The War

I've been watching Ken Burns "The War" on PBS. This epic struggle that has defined the last 6 decades,  has shaped my life and still shapes America in terms of how we think about ourselves as a nation and how we view war  and morality.

I immigrated to this country from England with my parents in 1956. Eleven years after the end of war, England was still rationing. America having won the war became the worlds economic and military superpower. America was on the march, rebuilding Europe and creating much of our present day infrastructure. Our manufacturing might made us number one and there seemed nothing that we could not achieve as a nation. Proof that we occupied the moral high ground.

So what happened? As with any superpower, first comes hubris and pride, and then comes arrogance. We failed to see that our economic expansion was a  more a result of the wars devastation of the industrial capacity of Europe and Japan than our ability to out design and out build the rest of the world . Rebuilt, the industries of Europe and Japan began to compete, and in the case of Japan began turning out electronics and automobiles that rivaled and bettered anything that America could build. Our products became shoddy our. What were once derided as cheap Japanese goods became world class products. Whole electronic industries disappeared from our shores as televisions, stereos, and radios were now made in Japan.

By the 80's Japan was regularly cleaning our industrial clock thanks to an America named Edward Demming who taught Japan about quality control and made quality the obsession of Japanese companies. What had once seemed an industrial juggernaut came to a screeching halt. We were now being out classed on both design and quality. In response to this American companies got religion and began turning our higher quality products, but by now whole industries have disappeared and now we must compete with the lowest possible cost.

Somewhere along the way we lost the moral high ground. We engaged in a series of wars starting with Korea and Vietnam that did not fit the image of a war justified. We have gone to war in Iraq based on lies and deception. We miscalculated at every step the nature of the war we started and brought shame to the founding principles of our nation.

So while The War was over 60 years ago we continue to deal with the aftermath of a conflict that many know nothing about. Our nation stands at a crossroads. Our leaders talk  in terms of good and evil and take us to war, justifying the morality of an unnecessary and immoral war, comparing themselves to Churchill and Roosevelt while decrying the lack of a Jefferson or Washington  in Iraq to lead us out of the quagmire that we created.

Where are our Jefferson's, Washington's, and Adams? What is our industrial policy? What is our energy policy? What is our Healthcare policy? What is our immigration policy?

The nation that won The War should be up to the task of figuring these issues out. There are no issues that are too tough to tackle just leaders too small to answer the call.

The Decider & The Enablers

Shortly after election to his second term as president, George Bush said he had "earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it."

Incredibly that was three years ago and it turns out that the Political Capital was imaginary. What is not imaginary was the goodwill that America accrued all over the world after 9-11, what is not imaginary is how Bush The Decider spent it all and more. So much so that we now have a goodwill deficit to go along with our budget and trade deficits.

Imagine Linda Tripp running around secretly taping Monica Lewinsky for the FBI leading to the impeachment of Bill Clinton. Oh that's right; that really happened.

Now imagine Bill Clinton Invading Iraq after 9-11, lying to the nation about WMD and reasons for invading Iraq. Imagine it is 5 years later and we are still in Iraq and Iraq has turned into a morass, but we can not get out this year, next year, or even in 5 years time because that would be cutting and running.

Watching Ken Burns excellent The War I am struck by the cognitive dissonance of the time between D Day, June 6, 1944, VE Day, May 7 1945, and the notion that we can not get out of Iraq.

If George Bush is the Decider, then Republican Congressmen having found grounds for the impeachment of Bill Clinton but no way out of Iraq are the Enablers.

D Day June 6, 1944

VE Day May 7, 1945

Working Against Our Own Best Interest

An ongoing exploration of how America is working against its own best interest.

Does anyone know what our Industrial Policy Is?

Part 3

Doesn't it strike you as strange that most of the big problems in America today are of our own making. Too many times we act as a nation or as a people in ways that are not in our own best interest. We Suboptimize* the public good  by optimizing our personal, professional, or corporate gain.

Exactly what are our guiding principles, our goals and our core values. Lets start with something basic.

So what exactly is our Industrial Policy? Hands up anyone. You in the back row, no, ok you were just stretching your arms.

Ok that was a trick question because as nearly as I can figure we have no Industrial Policy. There are no industries our government is willing to protect by declaring them in our national interest. As all forms of manufacturing flow from our shores to low cost centers in other parts of the world, we have lost the garment industry, the shoe industry, the steel industry, the electronics industry, and now stand on the brink of losing our automotive industry.

Are any of these Industries worth saving? What is in our best national interest? Try this test. Is it in our best national interest that we allow millions of Garden Gnomes made in China to flow into our country? Does saving a few cents on a Garden Gnome threaten our nati0nal interest?

Now try this test. Is it in our national interest to allow millions of Automobiles made in China flow into our Country? Does saving a few hundred or thousand dollars threaten our national interest?

How you answer that last question may decide whether the middle class survives. Whether America provides good paying jobs and benefits for its citizens, or if we become a nation of have and have nots; a nation of 300 million competing for that last penny of cost with 2 billion Chinese and Indians.

I know what you're thinking, market forces will take of all of these issues. Let the market do what the market does best, squeeze out inefficiency and reduce costs. let the chips fall where the chips fall.

But is free trade really free? Do low prices tell the whole story; are we blinded by the free trade mantra into believing that our trading partners are fair? Do you think that the rise of China and India as industrial powers happened by happenstance?

Don't you think that they have an Industrial Policy, do you think that they maybe they have targeted Industries and then tied one arm behind their backs? That would not be in their own best interest would it?

I pose this question to our next president and congress. What is your Industrial Policy? Please I beg of your for our own best national interest have one, because from where I sit we are building the Chinese military one always the low price at a time.

*Suboptimize

The act of committing energy and resources to maximize a portion of a process or system that undermines the effectiveness of the overall process or system. http://www.electronictrainingsolutions.com/glossary/suboptimize.htm

Wack-A-Mole / Rope-A-Dope

As Senator John McCain has famously said on many occasions before he got surge fever, what we have in Iraq is a case of wack-a-mole. As our troops moved into one area, the enemy moves out. And so it goes, you wack-a-mole here and he pops up there. I think that Caddy Shack should be part of basic training for all would be Generals and Paradigm Shift Engineers. Having said that, the Iraqis have been watching old footage of Muhammad Ali's fights. You know the ones where he rope a dopes his opponent by standing down while his opponent wears himself, out lulling them in to a sense of security.

A lot can be learned by watching old movies and fight strategy footage...