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- Herausgeber: WS
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
As the winning practices and advantages of previous generations fade and we fail to address our problems, our challenges grow, incomes stagnate, debt explodes, and fitness wanes. China ascends and vital natural habitats deteriorate. Worst of all, by failing to convey critical practices to our children, we place them in a weaker position than the previous generation for the first time in our history.
In this book, Bitz compares how Americans are doing relative to other populations, documents why we no longer ascend, and describes nine empowering perspectives. He contrasts our instinctual operating system with the one needed for success in the modern world, reminds us of our need to be evolutionarily fit, and most importantly, delineates the Winning Practices that make this possible.
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Seitenzahl: 786
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019
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Advanced Praise
“Bold, monumental, brilliant, and provocative. Bitz insightfully nails how America has lost its way and offers thoughtful solutions to find our way back. A courageous and important series.”
– Bob Vanourek, award-winning author and former CEO, Cordillera, Colorado
“Winning Practices is one of the most important books that I have ever read. It is a badly-needed articulation of the problems besetting our country and the solutions to them.”
– Gary Fenchuk, award-winning developer and author of Timeless Wisdom, Midlothian, Virginia
“Mark delves into some of our country’s biggest challenges and cuts through the politics. He takes you beyond the approaches of the right or the left and presents creative and practical winning ones.”
– Stephen McConnell, president of Solano Ventures, Scottsdale, Arizona
“Winning Practices will never, ever leave the top of my desk; it is a comprehensive guide for life. Its insight and organization are amazing.”
– Dr. Story Musgrave, surgeon, Marine veteran, NASA astronaut, Hubble Space Telescope repairman, Kissimmee, Florida
“Toward Truth, Freedom, Fitness, and Decency is an extraordinary study . . . as compelling a read as it is thoughtful and thought-provoking. . . . Very highly recommended for both community and academic library collections and . . . for students, political activists, and ordinary folk interested in the social, cultural, economic, and political issues that so trouble our country today.”
– Susan Bethany, Midwest Book Review, Oregon, Wisconsin
“Winning Practices provides a road map for living a useful, happy and healthy life. I love it. It should be mandatory reading for every high school student.”
– Mitch Sill, retired CEO and owner of Road Machinery & Supplies, Duluth, Minnesota
“Every chapter is worth reading and pondering.”
– Richard Kaufman, chair of Am store Corporation, Chicago, Illinois
“Mark has written clearly and truthfully, a complete Operator’s Manual for Life. I will share the series with those who are dearest to me.”
– Haisook Somers, mother, volunteer, and philanthropist, Montreal, Quebec
“I am profoundly impressed with the Flourish Series. Mark has delineated and backed up with facts and thoughtful analysis timeless truths and behaviors that will help many individuals lead more fulfilled lives. His work could not come at a better time. As fewer people learn these truths and behaviors from their families and faiths, an insightful, well-organized, secular expression of them becomes ever more important.”
– John Doyle, owner of Doyle Security Systems, Rochester, New York
“I find myself staring off into space and pondering Mark’s ideas. I agree with what he says, and I am pleased to find so much well-synthesized and organized thought in one treatise.”
– Tom Ewert, retired federal judge, Naples, Florida
“Mark blends his considerable experience to design a plan for America to not only grow but also to flourish. His practical and commonsense plan is a must read for all thinking Americans.”
– Carl Youngman, former CEO of more than twenty companies, Boston, Massachusetts
“Winning Practices is thought-provoking and thoroughly interesting. It examines many of our country’s challenges and offers a comprehensive set of solutions. It is incredibly innovative and has stimulated many discussions among our family and friends. The books are a must-read for our country’s leaders and every American who is concerned about it.”
– Mark Danni, conductor, founding artistic director of Theatre Zone, and president of Kare Mar Productions, Naples, Florida
“Even though I have a more biblical viewpoint of the world, the teaching and wisdom of Winning Practices should be mandatory reading for all first-year college students.”
– Kenneth Lockard, founder of numerous companies, CEO of Lockard Companies, Cedar Falls, Iowa
Winning Practices
of a Free, Fit, and Prosperous People
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information regarding the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher and author are not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. The author and publisher made every effort to ensure the information contained in this book was true at the time of publication.
