22 Jan 2018 Who's Responsibility Is It?

Whose Responsibility Is It To Fix Problems?

This question goes to the heart of what citizenry expects of its elected officials. This is true at the local level and all the way up to global.

Let’s look at schooling. This may be the ultimate local issue but has a vast state and federal tentacles. Should’ve community be able to decide what it wants to teach, how it wants to teach and when. I say yes. Should the state or federal government have a say. I say it extremely limited. It is the responsibility of parents and educators to provide the opportunity for the students to excel. The role of the state and federal government is to do the best to make the opportunity the same. You don’t do that by bringing down a high-level one to a lower one. Just the opposite.

I believe that schools are only as good as the parents demand and participate in. If parents don’t care, educators can’t completely fill the void.

Let’s take a look at the global level. Bad things are going on in Syria. Is it up to the Syrians to fix, the neighboring countries, or the world body? First off bad things are happening all over the world. The US has an interesting history for picking when to get involved. In the mid 1990s, 500,000 Rwandans were killed over several weeks and the US did nothing. At the same time, a few thousand are killed in Bosnia and we sent a large military contingent. However, those are dated examples.

Does the US, Europe and other Middle East countries have a responsibility to do something in Syria? That depends on one’s definition of do something. I believe we should provide as much a military aid in order to stem the exodus of the population.

I don’t see a current figure within Syria who could unite the country and be acceptable to all sides. That person may exist, I just have not seen him or her yet. Should a coalition be put together to take over the country and rule until a Syrian can?  I say yes. An unstable Syria has effects that reach all the way to small town USA. This has to be presented to the US population of why something over there impacts here.

You can hear rhetoric every day that we have our own problems and we should stay out of other peoples issues. Well let’s see. Japan seems to be doing great but 70 years after World War II we are still there in force, same for Germany and Korea. The reason things worked out is that the vast majority of the population in those places was homogeneous. Things aren’t working out as great in Afghanistan because it is tribal. There may be a border for a country called Afghanistan, however, it is the tribal boundaries that are the real borders.

I have tried to point out some issues at the micro that is local level and at the macro global level.

My original question was whose responsibility is it? Do you want to just focus locally or do you think that we are connected and thus need to do global things? Can we do both? Now comes the money question. We can’t do greatly at both because of finances that aren’t there.  So, what do you feel we have the country should do? What should you do as a citizen?

I ask you to take some time and reflect on what you want your elected officials to do. Then make it known to them what your positions are. Local or global? Not easy answers but begging for answers nonetheless.