This won't matter to me-but it should matter to you!

[Rich Weese]

I'm too old to see a lot of the socialistic changes and bankrupt cities and states that you will. I just ask one question. How do we sustain the direction headed?
CBO (congressional Budget Office) just listed the new figures today. America has deficits Totalling 62% of our GDP (gross domestic product). By 2010 that % will reach 90%. I guess we could just continue spending our way out of the cesspool, or keep using the Tarp money for this small problem....or ask for more "emergency" Tarp money.
I lied. One more question. Is there a fix for this? Rich

[Vikram C.]

I think it is important to fix the public education system but that will not be sufficient to solve our long-term problems. I grew up in a country (India) with great schools and went to one such school myself. But the country was very poor and the economy was largely stagnant in those days. The same country, today, is the second-fastest growing economy in the world and has been that way for over a decade.

The reason for this change was not an improvement in the schools but a change in economic policies. I see the U.S. slowly becoming a non-meritocratic society the way India used to be. This is really unfortunate because the U.S. has been the inspiration for so many countries to reform their economies and now the source of that inspiration is going against its core values.

I think the problem really is with the voters. Voters are happy to vote for a benefit for themselves as long as others pay for it. They are also happy to support non-meritocratic systems, such as public schools, affirmative action, etc. because they do not seem to truly believe in the concept of merit. They are also happy to kick out any politician who speaks the truth and vote for the one who promises stuff that is not sustainable.

What we need is a change in the voting system so that we can have more quality-control. In a corporation, there is one vote per share owned, not one vote per shareholder. Perhaps we need a political system with one vote for each dollar in taxes paid instead of one vote per person. That will align incentives a little better and the person paying the most taxes will get to have greater say in how it is spent.