make this happen. Up to $700 billion dollars a year would be brought back in the U.S. economy (potentially more with the sale of clean energy technology overseas), jobs would be created, the environment would be cleaner, and we would eliminate the threats to national security that are inherent to depending on foreign nations for a vital resource. Perhaps, most importantly of all, however, is that this is really something we could use to energize the country to work towards a common goal. For more information about the need for a vital new energy policy consider Will’s post Oil Dependence and the Energy Crisis.

2. Formation of a service for education program.
   America has earned its economic standing in the world through innovation: electricity, the automobile, the computer, and the Internet to name a few. We also have a need for educated individuals to serve the community as doctors, nurses, and teachers to name a few. Throughout the years, many young men and women have turned to the military as a way to build a future for themselves. Service to country has prepared many of our youth to become responsible citizens and instilled in them a love of country that is necessary in a healthy society. Education, when offered openly to all who will take advantage of the opportunity, has the potential to be the keystone to balanced equality in our nation. Expanding the definition of service beyond the military and creating structured opportunities for community service in exchange for education would be a priority in my administration. For other great ideas about expanding education, see Will’s “Free Education for All.”
   

3. The establishment of a state/locally run national health care program.
   In a country like the United States, it is inexcusable that working men and women are unable to obtain quality medical care for themselves or their families. If a man or woman works to be a productive member of society, surely they have earned the right to real medical care. We are not talking about taking from the rich and giving to the poor; we are talking about giving people what they have justly earned. Such programs have met with tremendous opposition because we have lost faith in the government to spend our money wisely. I am very sympathetic to this argument.  In order to ensure that people have the kind of medical service they deserve without another bloated federal program, I would work to ensure that the program was implemented at the state or local level. The federal government would require a program meeting basic standards and would provide oversight, training, and support. There would obviously be expenses associated with such a program, and extensive research would be conducted to ensure that they would be minimal and fairly divided. It would replace the Medicare program, and the expenses which currently go to that program would help defray the cost. Participants in the service for education program listed in item 2 would also play a key role to keep expenses down.

Foreign Policy

1. Push for massive reform in the United Nations.
   The U.S. can no longer afford to be the world’s police force. Our adoption of this role has placed an unfair economic burden on U.S. citizens and has done unnecessary harm to our relationship with the global community. Although we can not, and should not govern ourselves by foreign opinion, we should try and maintain fair and amicable relations wherever we are able. We need a global body that attempts to resolve disputes between countries, and that when required, can act to enforce the peace between them. These actions need to be a community decision and need to respect the sovereign status of each of its members. I do not believe that the U.N. is currently up to the task, but I believe the answer is to push for reform that puts reasonable bounds on their authority and seeks to remove corruption from that body. A well run United Nations will free us to focus on making a better life at home, while discouraging the types of aggression that led to World War I and World War II.

2. Heavy reduction in non-humanitarian foreign aid.
   According to the National Debt Clock, the current debt of the United States government is $10, 542,780,984,853.05 or approximately $34,563 per person. I have intentionally left every digit in the sum to convey just how enormous that debt is. Foreign Aid spending adds approximately $15 Billion a year to that sum, with the Cato Institute estimating that number at closer to $50 Billion and heavily opposed by the American people. The United States should be a good neighbor, particularly where disaster relief is concerned, but it is irresponsible to spend such a large sum of money on foreign aid while we are so deeply indebted. This is especially true in those situations where the aid is being used to buy influence. I would not eliminate foreign aid, but I would cut it deeply.

3. Heavy reduction in U.S. military presence abroad.
   The purpose of the military is to defend our way of life. It protects our freedoms, and in a larger sense, our prosperity. Its ability to perform these actions is vital to our well being. Economic vitality is also of fundamental importance to our well being and we must be careful to balance these two competing priorities. $644 billion was requested for military spending in 2008, more than the next 10 highest spending countries combined based on a Reuters release and can be seen clearly on this Wikipedia chart based on the 2006 budget. The military plays an important role in protecting our economy, but we must avoid the danger of the military becoming the economy. Economic instability poses a serious threat to our national security. Heavy reduction in U.S. military presence abroad would be a good start at bringing these numbers under control.

