Time to finish off the Family

On the eve of the first Republican debate I wanted to try and complete my thoughts on The Family. Originally I did not plan to have this coincide, but once I noticed the debate was here I thought I would try and put my final thoughts together.

Somehow it seemed appropriate with the way I feel about the modern world to put in my two cents on some actual ideas that could be put in place to preserve the family at least in a political or secular way while ten people (with almost another ten waiting in the wings) who call themselves conservatives try to convince us that they know what is right in the conservative world. I will be curious to know if any of these conservatives actually offer the citizens of the United States anything practical or even remotely philosophical about the importance of family and what can be done to keep this cherished value alive and well for the 21st century in their answers and discussion Thursday night.

I am not holding my breath. In fact I plan not to watch it. I do not want to give my one Neilson rating number to Fox News for putting on this charade of an event. Fox doesn’t need me to watch. Enough people will that they will get their ad dollars. Anyway back to what I consider some conservative answers to sustain one of our country and in fact the world’s greatest treasures.

And these will not be in order of importance…. well because I just can’t determine which is the most important. These first few thoughts are interchangeable in priority. So to start I will discuss something I am in favor of for many reasons and have discussed many times before.

I talk about how important the Family is in passing values from generation to generation. Well to help us thrive we still need to improve our education. I would say education system, but really just the concept of education. If our children are to have a chance to succeed in the future they need us as parents and grandparents, but they also need the tools and knowledge to find success. The family encourages the young to succeed, but without a foundation to work from you are only hamstringing the children.

Have you ever noticed many families that have their own business and even had their children help out in the business make the effort to make sure their children receive the best education possible? Why? This is because they see the future for their children and they know that helping out in the family business is beneficial, but sooner or later some in the family need to move on and do more. These families see the value of working together for a common good, but also see the value in their children doing more than they could.
So we need to make sure that all families that want their children to achieve more can give their children this opportunity. And this is not just math and science. It is all aspects of education. It has to start at the very root of how we learn. Our education needs to lay out a great foundation and this starts with reading and writing. Reading comprehension is the beginning. Success in all other subjects requires it. I have talked about education before and in some of my other posts have gone into some ideas to improve the quality, but for now I want to tie in together that passing values from generation to generation starts with the family, but is enhanced by an education system that takes the values a society cherishes and reinforces them with the facts and knowledge a good education can bring them to instill greater dreams into the next generation.

Will we hear any of our conservatives talk about the importance of our children having the opportunity to be more than what we have been? And I am not talking about material growth, but creating a country that grows from generation to generation so that it becomes easier over time to solve the problems of our world. Making money is nice, making history is our future.

Man cannot live by bread alone, but it sure helps to pay the bills. For a family to thrive though it needs to be able to pay the bills. Remember when working extra or a second job was for a fancy vacation or a new boat, not to afford the electricity to run the refrigerator. We live in such a consumeristic world and I do not expect the debate to discuss consumerism etc, but will they discuss what they are going to do about livable wages. Nowadays you hear about $15 hour minimum wage or the company that is going to pay their employees at least $70,000 within a few years. All this sounds well and good, but what are we actually going to be able to do to achieve a true livable wage. There is no magic pill.

To achieve some level of financial stability back in our lives, which of course helps the family we will need to overcome decades of wage to living expenses decline. And that has to start with creating an economy in this country that isn’t heavily reliant on consumer spending. Many in the field tomorrow when job growth is discussed will stress it will come in the oil/fossil fuel industry. And actually there is probably some job growth with decent wages still left in that field. It is still a dying industry though. We cannot rely on this for the long term future.

So will they talk about giving tax credits to companies that develop new products we can manufacture here and export? Or will they just talk about tax credits for business and stop there? We need to encourage companies to create here in the United States. There are many ways we can accomplish this, and one the Republicans love is tax credits or lowering taxes to business. The real strength though is holding business accountable to what we give them. If we say we are going to lower taxes to businesses instead of individuals (families) then they need to give us something in return and actually they should give this upfront and the tax breaks come as the reward for contributing to the economy as a whole, not just for the few. The government as policy could offer tax reductions that would really be offsets earned because their workers are earning enough to cover the taxes and they are able to live off the wages generated from the new products and services being created by new industries.

Or you can give tax credits back for successful R&D work. And yes I said successful R&D work. We cannot rely on false effort. Putting the carrot at the end of the road forces the companies to be successful. Companies that cannot compete will fall to the wayside. Too much of our corporations’ profits are not from business and commerce. We need to encourage business development for that is what will bring back wage growth and other benefits to the worker. And in previous posts I have put forth a few ideas and even some very largess concepts or new industries like desalination or to foster energy diversity.

Generally our families need an economic foundation that allows them to raise their children and give them the ability to show their children that making an effort in what they do is worthwhile. Right now we cannot undue the amount of hyperbole around some of the TV families and reality shows, but if our children see us achieving our goals through our efforts we build a stronger foundation for future growth in our children’s lives. If people believe that they will be successful through what they do, then people would be less reliant on what is on TV or winning the lottery. Whether it be a family business, a career, a product created in a garage, we need to put in place policies that allow for the individual to thrive and for corporations to be successful because the people can afford their products from their labors; not for corporations to hold a monopoly on what is available and to whom it goes. The so called American dream came about because people felt they could be successful on their own merits. That dream no longer exists when families have to run their wheels just trying to put clothes on the children and food on the table. Again, let the individual be the driver of their success, not beholden to someone else’s success.

Believe it or not I am going to say healthcare is important. Our children need to grow up well. And I am not a fan of the affordable care act. It is the most convoluted piece of legislation around. Will we hear anything new Thursday, who knows? We may hear how terrible it is. Yet we do need to find a healthcare system that allows for growth in the industry so new medicines and knowledge can improve our heath, but does not eat up such a large percentage of a family’s budget. We need an overhaul that really looks at the true cost of medical care. And we need to honestly look at what we can do as individuals to control those costs on our end.

Do not get me wrong. I do not want a government that tells me how to spend my healthcare dollars. I am already frightened by the size of our government and adding to the intrusion of how our government is in our daily lives is not the healthcare reform I want. The government should create a framework that allows us and the medical community to find a healthier model of healthcare. The individual (family) need to have the final say though in what is right for us. And this goes back to a good education. How can we know if we are not informed?

These are just a few philosophical points that hopefully give a reader something to think about for themselves. If we can create a strong underlying set of public policy that supports people being able to thrive in life then the more important aspects of family can thrive. The ability for families to be able to come together for holidays or reunions, to share experiences, to have those generational moments when the younger generation thinks it knows it all, but deep down knows who they really want to hear answers from. Families are the best people to take care of the young and the old. This includes financially and their health. We need to put families back together and that is a society issue. It would help though if we put into place some basic public policy that gives strength and opportunity back to individuals so the family worries less about necessities and more about what it can add to our society and country.

If not everything we hold dear will fall to the wayside. We will just become animals and slaves to a small group of people who have manipulated us to such a degree that even they will have no idea what is beneficial to them. How can they stay rich if we have nothing to give anymore? One weird vicious cycle of lies will develop if it hasn’t already.

Families give us the framework to build a society upon. If we cannot preserve the framework of the family, we are nothing more than cogs in an inhumane world. So when our wonderful conservative politicians talk about how conservative are they, remember the root word for conservative is to conserve. What in our country are they preserving? Us or ????????