America Has Problems Today

Nobody ever said building a country from the ground up would be easy. I'm sure our Founders had many a sleepless night, wondering whether they'd pay with their lives for their rebellion.  Worried about the "redcoats" who were a trained, professional army ready to stamp out any hint of rebellion. But they had their hearts set on freedom. They persevered. And they won.

America has gone through so many tough times, faced so many challenges, but still we persevere. Most Americans are determined to keep our country strong and free. There will always be those naysayers who argue America's best days are behind her. The weak-willed or the greedy, ready to give in to a dictator for the sake of money or their own comfort.

But I believe the majority of Americans, when they take the time to think about it, know there's no other country on earth they'd rather call home. Even when we have divisions in our society, arguments about our politics, it comes down to this: We want America to be our home, and the home of our children and grandchildren, and all the generations to follow.

On the home page I covered some of the challenges America faced in the middle part of the 20th century. Those of us who lived through those times often felt unmoored and unsafe, at least in our weak moments. It's understandable. I'll bet a lot of Americans today have those same feelings at times. It can be discouraging to watch the evening news and see Americans shouting each other down, disparaging each others' religions or ethnicity. 

Some groups want to claim superiority over others, sometimes going so far as to call fellow Americans "not Americans." American citizens have been assaulted and some even killed in our streets. This is not the America we really want. We need to find a way to work through our differences and understand that we are not ever going to be "all the same." America was built on differences, not on uniformity.

For over 250 years Americans have gone through the ups and downs of building community and learning to work together, even through our differences. We can do it again. We can work together still. But we have to learn some things about each other and about human nature. And we have to look at the problems we face and find a way to work through them together.

On my About Me page I touched on some of the problems America faced in the mid-20th century. Some problems settled down, others festered. We still face enough problems in America to keep us all busy looking for answers. 

Anyone who makes a habit of watching the evening news can tell you, America has some serious problems today. If we want to get our country back on somewhat level ground, we're going to have to learn to listen to each other and try to find enough common ground to at least give each other room to breathe.

The problems are so numerous I'm not sure I can fit them all on a page. We have an affordability problem. Gas and grocery prices are only the beginning. We have issues with the cost of health care, the price of goods brought into America from other countries, and the cost of child care, just to name a few. Housing costs are so high that many young people can't see a way to ever own a home of their own. Wages aren't keeping up with inflation, so families are falling behind, even if both parents are working two jobs.

Immigration, a perennial problem in America, is a major issue today. Immigrant families, even when they have proper documentation and are working and paying taxes, are being torn apart as one or more family members are carted off to detention centers and sometimes being deported.

All these problems have causes, and if there's a cause, there's a solution. I'm not an economist, a politician, a sociologist, an attorney, or any kind of professional problem solver. But I'm an American who cares, and I want us to be able to find solutions, or at least to be able to make improvements. So let's dive in.

The way I see it, step one is: We have to stop demonizing each other! In order to work together we have to at least be able to talk to each other with civility. I'll readily admit that there are some people I'd rather not even be in the same room with, much less work with! But I believe I can work with a lot of people who don't have the same beliefs I have. If the common ground is finding a way to make life in America safer and more productive for everyone, I think there are a lot of people who can team up to work toward that goal. 

Step one: Stop demonizing. Step two: List our problems.