Government Reform

1. Tax Reform
   Taxes should be simple, and loop holes found in fine print should not exempt people from paying their fair share. One solution which has been proposed to this dilemma is the implantation of a flat tax. A true flat tax seems like a good idea on the service but lacks fundamental fairness. Taxation should never cut in to the ability of a person to provide for their most basic needs, and those who are fortunate enough to reap the greatest benefits from our economic system should have a greater share of the responsibility. In accordance with this I would seek the implementation of a three tiered flat tax. I would also seek to identify non productive behaviors that distribute wealth upward, not by productivity, but through control of markets and money flow. The non productive upward distribution of wealth takes hard earned money out of the pockets of working Americans and needs to be stopped. Special taxes, not applicable to most Americans, would be applied to those behaviors in order to discourage them and repair the damage they cause. Every American deserves a chance at the American Dream, and our taxation system should help, not hinder, their efforts. Check out Will’s Voting for the American Dream and Business Model for Corporate Social Responsibility. I would also commission comprehensive studies to look for innovative ways of taking income tax out of the hands of the federal government while still allowing it to function effectively and meet its obligations. I do not know if a workable strategy could be found to do this, but it is worthy of exploration.

2. Massive reform to the U.S. banking system. The current Federal Reserve System gives private banks far too much influence over U.S. monetary policy. Thomas Jefferson so feared the role of banks in the U.S. economy that he uttered the following words:

   “The [privately-owned] Central Bank is an institution of the most deadly hostility existing against the principles and form of our Constitution…if the American people allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.” Current events are bearing out his words.

   There are those that would like to return to the gold standard, but I do not believe this is an accurate reflection of our productivity. Our money supply needs to be tightly affixed to a set standard that allows it to maintain equilibrium in the world currency market, thus protecting the buying power of private citizens. I suspect that government and private banks are guilty of abuses in this area. Our currency needs to be released in a manner that provides strict safeguards to keep private banks, corporations, and the government itself from skimming off the top. I would assemble a team of visionary economists to advise me on how best to go about this reform. Also check out Will’s ideas on the Financial Bailout and Slaves to Debt.

3. New ethics rules to eliminate special interest money from the political process. Money and politics do not mix. A system that requires candidates for Federal office to raise millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars from private contributions, compromises them from the very start. A system would be set up whereby candidates are blind to the identity of their financial contributors, and strict penalties would be imposed if a candidate took money directly from a contributor. Tight limits would also be imposed to the total amount of money a candidate would be allowed to receive as an added precaution. In light of the strict financial cap, Presidential candidates who are able to demonstrate broad based support for their candidacy, based on pre-determined criteria, would be given a forum upon which to make their case to the American people. The parameters on this process would be constructed so as to insure that leading candidates from independent parties are included in the process and are able to run on a level playing field against Republican and Democratic candidates.

4. Establishment of new vehicles to remove ineffective politicians.
   The voice of the people must be first and foremost on the minds of our elected officials. We honor them with the offices which they hold to represent our needs and our dreams, and they must be held accountable. We deserve not only good leadership, but great leadership, and I would work to make sure that happened, but giving people the ability to get rid of ineffective leaders. For further information on this subject check out my earlier post, Removing Ineffective Politicians from Office.

5. Reform the Electoral College to give citizens a greater voice.
   I do not believe that the Electoral College works as intended. The number of electoral votes that is carried by powerhouse states such as California, Texas, New York, and Florida dwarfs that of most other states in a winner takes all contest, with no consideration of those who cast the losing vote (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:US_Electoral_College_Map.PNG) . The electoral system was initially implemented to keep the voice of smaller states from being overwhelmed by their more populace neighbors. The voices of the smaller states have dimmed as our population as migrated toward coastal states and large population centers. I believe that we might be better served by constitutional reform that breaks those votes down into their respective congressional districts. Smaller states and individual voters, would have a greater voice in government as a result of this action, and events such as the 2000 Florida recounts would have had significantly less effect. In light of the fact that this would be a Constitutional reform, it would have to be considered with great care, and with great attention to the voice of the people and the states.

6. Establishment of a decentralization program.
   The federal government has an important role to play in the well being of its citizens, but it was never intended to wield massive power over the states. Centralized power in heavy concentrations is an ideal environment for waste, inefficiency, and corruption. The federal government should lead, but it has no business managing the states. I would carefully examine each federal program, cut wasteful programs and spending, and return the implementation and management of several of them over to the states, provide training, and ensure that they had the resources and skills to do so. In a decentralized environment, some states would develop innovative ways of dealing with problems that centralized control does not allow. Effective strategies could be observed and taught to other states and the government as a whole would benefit.

   My administration would be one of innovation, guided by the people, visionaries, and philosopher kings. It would seek to make sure that the voice of the people was heard above all others. Each committee and cabinet would have a citizen’s advocate who could be depended on to be strong and impartial, who would interface with real people and represent their voice in each meeting. It would not be afraid to take bold new steps, but would do so with due caution. It would lead through inspiration and post these words prominently throughout the walls of the White House, so as never to forget its responsibilities:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” – The Declaration of Dependence

What is the Greatest thing you could do, if you were President?

