This 2012 presidential election offers a stark contrast. Not a contrast between two decidedly different candidates - the candidates are more alike than they are different. Both seem to be genuinely well-meaning, decent men who care deeply about making a contribution. Both are attempting to offer a vision of a stronger, more vibrant and prosperous nation. And both are so beholden to special interests they don't have a clue about how to make that vision a reality. The contrast in this 2012 election is not between candidates, it's the divergence between the strategy we as a nation are advancing and the outcome we are expecting.
America has made a strategic mistake. We have decided to commit our resources to the worst of all possible uses: entitlements for the masses and easy money for the elite. Yet somehow we expect that even after this gross misallocation of income, intellect, and energy drawn from the productive core, we will achieve full employment, a communal culture, and economic prosperity. This is a pipe dream.
We are promoting idleness and leisure at one end of the spectrum and the amassing of ill-gotten gains - unbridled opulence and power - at the other. We are pursuing this course at the expense of common values and the productive activities that made America great - self-reliance, ingenuity and opportunity. Unfortunately we are so lost in the smoke and mirrors of political rhetoric and so enticed by a supposedly free lunch, the very things healthy human beings require to live productive, happy, full and fulfilling lives are gleefully tossed aside. Today America is enthusiastically advocating a something for nothing policy - and by so doing is unwittingly ensuring its own demise.
The truth is, our system of self-government is so broken that the 2012 election will prove, once again, that we the people get what we deserve. What we deserve is more dysfunctional government, more pandering to special interests, and more atrocious financial shenanigans. The hole we have dug ourselves into is not so much a consequence of mismanagement by inept politicians as it is the consequence of a strategic miscalculation by the people.
The increasing complexity of government and the speed of everyday living have forced average citizens to all but abandon any responsibility for the public domain. Empty promises made by politicians assure the people that all is well. The gap this desertion by the middling class has created has been filled by a determined, self-serving few who maneuver for personal gain.
Money, not right, is now the predominant force in American politics. Unfortunately too few people recognize this or believe that something should be done about it.
Government is much too important to be left to criminals and politicians (sometimes it's hard to know the difference), but until thoughtful people get involved, America's course is set - and it's not a good one. America's problem is the result of a strategic mistake; if we want to right our course Americans must change the strategy.
Scott F. Paradis, author of "Warriors, Diplomats, Heroes, Why America's Army Succeeds" and "Success 101 How Life Works", focuses on the fundamental principles of leadership and success; http://success101workshop.com/
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