What I Would Do

By November, we will have chosen a new president. Republican or Democrat, our new leader must hit the ground running. There is much to do if we are to turn this country around and address our mounting problems. These problems now threaten to sink our national ship. I do not envy the person who will be sitting behind that desk in the Oval Office, but they will have a unique opportunity to make a difference in the history of our country and the world. Whoever assumes that office in January of 2009 cannot afford to maintain the status quo, sit on their hands and do nothing. They can no longer afford to punish old political foes and act in their own self-interest. There is too much at stake, too many things that need to be done.

It made me think what my first actions would be as president. First, there is no way in hell I would want the job, but if I were the new President, there are some things I would like to get started immediately. The very first would be to contact our friends and allies and call for a summit to discuss a new era of cooperation and support as equals. We are no longer the “World Sheriff," folks! I would bring back and reestablish a diplomatic corps of top-notch talent and experience. They would be charged with going out into the world and rebuilding our image as a nation and as a people.

I would set a national goal to develop a new engine that would finally replace the internal combustion engine. Like Kennedy’s call for a man on the moon, I think it would challenge and inspire our nation to research, develop and deliver new technologies that would revitalize our economy and end our dependence on oil from hostile, unstable nations in the Middle East. It would be a call for a non-polluting engine that could run on things like sunlight, water, hydrogen or even our own waste and trash...anything plentiful but petroleum.

I would encourage recycling on a massive scale never seen before. We need to recover and reuse materials and resources that are becoming scarce or costly to produce. Virtually everything that can be manufactured should be able to be disassembled and reused or recovered. We might even consider going into our landfills and mining them for plastics, metals and waste that can be converted to energy. At the very least, each home could compost their own kitchen waste and use it in a garden rather than sending it to a landfill. Perhaps landfills would become outdated as everything we discard is reused. There would be thousands of new jobs created as we researched and developed new ways, new technologies to process our garbage and use it again.

I would call for a commitment from every citizen to go green. In return, I would seek the production and distribution of inexpensive solar and wind power generators that could be installed on every single home and office building in this country. The power from such a massive installation across the country could reduce or eliminate the need for coal fired and nuclear power plants as well as plants that burn gas and oil to create electricity. With economies of scale at that level, the cost to produce these units would drop dramatically. Completely new industries and service jobs would be created to accomplish this mass production and installation. Other companies would be needed to manage the corresponding energy production being added to the power grid. Power companies could go from producing and selling energy to managing and maintaining the power grid for a fee. Think about the jobs created!

All of these things would require strong, visionary leadership at the national level to get the ball rolling, to make things happen. Just think what could happen if we could convince the rest of the world that America once again believes in peace, truth and justice through international conventions and treaties rather than unilateral, hostile actions around the world. If we can commit to spending billions of dollars to fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, just think what we could achieve if we only took a part of the wasted war money. Why, we might be able to provide affordable healthcare and affordable higher education one day. We might actually solve...rather than create problems.

FOOD for THOUGHT...