**Special thanks to the Dan Carlin’s common sense podcast Episode #136 Confronting The Hydra for his insights on Medicare and military spending.

America’s Future Economy

What is the state of America’s future economy?  Are we fit to lead?  The great ethos of America is to be the world’s leader.  We are supposed to be a great example of values, inventiveness, and hard work in action.  But lately, we are far from this.  The Wall Street crisis is a sobering example. Adam Shell in USA Today discusses the world’s view of Wall Street.  He states,

“[Wall Street] has long been viewed as the triple-A-rated center of the financial world, a trusted place to invest, and a role model for emerging financial centers around the globe.  But that was before Wall Street banks emerged as the central villains in the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. Before the exotic securities backed by risky mortgages that they created — and peddled around the world to investors — plunged sharply in value, causing economic mayhem. Before banks, insurers and mortgage companies started to fail at an alarming rate.”

If we cannot make our own society fairer, healthier and less corrupt, what hope does the world have?

Despite the sobering picture I have just painted, America is in a strong position to lead once again–if we choose to.  As the world frantically scrambles to be us, we have the unique advantage of already having been us.  We have seen the pitfalls of a “More Is Better” philosophy and are poised to lead the world forward into the “Better Is Better” era.  We are the only nation with vantage point to do that.  We have learned the hard lessons.  Lessons that can be taught.  Lessons the rest of the world need.

Revolution is in our hands.  It’s time to usher the world into the future instead of fighting with other nations for the crumbs of the past.  How do we do it? Let me hear your ideas.

A few of my ideas…

We need the vision and the will to stand for the future we want.  Then we begin to ask different questions.

America’s 20th century economy was built on the automobile.  Even today one in seven U.S. jobs is directly or indirectly linked to the car economy and the fossil fuel energy it depends on.   But lately, more of our economic growth has been tied to advances in both digital and biological technology.  The 21st century could be the bio-digital age.  One thing for sure, depending on cars and oil as our economic engine will only lead to our decline.  It’s time for a new direction.  We have historic strengths that the future of our civilization depends on.  It’s time for us to make new investments, huge investments, in our future rather than trying to maintain the past.  What if those investments were: 1) Revolutionizing life-long education 2) Zero-waste manufacturing and consumption, and 3) Human health and vitality?

Educating the Future

Historically, America has always been a world leader in educating its citizens.  Now it’s time to educate the world’s citizens using low cost, digital multi-media delivery supported by an army of tutors and teachers who will erase illiteracy, promote health, and give the world the knowledge and know-how to create sustainable solutions to their local problems.  The quality of our world’s future depends on the quality of education.  And our new future demands education starts at birth and continues until the lights are out. We need to maximize educational efficiency and impact. We need a new model in which all of us are constantly learning, evolving and contributing in new ways.  If we looked at worldwide education as an economic opportunity we would see an endless market place. And as the global education demand explodes we could lower delivery costs and accelerate value.  What will this industry look like?  No one knows for sure.  What we do know is that it’s the world’s greatest need and that it’s mostly unmet.  So what if we learn to sell knowledge, skills, and ideas the way we have learned to sell Coke and Big Macs?

And one more thing, if we want to win the war on terror, we must win on the battlefield of education.  Ideas are cheaper than bullets and much, much more effective.

Industry the Future

The second essential 21st century industry is how to make and consume what we need and want in a way that heals the planet instead of destroying it.  Imagine a future in which an infinite supply of energy comes from the sun, wind, waves, or background radiation.  Imagine a future in which everything is manufactured from molecules instead of extracting resources from the earth.  Imagine a future in which things never wear out but can be continually improved and rebuilt.  This is a world where there is more than enough for everyone.  We can change the way we create and consume.  If you think this is too “out there”, think again.  It may be the only way we can all survive and thrive.  Yes all these technologies already exist and are being commercialized.  These ideas are no more far out than the Internet seemed 15 years ago.  Renewable energy, zero-waste manufacturing, zero-waste consumption.  If civilization is going to survive, these are the industries of the future.  Shouldn’t we stop moaning that stopping global warming is going to cost too much and become the world leader in creating the technologies to reverse it?  There is a lot of money to be made by saving the world.

