State of the Union

It doesn't take too much effort or research to see the State of the Union. It's bad. The president gets up and talks his line of tightly scripted spin. The members of congress applaud when required. (Is there really an applause sign hanging in the house chambers?) The presidents party smiles and back slaps each other while the opposition party sits sour faced and silent.

When it's all said and done has anything really changed? For all their talk, have any more jobs been created? Are any families at risk, been helped? Has the environment been improved? Has the quality of life improved? Is Bi-partisanship been established for the common good?


The foundation of our country and as well our society was established by the majority seeking the common good for all. The common good seems to be missing. We are by rights the most liberal nation in the world when it comes to allowing the rights of the individual to trump those of the many. Yet our elected officials have taken this simple precept and bastardized it to the point that the rights of the many are trumped by the needs of the powerful and rich.


Our capitalist society is great. I, as a business owner see and realize the opportunities we have available to anyone living here. A person can take an idea, dream or a desire and make it a going proposition. Hard work, an ethical moral code and one could reap riches far beyond their wildest dreams. Also circumstances could turn that prosperity the other way and all is lost. That is the risk. But the rewards should outweigh the risk. Because the lessons learned from failure or from success always presents opportunities. The opportunity is there for all.


Yet for all the failures and success there is an element to this equation that is seriously overlooked. As I see it, the missing element is a moral component in the capitalism equation.

Moral capitalism is actually a way of doing business. A theorem not taught in business schools. Businesses used to stay put. They would grow and prosper in an area creating jobs for the local residents. The employees built the company through their hard work and dedication. In return the company provided jobs and a lively hood for all concerned. Sometime conditions caused businesses to change location, but they stayed within the country. They had a loyal customer base, employees and products they willingly put their name on. Today everyone wants to turn a buck fast.

Our culture has degraded to the point where the money people look to buy a healthy company, gut it, sell off the profitable parts, move the assets to some off shore location that can produce a similar product for less money at a fraction of the cost. Fast money. No hard work, no work ethic, no pride in the product. Just line our pockets and get out of the way, bring us the next victim.

Not only has the moral element left our business segment of society but the same greed and shortsightedness has infested our government. Right, left, republican or democrat, they all have put the peoples business up for sale to the highest bidder. Campaign, raise funds, make alliances, protect their elected office at all costs, just so they can be re-elected. The public be dammed!

The fundamentals of our government is sound but the mechanics are broken. We need to seek out people for our elected positions that are willing to listen, are responsible and more than accommodating to seek a solution rather than drawing a line in the sand and digging in their heals.

Partisanship, special interests, and the ultimate goal to keep the "Party In Power" is the ruination of the great American Experiment in democracy. If we as a society don't wake up and start the change now, even one step at a time, we will languish and become just an footnote to history. The Union is in a sad State. We need to cheer it up!