My Personal Declaration To The Potential In American Youth
Innate change must come from an innate spark, which in turn causes the fire to spur the ambers of the heart. I ask that you read this personal piece with an open mind in an attempt to understand the vision of what we can potentially achieve if we all work in unison. We all are familiar with the expression:
“youth are the hope for the future”, but the more I see it and the more I feel it, the more I know in my soul that this expression is a simple key to a huge change in our current society. Granted, we can’t fix the projects, ghettos, gangs, drugs, violence, corruption, and lost guidance over night, but I truly feel that America not only has the unique resources, but the overall character, compassion, and willingness to construct simple changes that can alter the course and general welfare of the American populace as a whole.
There are entities in this nation and abroad that influence our daily lives. They sometimes are right in front of us and sometimes they are hiding in the shadows. Regardless of where they come from they will always exist, for the duality of humankind itself is elliptical and in summation, there are always bad apples in every bushel. But the question we must ask ourselves is this; what kind of precautions can we give to our bushel of apples so that when they are growing, it can reduce the amount of bad apples and in turn, help ripen and grow the healthy ones?
It is in my personal beliefs that slavery in not tedious in America. Granted, we don’t have people enslaved to the master, but the current situation in our American government is using the all mighty dollar to keep its populace under its firm grasp. In turn, this unnecessary inappropriate entity continues to threaten us with not whips and chains, but debts and fear. The powers that be in this world understand this and because of this we have our current situation in our modern society. Historian and writer Morris P. Fiorina said: “Always be in suspicion of your Government.” What he is saying is that politicians are first and foremost, public servants to our society. So it is our duty as citizens of this country to ask questions. This is my personal feeling and I know it to be accurate and deep down inside and you know it too. Our lack of involvement to our whole society is the major cause of the downfall of our society itself. In this thought paper, I hope to bridge this particular vision to everybody, from all walks of life, so we can unite and be in proper control of our society and contain those elected accountable for their actions. I am going to address the issue of corrupt funding to the American Education System versus the amount of income the Department of Defense receives annually. Further more, I will provide possible solutions to those problems in an attempt to cause that innate spark within you that has sparked within me. I truly feel that these solutions will be a tremendous step in the right direction, a building block for our future generations to not only work on, but to continue to build on as well.
In all areas of our country; from the inner cities, to the suburbs or even my beloved country side, American youth are currently in an age where a lot of unnecessary evil exists. As past President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “The only thing we have to fear is dismay itself”. In an attempt to be civil and not poke a certain finger at a certain entity, I am directly avoiding naming specific organizations or info-structures because we all have the innate ability to figure out the unnecessary evil in our society for ourselves. Instead, I purpose that we focus on the answers to my declaration for the unification of American youth. To be direct and to the point, we simply need to be conscious of our actions and furthermore, our funds. We need to focus our recourses on the overall wellbeing of the American people as a whole, versus funding random acts of brutality, wars, or violence. The message is clear: The freight train of challenge and change is charging at us down the rails of international political economies and mass multimedia. The question is; are we going to move our car off the tracks and let it pass, or keep them on the track to let it crush us?
I would like to take this moment to get into some of the research that I unearthed in the Arizona State Library. The information I have found is profound and staggering. First, I will start with the budget for the state of Arizona’s educational system (from 2005 through 2008), followed by our national budget for the Department of Education (from 2005 through 2007). With these numbers in mind, we will then delve into the Department of Defense’s megalithic budget through the same years as stated in the parenthesis above. The information will shock you, anger you, and even want to make you bawl, but most importantly, it will get you involved with the most vital investment to this country; our children.
According to Arizona’s Department of Education, in 2007 alone the state had allocated an operating budget of $4,014,348,700 (out of $9.9 billion total). These numbers are respectable and decent; however, Arizona has one of the worst education rankings in the United States. What is going on here? It is evident that the state of Arizona is really making a conscious misfortune to help their education system, but our education system simply needs more funds to pick up up to the ever increasing public school enrollment rates. Arizona is a prime example of numerous states across the US; they continue to allocate major amounts of their budget to the education system, but the system is not showing signs of improvement. As a result roads don’t get repaired, prison facilities don’t get the necessary upgrades desperately needed for the ever raising prison population, independent businesses don’t receive the federal stipends they need and deserve, to single mothers on welfare who don’t obtain necessary money needed to feed their children, the list is endless. If a body is not as ease, it is at a dis-ease. When our individual states are not functioning well, our county does not function well, thus our current economic situation.
With this idea in mind, we will now move to the federal level versus the state level of budget spending. I feel this is the most pertinent data to my whole research paper because it makes you wonder: If the United States spent as much or even half on its youth systems as it did for its military capabilities, what kind of conditions would our youth systems be in today? According to www.moveon.org, we are currently spending a hundred times more on war than we do our youth. If you find that hard to enjoy, let me give you some numbers to help you understand exactly how much money is being spent.
