America is going downhill for one very simple reason: people seem to not be able to tell the difference between the disease and its symptoms. It almost seems to be common wisdom for people to think that treating a symptom of a disease is the same as treating a disease. In short, if the symptoms do not longer show up, the disease is gone. It’s a mental dis-ease, but nobody seems to think much of it. It almost seems like people are brainwashed into believing into the above truth.
It works so well because of one reason – convenience. America is obsessed with convenience and comfort. The more of it – the better. And for every obsession there are those that cater to it. Except there is one simple thing that is wrong with comfort – it makes you weak. One person at a time it makes a nation weak. We can already see the results of this destructive thinking.
PROBLEM: America is getting increasingly dumb. This is a tough one to swallow, but it is the truth. Instead of increasing the education standards and making students study and think, we lower those standards. Everybody seems to get higher GPAs, pass tests with highers scores and everybody seems to do better.
All of that at the cost of learning and knowing less.
More and more people are going to college with lower quality education. Educational institutions are more concerned about taking a dollar from you or the government than about admitting quality students, which are increasingly rear.In the process, the schools get paid, the private loan companies get paid and the students get screwed.
In the end, you have college graduates who know and do less than high school graduates in less developed countries than the USA. Everybody is so focused on satisfying people’s egos and avoiding hurting their feelings in the short term that they forget that they are hurting not only the individual, but the nation as whole in the long term.
SOLUTION: Increase the standards of education on all levels and let kids fail. We just have to understand that the purpose of an education system is to teach, and not to give passing grades for kids who don’t try. Only by failing you learn. In a sense, we need to deflate the educational system. So what if that students will be getting lower grades? That is not the purpose of education. Education is supposed to be challenging and difficult so that when we come out of school we are actually know a thing or two. Overtime, the students would get used to higher education standards and everybody would be fine. If you ask for more you get for more, if you ask for less then you get less.
PROBLEM: America is getting increasingly unhealthy. It is the results of people reaching out for the pill, falling prey to false advertising about quick weight loss diets and constantly looking for the easy way out. Instead of making the life long choices about their nutrition and exercise, people focus on the quick fix. Even in this day and age where information is abundant, advertising and the dream of the shortcuts seems to get the best of us.
It is convenient.
It is convenient for the food industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the fitness industry, the health-care industry, the insurance industry. Finally, it is convenient for the consumer. Yet, the consumers are the ones who end up complaining about increasing health-case costs. If you haven’t lived under a rock, then you should have heard about the health care reform that is trying to take place. Yet, it is all BS. Reforming the health care system for an unhealthy nation is the same as lowering taxes for the poor.
SOLUTION:Education. Teach people about nutrition and exercise from an early age. Make fitness classes mandatory and physically challenging. Teach people from young age about how to make the right choices about their nutrition and exercise. That is all there is needed to create a healthier and happier America.
That will automatically lower the cost of health-care.
The health care right now is expensive for a reason: there are tons of unhealthy people. That automatically raises the insurance costs because more and more people are falling in the increased risk group. The focus should on prevention of disease, rather than the superficial treatment of it later. It’s no rocket science, and it bothers me seeing people not solving the problem the right way.
In the end, it is all about making the right decisions. However, it is hard to learn how to make the right decisions when nobody around you is making the right decisions.
So in the end, it all comes down to education, experience and values.
The state where America is today is reflective of it’s education, experience and values. That is the real disease – lack of all three. If we were only focused on helping people make the right choices and showing them how to make the right choices, we would not have nearly as many problems as we do today. It is funny, how a nation with so many resources and so much potential can end up in state like this.
What about you? Are you taking care of yourself? Are you treating the disease instead of the symptoms? Answer that go ahead; you might be surprised with what you find. Remember, one person at a time, a nation can become stronger or weaker. It is up to you.
14 Comments
Hey Tom,
I really like what you have to say here. I’m an advocate of fixing the hole rather than putting a bandage over it.
But while the article was great food for thought and a call-to-arms, I didn’t get much actionable takeaway. For ME as an individual.
Normally, an opinion piece like this is fine, but it seems you’re tailoring Uncertain Change to the individual. I feel an idea-rich article like this could be stronger by having a concrete practical step to take in the end. The question you offered is a good start, but it could go further.
Like, it could be about taking personal responsibility for myself, and then influencing those around me. Something I could do as an individual.
It can grow into something larger that can influence the government, but I have to be able to start somewhere.
Because I sure as heck can’t take on the education or health system by myself, right off the bat ;)
Just something to consider. The ideas you inject into articles like these are awesome: disruptive and for positive change. By offering some actionable takeaways, those ideas can travel beyond the reader’s mind and into real-world results.
Pleasure to read as always,
Oleg
PS. Great work with your headlines lately. Attention-grabbing but not stooping to shock-value :)
Hey Oleg:
That is one great value filled comment. I can honestly say: Thank you!
What you said really makes sense and I will take that to heart. I was thinking about the big picture and forgot about the individual actions that you a person can take. Really helpful that you pointed it out.
Actually, I am planning to labeling my article as food for thought and actionable articles, so that a reader would know what to expect.
A pleasure to have an awesome reader like you. Thanks for the input and the compliments :)
Best,
Tomas
Didn’t read the full article but here’s something very relevant to some points you’re making here http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html
Karolis
Hey Karolis:
I watched the video and I am definitely glad that somebody is doing something about this. Yet, I do not know if that will be enough for people to get the message.
But I think it is a great start! Thanks for sharing.
Best,
Tomas
Very eye-catching title for this post but I can agree with you.
I think another problem is greed! Everybody is after their money. That’s why schools lower standards, so they can get paid. That’s why government allows tv ads for all these pills, bad foods, and equipments. Because the companies get paid, the government gets tax $$…It’s all about money to everyone.