Published by Flourish Books
Naples, FL
flourishbooks.org
Copyright ©2019 Mark W. Bitz
All rights reserved.
Thank you for purchasing an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright law. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the copyright holder.
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Cover design by Night Owl Freelance
Cover art by Katiana Robles
Cataloging-in-Publication data is available.
Print ISBN: 978-0-9859504-7-7
eBook ISBN: 978-0-9859504-8-4
Audiobook ISBN: 978-0-9859504-9-1
Printed in the United States of America
3-31-2019
So you and future generations may realize
your full potential and do better than we have done.
Contents
Advanced Praise
Introduction
Section I
How Are We Doing
Chapter 1
Three of the Most Desirable Places to Live
Singapore, Switzerland, and the United States
Crime, Corruption, and Poverty
Health and Longevity
Income and Financial Security
Carbon Emissions
Chapter 2
Losing Our Way
Inclusion Failures
Change in the Election of U.S. Senators
Presidential Constitutional Failings
Supreme Court Constitutional Failings
Special Interests
Figure 5: Supreme Court Constitutional Failings
Less Faith-Community Relevance
Less Integrity, Responsibility, and Civility
Promiscuity and the Decline of Marriage
Poorly Parented Children
Unionization and Liberalization of Education
Social Justice Missteps
Cultural Relativism, Nonjudgmentalism, and Multiculturalism
Declining Discipline, Poor Habits, and Less Learning
Oligopoly and Monopoly
Offshoring
Entitlement
Consumerism and Debt
Easy Money
Hubris and Nation Building
Immigration Failures
Distorted News and Political Polarization
Separation from Nature
Section II
Winning Perspectives
Chapter 3
Winning Perspectives
Chapter 4
Truth
Chapter 5
Causality
Fallacy, Correlation, Necessity, and Sufficiency
The Inanimate and Animate Worlds
Chapter 6
Scale
Chapter 7
Evolution
The Evolution of the Universe
The Evolution of Life
Competition and Comparative Advantage
Natural Selection and Gradualism
Interrelated Products of the Past
Chapter 8
Fitness
Meritocracy
Procreation
The Underlying Aim of Life
Chapter 9
Human Nature
Individual Nature
Familial Nature
Social Nature
Environmental Alignment
Chapter 10
Culture
Cultural Relativism
The Path of Fitness
Operating System I
Operating System II
Chapter 11
Periodic Disaster
Chapter 12
Eco-Dependency
Section III
Practices of Individuals
Chapter 13
Winning Practices
Individual Level
Group Level
Family Level
Education Level
Enterprise Level
Government Level
Winning Practices
Chapter 14
Health
Hygiene
Nutrition
Periodic Fasting
Sleep
Exercise
Avoiding Harm
Medical and Dental Care
DNA Fidelity
Reflection
Purpose and Social Interaction
Balance
Chapter 15
Thought
Assimilation
Visualization
Creativity
Reverse Engineering
Research
Choice and Alignment
Focus
Rehearsal
Mentors
Chapter 16
Integrity
Truthfulness
Honorableness
Reliability
Priorities
Chapter 17
Proactivity
Purpose
Responsibility
Constructive Speech and Action
Preparation
Work
Fitness-Related Service
Chapter 18
Prudence
Fitness, Courage, Knowledge, and Discipline
Symmetry and Nonlinearity
Antifragility
Prohibitions
Optionality and Judicious Risk-Taking
Practical Experience
Accomplished Souls and Collective Wisdom
Being Slow to Make Important Decisions
Chapter 19
Excellence
Extra Thought, Focus, Effort, and Time
Near-Perfect Practice and Perseverance
High Standards and Attention to Detail
Facilitators and Impediments
Chapter 20
Thrift and Investment
Minimizing Expenditures
Automated Investment
Financial Tools
Figure 20: Present Value Formulas
Figure 21: Present Value Annuity Formulas
Investments
Advantageously Buying and Selling Assets
Minimizing Taxes
Section IV
Winning Practices of Groups
Chapter 21
Affiliation
Accountability
Attendance
Punctuality
Appearance and Congeniality
Independent Thought
Friendship
Chapter 22
Decency
Abundance and Decency vs. Scarcity and Ruthlessness
Ally Acquisition
Respectfulness