Healing the Future

Third, we need to regain thought-leadership, ethical wisdom, and scientific effectiveness in biological and neuroscience.  The health of our bodies and minds is essential to our world’s future.  We need to stem the flow of leading scientists leaving our country.  We must over-invest in our research infrastructure to overcome the newest threats to mankind’s physical health and mental vitality.  With a fast approaching future of 10 billion humans, we must solve the challenges of world health or we will experience mass suffering on an unprecedented scale.  We are still in a position to do this.  But we are wasting daylight.

Don’t these “industries of the future”, education, zero-waste manufacturing, and neuro-biological health sound better than cars and oil?  Just as our nation invested in railroads and electricity in the nineteenth century, and the interstate highway system in the twentieth century to spur sustained, economic expansion, today, we as a nation must make extraordinary investments to create a new economy so our children may have jobs and our world a future.

How do we fund it?  End subsidies to corporations that raise tobacco and tax breaks to old industries like oil.  Invest the revenue in future industries. How about $700 billion intended to the crooks of Wall Street in the bailout plan? We can have an endless river of world-saving ideas if we unleash strategic innovation instead of strangle it.

What’s the Greatest Thing We Can Do?

Question #14: What are your world-saving ideas?

McCain…Obama…What debate?

As I watched the Obama, McCain debate Wednesday night it slowly hit me.  It was like a dimmer switch that someone had turned up bright.  Either neither candidate fully comprehends what the root causes of our problems are or they are not letting on they do.  I don’t think I am the only one saying,

“Come on, come on, you’ve got to have better ideas than this.”

My current feeling is this.  No matter what McCain says about being different than Bush, he’s still a Republican.  His cabinet will be mostly Republican and his approach to solving our problems will be Republican.  The Republicans approach is low regulation, no trust in government, and high trust in business.  They seem to believe that big business creates jobs, which it hasn’t for 30 years, and the best government is one they outsourced to private contractors.  McCain’s approach to health care is shocking.  It is guaranteed to transfer health costs from business to individuals and lead to tens of more millions being under-insured.  It will actually penalize business for providing insurance by taxing it.  It seems the exact opposite is what’s needed which is exactly what George Bush has been doing for eight grinding years.  Obama’s plan is like most of his plans, half-baked.  It’s a little of this and a little of that.  In Obama’s book The Audacity of Hope the idea is that government policy is usually like sausage making, meaning to get anything done a leader has to give everyone a little of what they want.  But now is not the time for sausage making.

In a true crisis a leader must make enough people see that compromise will not lead us to the top of the mountain.  In fact a crisis is where we don’t want compromise.  We want the very best solutions.  Solutions that get at the root cause of things.  To bring about change we need wise leaders who will stand for real solutions and enroll a super majority of us in support.  Abraham Lincoln was such a leader.  He was the master of timing.  He knew the moment when he could emancipate the slaves and retain the support of the majority.  But he had the courage to do it and the ability to inspire America to do what was necessary.  In the 1960’s we had to face the fact that the debate between property rights and human rights was over.  Finally we were going to promote a society that would no longer tolerate legalized racism.  No more separate swimming pools, bathroom, restaurants or schools.  Today is that day.

A few thoughts.

1. We need a comprehensive health care solution.  One that deals with both cost and access.  McCains plan would tax businesses for providing health care.  Go figure?  Obama’s plan is a little of this and a little of that.  We can’t fix the current systems.  It must be radically re-invented.  It may not be perfect, but it could certainly be much better.  First, everyone should have access to competent health care in this country.  That debate needs to end.  We need to increase the supply of competent health care givers, especially nurse practitioners and primary care doctors.  We need to eliminate the waste of private health insurance and rationing who gets care.  We need a non-governmental, non-profit system of insurance in which every American is covered.  We need to end the waste of expensive, duplicate services and reward healthy lifestyles with tax incentives.  How much will this cost?  No more than the 18% of our GDP it’s currently costing.  One more thing, Americans should not pay more for medicine sold in America than its priced in any developed nation.  It’s time to quit talking about this and start doing it.  Right now our health care system is as corrupt as Wall Street.  No other country in the world has a private profit-driven health care system because it is subject to corruption.  And we have proved that.
2. We need to re-industrialize.  Americans face a credit crisis in part because we have a personal income crisis.  Our pay stinks.  We need to become a manufacturing nation again like Germany is.  If we create highly automated, productive, flexible plants we can invent and produce zero-waste, recyclable high value products the world needs.  The point is every product in use needs to be reinvented if we are going to have a sustainable future.  We need a trade policy that allows free trade only when environmental laws and employer rights of the countries who want to export to us are on a par with our laws.  Otherwise we are just subsidizing their “dumping” into our market.  The world may be flat but it’s not a level playing field.  Until we make it so, our economy will be reduced to Wal-Mart meets McDonald’s.  When we change that we will create real jobs for real wages because we’ll be creating real value.
3. We need to re-educate Americans for the 21st century.  A recent study revealed 40% of Americans read at a 6th grade level.  30% of high school age kids never graduate.  But here’s the deal.  Not everyone has to go to college.  We completely lost our bearings when we did away with vocational-technical education.  Today this kind of practical education is called STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math.)  There is a huge current need for STEM educated workers in nearly every industry.  Auto technicians, oil field workers, power companies and utilities, healthcare, green energy, and even trained engineers all require STEM training and retraining.  21st century skills doing work that must be performed in person creates higher value and higher pay.  These kinds of technical courses can be completed in one to two years and lead directly to higher paying jobs.  As for college, that needs to be free again. If our nation is re-educated to create sustainable value, we’ll make the things and provide the services the world needs.  Then the majority of Americans may just make enough to buy a reasonable home.

