Friedman's Pillars. Mine Too.

In that Aspen festival program with Thomas Friedman I mentioned in my last entry, he talked about five pillars of American greatness. Here's the way I see it. Much of it is right out of his mouth, but some I used my own choices. An education system unmatched around the world, a strong government, a vibrant manufacturing base, a well trained and capable labor force, and ingenuity. Here  are the problems. We're cutting our education system to the bone without making the changes needed to return it to it's greatness. A government that has become so partisan that it's now much weaker. A manufacturing base that has nearly disappeared because industry has changed it's basic philosophy to believe that it's only goal is to enrich it's owners  instead of a responsibility to it's owners, staff, community and nation. A labor force that has become to richly rewarded, but not nearly as well rewarded as management. And Wall Street has lost it's interest in financing ingenuity. Now I could and should include infrastructure as Friedman did and lord knows it has been sorely neglected. The only one of these with the power to affect the changes necessary to rebuild our greatness is the central government. But the move seems to be on, to lesson that power, to cede that power to the states who lack the necessary tools and funds to pull it off. It will take a strong central effort, able to reach across the states, to succeed. But our central government is in gridlock and it looks to me like it will remain so for the foreseeable future. There's no help there. So what's the answer? Friedman thinks, and I agree, that a third party is needed. The Democrats and the Republicans both have become too weak kneed to be able to change their ways. We need citizen legislators who are interested in their country rather then their party.