I think citizens need to make better and wiser decisions.
Hey Faizal:
Now you are talking! See, the thing that people don’t understand is that the government and those big corporations have only as much power as we, the consumers, give them.
It’s all about greed. Yes, but we, the people, allow those corporations and the government to get richer. It is up to us to stand up say NO!
But it is tough, when most of us are oblivious to what is going on even in our own lives. How can we even begin to take on the larger issues at hand when our personal lives are in shambles?
Great having you come back Faizal:)
Best,
Tomas
Glad you liked the title
Very well said. Great insight and passion without ranting or being too inflammatory. Send your URL to Congress and tell them to subscribe:)
Dear Josh:
It is great having the World’s Strongest Librarian paying a visit to this site :)
I wish I could just send Congress a link and have them read it. The thing is this: I think they all clearly understand this, yet nobody has the guts to really stand up to their values do the right thing.
I am passionate about people making the right choices and living their lives to their best, so maybe one day I will have enough power to go to the Congress and tell them what I think instead of sending them a link :)
Thanks for the idea, Josh!
Thanks for stopping by!
Best,
Tomas
Somehow it is funny for me to read this article considering that I come from a South American country and the basic difference I see is “More”
Here in the US there is more of everything, and what suppose to be a good thing that helps dedicate more time to grow instead of just survival becomes the poison that destroy those who are unaware or don’t know another way of life.
Reading the part about education made me remember my school years back in Chile (my country) and how we had to study to pass the different classes or we simply failed and had to repeat that year, and as many times as necessary until we pass and can move on. It doesn’t hurt or create any traumas!
The part about health? To much food and too many options with no need to restrict oneself, here we can literally “eat to death” It is amazing how sometimes poverty in a country can be of help to its people while wealth can lead to problems.
You end up the article calling to action and I’m pleased to say that somehow my part has been talking about this differences between both countries in my blog. Not that one person can change the world, but a little bit here and there should help. :)
Great article, even though many people wouldn’t like it; but again, we know that “The first step to fix a problem is to realize the existence of the problem”, and sometimes that is a BIG step for many.
Raul
Hey Raul:
Very powerful comment. I appreciate it.
It is great that you can relate and understand where I am coming from. See, I did not grow up in US either. I grew up in Europe and I can relate to your experience very well. School was school, nobody gave you a free pass if you messed up. It’s called tough love. I mean, if you condition children that they can get what they want even if they fail at a young age, then you are setting them up for failure later in life.
That’s the best thing we can do: be responsible in how we lead our lives and set example for those around us.
Thank you, Raul!
Best,
Tomas
While I agree with your basic premise on education and health care, I must take a somewhat different view. I grew up in a rual area many years ago and my experience was similar to yours. However, things changed and now they are so large and unmanagable, that is part of the problem. We do need to change the way our children are taught. We need to teach them to think, not memorize or pass useless standardized tests. We need to educate people on wellness care as part of health care. However, I do not believe that the idea of one person at a time is enough. I do believe we need to care for our children and the sick. Whether or not they have made poor choices should not enter into it. Poverty brings it’s own set of challenges and without access to good education and healthcare it is almost impossible to climb out. I believe that expecting everyone to behave in a more enlightened manner is putting our own expectations on others. There is, however, nothing wrong in encouraging and exampling it if we do not use it for exclusion.
Dear Nancy:
I appreciate your comment as always. I perfectly understand what you are saying and it was not my attempt to provide a holistic solution to all of America’s problems.
A more in depth article would be required for that. One person at a time creates a movement, a movement can encourage a large scale change, which would be required to revolutionize the educational system not only in the USA, but in the world.
However, it always starts with one person wanting to make a difference. The change that I am proposing would have to start at the bottom and spread up to the very top. If people are not ready to accept the change, then no matter what the government would do it would not matter.
At this point of time, it is important for more and more people to become aware of these issues and start making the right choices for themselves to create an environment inducive to a large scale change.
The power is with the people and people sometimes forget that. I hope that answers your concerns at least to some extent. It is an issue that requires a much deeper conversation.
Best,
Tomas
Excellent article, clearly articulating some things my husband and I have believed for some time.
The education system is bloated, and concerned only with giving more and more money to its union members, for less and less value. We homeschooled because we wanted our daughters to be able to think for themselves, and question the whys and wherefores of the status quo.
Part of the problem with the solutions for the problems you identify is that the people who are most affected (by dumbness and unhealthiness) are interested neither in change nor in changing. To go out on a limb, people who can make wads of money selling drugs are not going to value getting a better education. people who are obese and unhealthy are not going to lose weight, keep it off and get healthy unless and until they are forced to by circumstance.
Back to convenience, as you stated.
Dear Trece:
Thank you for your insight. I really commend you on being able to home-school your daughters. It is really a proud accomplishment and not too many people would be able to pull it off.
You said: “Part of the problem with the solutions for the problems you identify is that the people who are most affected (by dumbness and unhealthiness) are interested neither in change nor in changing.”
It is a very bold statement indeed. It might or not be true. Assuming that is true, then how do we change that attitude?
In my mind, it has everything to do with the environment, in which they grow and how they perceive the world. It is entirely possible that many of those individuals have a very limited perspective on the world. Moreover, they might be aware of the fact that there are different options out there, but some of them might not have the proper resources to accomplish that change.
It is always much more difficult to cure the sick than to prevent somebody from getting sick in the first place. The solutions that I propose would not be targeted towards the people who already have those issues. I believe it is much more important to target the young minds, so that the new generation that comes after us, is able to think and make smart choices for themselves. That in turn will create a new environment, in which achieving change would be something that would be supported and encouraged.
It is all about breaking the cycle. If nobody steps up, then only a revolution might be the cure for the disease of the America.
Best,
Tomas