WE WERE JUST WONDERING

On My Mind

by Alex Hutchins

I am not a political or financial advisor to the President nor am I a Treasury Secretary nor am I a CEO of a Venture Capital Firm nor am I a Ph.D. of anything except life; however, I do have several concerns about the future of this country and for that matter the future of this world as it pertains to our co-existence and preservation of all that we have been given.  I say it this way because I sincerely believe that the human race was put onto the world/planet for a reason that has yet to be realized or explained to us; life is just too complicated to have merely evolved.

So, here are my 20 concerns.

1.      Employment/Unemployment

a.       Businesses have money to hire

b.      Economy still growing

c.       Politics in play

d.      Circulation of money

e.       The 1%

2.      Information Security/data management/social media

a.       Collecting data

b.      Analyzing data

c.       Privacy

d.      Espionage

3.      Family Core Values

a.       Debt and borrowing

b.      Lifestyles

c.       Values/morals/divorce

     4.      The Economy

a.       Free Market Enterprise System

b.      Small business

c.       Entrepreneurs

d.      Keynesian economics

e.       John Smith Wealth of Nations economics

f.       Maximizing Shareholder Wealth

5.      Education (high school and college)

            a.       Public domain – Knowledge is free

b.      Training instructors

c.       Cost of tuition - ROI

d.      Certifications and recertification

e.       New trends and retention

f.       Digital game based learning

g.      simulations

6.      Heathcare (disease – obesity)

a.       Prevention

b.      Costs of services

c.       Medications

d.      Research

e.       aftercare

7.      Retirement

a.       funding pension programs

b.      Social Security

c.       Succession Planning

d.      Caring for the elderly

8.      Environment

a.       Global Warming

b.      Going Green

c.       OPEC oil

d.      Global resources

e.       weather

9.      Science and Technology (STEM)

a.       Science

b.      Technology

c.       Engineering

d.      Math

10.  Communications – mass media

a.       Social media

b.      Voice and digital

c.       Print

11.  US Governance

a.       Congressional/Senatorial dysfunction

b.       Government debt and borrowing

c.       Campaign Spending/Super PACS

d.      States Rights

12.  Transportation and infrastructure (rural and urban)

a.       Roads and bridges

b.      Water and sewage and garbage

c.       Utilities – fiber optics

d.      Police and Fire Protection

     13.  Global/Country defense

a.       Types of governments

b.      Military power

c.       Terrorism

14.  Global Business Concerns:

a.       Competition with China, India, Russia, Japan, etc.

b.      Products and Services/Patents/trademarks/copyrights

c.       Industrial Espionage/Intellectual Property

15.  Global Travel and Tourism

a.       Security/Terrorism

b.      Migration of Diseases

c.       Employment and Service

16.  Global Family Concerns:

a.       global middle class

b.      global recreation

c.       global education

d.      global poverty, hunger, food and water shortages

     17.  Global Religion/spiritual Concerns:

a.       struggles

b.      competitions

c.       12 major religions/philosophies

18.  Global Exploration

a.       Space

b.       oceans

19.  Legal and Illegal drugs

a.       Prescription/Non Prescription

b.      Drug Research/Cost

c.       Delivery systems

d.      War on Drugs/Cost/ROI

20.  Pornography

a.       Exploitation - adults/children

b.      Freedom of speech

These 20 items may be of absolutely no concern to you, and that is fine, but for me each one is special, interconnected, and contingent upon all of the others in a unique but non-binding way.  Each one of these has numerous tributaries associated with it other than the few I mentioned which is the truly scary aspect of making a list like this, especially since our country’s agenda is not to deal with most of these until they absolutely have to deal with them.

No one really seems to be worried or expresses a since of urgency unless it is something in which they have a special interest.  The person dying of cancer wants researchers to find a cure quickly while the researchers finding a cure want to make sure their jobs do not end quickly; yet, on the other side of the coin, owners of companies tends to put carrots out in front of the worker, laboring under the misconception that the worker is not smart enough to realize that the carrot will never be acquired; so, after a while, they simply give up.

Please don’t give up on this list or with the people who know how to control and manipulate this list because their concerns are singular in nature and not collective as they need to be.