Of course we need to build a renewable energy economy, declare victory in Iraq, eliminate lobbyists, secure our borders, regulate Wall Street, reject the tyranny of consumerism, eat right, exercise, and get eight hours of sleep.  Yes there are lot of things we need. But first we need a healthy, well-educated, productive America.  If we can get that right we can get the rest right.  If we don’t, the rest won’t matter.

What do you think?

Universal Access to Capital, Health Care and Education

Capital: Capital is protein in the diet of freedom.  Investment is necessary to produce sustainable growth and financial security.  America’s great original promise was the right of individuals to own land.  Land was the prized income-producing asset until the industrial revolution.  It was productive capital.  Today financial capital is necessary to become self-sufficient. As micro finance has proved in the emerging world, reasonable access to capital is the key to raising the prosperity of entire nations.  We must insure that entrepreneurs of all size have access to capital at similar terms and conditions to insure the most efficient flow of capital.  Capital means the most to people who have it the least.

Health Care: We’ve reached a time when mothers should not have to put up posters and plastic buckets in supermarkets to collect money for their child’s cancer treatments.  We have reached a time where as a nation we must be wiling to pay for catastrophic care costs for all our citizens.  Citizens must also take responsibility to insure themselves for routine sickness and small accident     costs (less than $50,000).  American citizenship should make you part of a universal group that makes us all insurable.  Insurance can be private but non-    profit.  Medical schools must train thousands more doctors. We should pay less for and buy fewer prescriptions.  And above all we need to educate and give incentives to everyone to live healthy lifestyles.

Education: The greatest single factor in improving human well-being is education.  Research reveals that the more education a person has the less likely they are to divorce, abuse family members, smoke, become overweight, suffer from addiction and depression, or be imprisoned.  The better educated make the most money, report the greatest life satisfaction, volunteer and vote the most,     and use the least public assistance.  Education is the best investment a society can make.  So how is American Education?  We are not getting much for our money.  We spend $500 billion a year K-12 and 20% of American  youth do not even earn a high school diploma.  Half of our kids who start college never finish.  For those     that do, college education has become a life long financial burden.  Is this the best we can do?  We must institute ways to raise and equalize the quality of our K-12 schools and lower the actual cost of college.  The greatest investment in our future is the wise investment we make in universal effective education.

This is our agenda.  And now we need you.  We need your best most thoughtful ideas about how we as a nation might create laws and establish policies to make these imperatives rise again in American life.  Every so often we’ll all vote on the best ideas and send them to our elected representatives and hold them accountable for real action. It’s past time.  Let’s put the future in our hands.

Clemson University Debate

I have spent the week at Clemson University in South Carolina.  The Entrepreneur Institute has named me “Entrepreneur-in-Residence” and invited me to lecture to students in the business school.  I must say it’s been an opportune week to contrast socially-strategic capitalism with the old fashion greed-is-good version that is sending serious shivers through the world’s financial structure.

These students are the salt-of-earth.  Sincere, open-minded, and determined.  They are also nuts for Clemson football.  All they wear is orange and there are tiger footprints all over the streets and sidewalks.  It’s nuts!

But, my sunny stay is about to change radically.  Tonight, I am “debating” John Allison the CEO of BB&T Bank about the merits of my version of social capitalism against his Ayn Rand, social darwinism version of it.  I am told he is thoughtful, nice man with strong convictions that the free market is a moral market.  Of course, I disagree.  I’ve never seen a truly free market because all markets are gamed by those who have any advantage.  And capitalism isn’t moral or immoral, it’s leaders who choose to serve a human purpose or their own.

My stomach is churning!