For months, the pundits have been telling us that this election is all about change. While Senator Obama was the first candidate to tap into this supposed thirst for change Senator Clinton has been trying desperately to make the case that she is an agent of change as well. But all of this discussion about change leaves me wondering, are Americans willing to change themselves? Or are they only interested in changing the Party that controls Washington? The answer to those questions will determine how much we do, in fact, change and whether we do solve the serious problems facing our nation.
Regardless of what our government does we can not reduce air pollution until the American public agrees to get out of their cars, walk more and pay for and use public transportation. We aren’t going to save Social Security and Medicare unless the American public is willing to pay more into the programs and/or reduce the benefits that the programs will need to pay out. We aren’t going to be able to provide quality educational opportunities to all of America’s children until we understand that funding education primarily through the property tax is discriminatory.
Simply put, our problems can only be solved if the American Public is willing to sacrifice something to solve them. Our sacrifices will involve paying more for the things we want our government to provide and doing more in our personal lives to help each other–and our country.
As always, I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