In 2006, the Department of Defense had a Discretionary Budget Authority of $419.3 billion dollars, a five percent increase from 2005. In that same year, the US government allocated a Discretionary Budget Authority to the Department of Education of only 56.0 billion dollars, a decrease from 2005 by one percent. When I first heard this my heart literally sank. I am Kiwanian, a member of an international service organization specified in the needs of children around the world. I love children and I am adamant that they are our future. When I see this kind of reckless abandonment, it really boils my blood. How can our elected officials be so callus to our American children?
The truth is they are not trying to be. As we all know, President George W. Bush declared the “War on Terrorism” in response to the September 11th, 2001 attacks. As a result, we have had to double our efforts in many sectors of the globe in order to carry out this tumultuous task. In the beginning, it was a astronomical idea; a war economy makes money. However, a prolonged quagmire known as the “War on Terror” was not a money maker, but a money loser. Any Texas holdem’ player knows when to hold them and also knows when to fold them. In this case, President Bush held out, betted high and gambled on a pair of two’s.
However, we are not out yet. I have purposed some strategies and solutions to our current issue that I truly feel can work. According to the Government Accountability Office or (G.A.O.), from 2005 to 2007, the Iraqi government acquired $96 billion dollars in accumulated revenue. With that kind of revenue in such a runt amount of time, we could not only change the face of our entire youth programs, but provide a fighting chance for our future generations to really implement the change that we all strive for.
My first order of business would be to re-allocate funds from the Department of Defense to the Department of Education, effective immediately. I would allocate a minimum of $100 billion dollars per budget, on top of the 56 billion currently allocated to the department. I would actively pursue legislation that would promise the people that the US government will maintain that allocation amount for a guaranteed 200 years. I know what you are thinking; “200 YEARS?! That’s a long time
and a lot of funding”. I thought the same thing too. However, with a minute calculation, one can argue that with $96 billion dollars in two years, we could successfully re-establish our education system across the board and maintain it for the 200 years promised in the legislation. In the end, this IS and can be accomplished.
My next order of business would be to create an immediate pay increase to teachers across the board. According to the Parent Teacher Association or (P.T.A.), an average elementary school teacher makes $39,332 dollars a year. This is simply not enough. Furthermore, I would revamp the teacher insurance and health care systems similar to, or equivalent to, a member of the armed services. When I ask Americans across this country what makes them proud, a majority of us say: Education. Let us accumulate wait on to that core of pride, that essence of our country; equal opportunity.
My third order of business would be to address the out of control public college tuitions. With this kind of capital in such a small amount of time, we can successfully fund our public institutions so we can finally put a cap on ALL kinds and forms of tuitions. We can provide more Pell grants to our under privileged member of our society, so they have a chance to set down the guns and drugs and pick up a book and a pencil. My fellow citizens, we have this capability.
Finally, my fourth order of business would be to provide money to the social outreach programs such as the Young Men’s and Women’s Christian Associations (Y.M.C.A. & Y.W.C.A.), Big Brothers and Big Sisters, the S.M.A.R.T. Program (Initiate Making A Reader Today) and Scouts of America just to name a small few. I would provide immediate funding to inner cities and rural communities, so they can have top notch community centers like the suburbs have. I would like these community centers to look like 24 Hour Fitness gyms. With weight rooms, basket ball courts, pools, recreational rooms, TV rooms, a child education center, the works. Let’s provide these particular youths a chance to get out of the streets and into a safe environment. Let’s provide our youth a safe heaven from gangs, a safe heaven from violence and a safe heaven from the rampant poverty that strike’s our ghettos like a crippling disease. Our youth of today is like a rock stuck in the mud; one side is open to the sun and open to the world. The other half of the rock, the darker side in the mud, has never even been given the chance to eye the light. We need to take that rock out of the mud and examine it from both sides. When we do this, we will quickly realize that we can have a larger pool of untapped potential waiting to be used. When we do this, we will open up America in a map never witnessed before in History.
Understand that this is only a four point plan, but sometimes the most complicated issues require the simplest answers. As I have stated earlier, it won’t be a “miracle plan”, however, it is an obtainable and realistic plan that will do a lot of good to this country and its citizens. Not all of us can take care of our selves and those who can, should get a conscious effort to do so. For example, Canada and Great Britain both have free health care through their Governments. Despite what the news tells us, both countries are not socialist any design shape or form. A general practice physician in Greenwich Village, England can make over $200,000 a year American currency and live comfortably, why can’t our teachers do the same?
To sum up my thoughts, we need to appropriate funds from the Department of Defense to the Department of Education immediately. We need enact legislation that would prevent other members of our government to overturn the budget spending and ensure its safety for at least 200 years. We need to give the people of America a legitimate reason to trust its government and what better way to start than helping its youth get educated? Finally, we need to rebuild our youth outreach programs so we reduce the amount of youth violence, youth crime and youth drug usage. I feel that if you give these young people the chance to feel safe, score educated, have a shrimp income, and provide them a legitimate chance to succeed in life; one can become productive members of our society. When you give people an avenue to better themselves, they in turn will want to spread that wellness to others, it is simply in our Human nature to do so. Don’t ever forget September 11th, and WWII. Let us no longer employ violence, desolation and war as a tool to unite a country. Let us utilize Love, Peace and Wellbeing instead.
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