Lingering Concerns for 2015

If after 67 years of life, I have stopped the practice of making New Year's Resolutions, it is because none of them ever seem to last more than a few weeks or months. Sometimes, my lack of disciple gets in the way but other times, life gets in the way and we all know how that is.

John Lennon said it best, “life happens when you are making other plans.”

So, as I reflect upon 2015, I decided instead of making resolutions that I would just write about my concerns for this coming year and beyond and see if it gets any interest from you, the reader.

No Brainer Concerns... these are concerns that “go without saying” and with which all of us should be concerned:

• Global Poverty
• Global Hunger
• Global Peace
• Global Warming
• Global Terrorism

If you are not aware of any of these issues then all I can say is, “Where have you been dude?”

Obviously, there is racial tensions in specific areas of the country for one reason or another but the more important issue here is that race relationships seems to have gotten worse instead of better since 1960. I don't mean equality issues or employment issues because those have been mandated by the Federal Government, but accepting each other and treating each other like real brothers and sisters is simply not there 80% of the time all across the US.

I private we probably discuss what is really on our minds, but in public we only say what is politically correct for fear of “jamming” ourselves up either at work or with the law.

Racial Profiling is another issue altogether but what I sense is something deep seated in our minds that starts being cultivated by our parents and relatives shortly after our birth. I know of a white man that sits on the couch with his son and points an unloaded gun at the TV screen and pulls the trigger when something he does not want to see comes on. What could that possibly be teaching his son that is of any value?

Another concern is our political system of 2 parties which does not seem to be working and has not worked for several years. It seems our politicians, both Democrat and Republican, don't really care about the WHOLE as much as they do about getting re-elected or doing whatever they can to keep the other person from getting elected instead of them.

While that action does not seem so bad, what is of concern is that the General Public complains about this to each other but when it comes time to vote, they do nothing... when what we should be doing is voting them all out.

All politicians are millionaires, so how can they really understand what the average American really goes through from one day to the next.

So, this area falls under the category of Political Apathy.

Since writing etiquette indicates that only 3 examples should be used in a proper essay or opinion editorial, then my last category is EDUCATION, and is probably, at least to this teacher, the most important of the 3 which is why is it last, so it will stick in your memory banks, like Data from Star Trek might say.

Watching John Luc Picard of Star Trek, by the way, is an absolutely perfect example of how a Leader should act... if you have not seen it yet, you should.

Our once “State-of-the-Art” education system is now ranked 17^th in the world among developing nations. Why, because when the children are tested, they cannot remember anything and therefor post wrong answers. This data pertains to grades K-9 but we all know how well the retention goes in high school.

High School students memorize for the tests and forget and they take this perfected ability into the classroom in College, or at least the students that I have taught did. When I ask them what they have learned, they say “lots of things,” but cannot name one.

I ask them what they remember from the college class they had last semester in business and the response is not much.

I tell them that employers are not going to be as much concerned with their grades as with the perceived value that they can add due to their retained knowledge. They look at me like deer in head lights, thinking all they needed to do to get a job was to make As and Bs.

A worse tragedy is the fact that most of my students in college wrote at an 8^th grade level and had a very limited ability at critical thinking, problem solving, or seeing the need to look below the surface of a concept.

Sadly, I was teaching Juniors and Seniors... so, how did they pass their first 2 years?

Foreign students, who have an incredible desire to learn and retain knowledge, will be replacing American workers who do not have the educational base.

So, Racism. Politics, and Education are my top concerns for 2015. And, if there was going to be a 4^th item it would be the DEBT, both National and personal and the fact that China owns 1/3 of our Federal Debt.

Thanks for reading and as always, your comments are welcomed.