While watching the state of business and government in the past few years, it has become increasingly obvious that there is a deeply seated problem that afflicts the American public. The symptoms are obvious, the real harms less so, and the underlying issue, while readily apparent, seems on the surface to be much less disturbing than it actually is.
The issue I am speaking about is that of the increasingly short attention span of the public. The population-at-large has been ever more demanding of instant results and quick solutions, which often are detrimental to the best interests of the nation.
Results are expected quickly with respect to the economy, foreign and domestic policy, and law enforcement. One only has to look at the Patriot act or the situation in Iraq to see how this can be a terrible force for bad decisions. For instance, there is a growing movement to “bring our boys home” from Iraq. I feel this would be a grave error. Regardless of one’s opinion of the validity of the invasion or the reasoning behind it, an early withdrawal is tantamount to disaster. The country is in disarray, infrastructure has been destroyed, and there is no government to speak of. These are the occasions in history that set the tone for long periods of time to come. There is a vast opportunity for radicals or despots to take control, and extreme danger for those who don’t agree with those who manage to gain power. In short, we’ve made our mess, and we must at least have the decency to clean it up as much as possible. If we don’t, we are likely to prolong and worsen an already bad situation.
The dangers at home are just as terrible as they are abroad. The Patriot act was a governmental response to the public’s demand they we “do something”. It opens the door to decreased privacy, government abuses, and concentrates power in a smaller group of people. This is a frightening trend, and we should be wary of the consequences.
A second example is the recent actions dealing with copyright law. A system which was installed to protect the income of those who create, thus improving the public at large by providing a greater body of works, has been perverted into a tool for large corporations to maintain their profit margins. After the outcry of foul play, laws were quickly passed which inhibit research, which take works away from the public to whom they ultimately belong to, which change a civil offense into a criminal one, and which create a situation where our court system is used as a punitive tool against housewives, grandmothers, and twelve year olds who have no recourse but to pay due to the expense of defending themselves.
I fear that many of our government and business decisions have been incresingly designed with the goal of remaining in office, or looking good on a quarterly report, than with promoting the interests of the country at large.
Unfortunately, I do not see a solution to this issue, which in my opinion is exacerbated by the speed at which events happen in modern times. Some things simply take a long time. When we realize this, and act accordingly, I feel that we will be able to make better decisions, and hopefully to create a better standard of living for everyone, instead of the select few whose opinion counts the most.