In the past, when the economy was thriving and the economic might of our country was unbeatable, we took many things for granted.
Many of us took our jobs for granted and gave our society poor service in many aspects of the private and public sectors.
In addition, we did nothing when many companies were taking away jobs from Americans, outsourcing those very jobs to people in China, India and other parts of the developing world.
We took for granted the fact that we should save for rainy days, instead of living above’ our means.
We have not held many of our politicians accountable for the many years of mishandling the economy.
The management of the past Bush administration left a legacy of raising our public debt to almost 10 trillion dollars.
When the Clinton Administration left office, public debt was around $2 trillion.
It is shocking that public debt has risen by this much, yet very little has been done to improve industry, health care, education and the many other aspects of this country which need to be fixed.
With the previous mismanagement of public funds, it makes me wonder if the current state of the economy is an indicator of times to come.
Will we be continuously faced with economic hardship, or will we be able to rally around our country and help it to soar like the phoenix rising out of the ashes?
We can mend out economy by doing some of the following.
1. Buy locally produced items. Yes, it is time for us to show our sense of patriotism. If we continue to purchase locally made goods, then we will be encouraging growth building industry in this country.
2. Hold our politicians accountable for the manner in which they spend our tax dollars. Be vigilant.’ Constantly pressure our law makers to manage the economic affairs of nation properly.
3. Pressure our government to invest in the following areas education, industry, infrastructure, health care and agriculture.
4. Ensure’ we seize every opportunity to become as educated as we can be. Education is the driving force to the building of a strong nation.
5. Remember we have the power to either leave our country in the ashes or to help the phoenix rise again.
Amadu Wiltshire may be reached at awilthsire@ut.edu.
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