Consideration and Appreciation
The Modified Golden Rule
Apology and Forgiveness
Expenditure of Time, Energy, and/or Resources
Chapter 23
Understanding
Humility
Trust
Listening
Clarification
Shared Experience
Chapter 24
Leadership
Good Decisions
Mission, Vision, and Strategy
Structure and Stakeholder Inclusion
Goals, Budgets, and Plans
Accountability and Assignments
Incentives and Evaluations
Winning Practices of Individuals and Groups
Realism, Courage, Passion, and Perseverance
Culture of Success
Chapter 25
Teamwork
Winning Practices of Individuals and Groups
Leader Selection and Retention
Member Selection and Retention
Beneficial Diversity
Equal Opportunity and Meritocracy
Skin in the Game
Win-Win
Cooperation, Specialization, Coordination, and Synergy
Associations
Chapter 26
Improvement
Evolution and Competition
Trials and Pilots
Research and Development
Continuous Improvement
Collegial Improvement
Sustainability-Related Improvement
Winning Practices
Section V
Winning Practices of Families
Chapter 27
Spouse Selection
Differences between Men and Women
Vetted Love
Deferred Sex
Necessary Marital Attributes
Family Decision-Making
Chapter 28
Marriage
Love and Accommodation
Family Centeredness and Specialization
Commitment and Fidelity
Chapter 29
Responsible Parenting
Progeny Consciousness
Nurture and Discipline
Literacy and Education
Experiences and Challenges
The Butterfly
Role Models
Grandparents
Chapter 30
Empowering Habit Formation
Forming Empowering Habits
Winning Practices of Individuals and Groups
Breaking Habits
Section VI
Winning Practices of Education
Chapter 31
Knowledge
The Scientific Method
Libraries and Databases
An Education, Research, and Extension System
A Free and Responsible Press
Chapter 32
Universal Education
Parent Accountability
Student Accountability
Real-World Feedback
Empowering Habit Formation
Life- and Science-Based Curriculum
Elementary Curriculum
Seven Secondary Tracks
Homogeneous Grouping
Individualized Learning
Chapter 33
Parental Choice
Equitable County Districts
Ending the Public Education Monopoly
An Island of Socialism
Parental Choice and Involvement
State Goals and Exams
Chapter 34
Results-Oriented Education
Benchmarking
Administration Empowerment and Accountability
Teacher Empowerment and Accountability
How Children Succeed
Bridging Conservative and Liberal Biases
Section VII
Winning Practices of Enterprise
Chapter 35
Free Enterprise and Markets
Private Property
Free Enterprise
Free Markets
Free Trade
Capital Formation and Investment
Chapter 36
Responsible Corporate Governance
Stakeholder Inclusion
Stakeholder Directors
Media Reports of Corporate Misconduct
Winning Cultures
Chapter 37
Prudent Regulation
Contract Enforcement
Transparency
Market Share Restrictions
Debt Restrictions
Externality Taxation
Do No Harm
Long-Term Incentives
Chapter 38
Enterprise Competitiveness
Customer Focus
A High-Performance and Improvement Culture
Minimal Overhead
Limited Leverage
Willing- and Able-Workforces
Well-Developed Infrastructure and Enterprise-Friendly Policies
Minimal Government Burdens
Section VIII
Winning Practices of Government
Chapter 39
Problems with Democracy
Human Fallibility
Conflicts of Interest
Special Interests
Lack of Accountability
Representatives Play Santa Claus
Leaders Love Power
Short-Term and Group Thinking
Majorities Dominate Minorities
Chapter 40
Government of the People
A Constitution
Dispersing and Checking Power
A Republic with a Bicameral Legislature
Supermajorities and Minority Accommodation
Chapter 41
Powers, Prohibitions, and Structure
Specified Federal Powers
Prohibitions
Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches
House of Representatives
Senate
Executive Branch/Council
Executive Branch Prohibitions and Emergency Powers
The Supreme Court
Public Infrastructure
Chapter 42
Freedoms, Rights, and Responsibilities
Freedoms
Rights
Responsibilities
Citizenship Qualifications
Voter Qualifications
Weighting the Votes of Parents
Chapter 43
The Rule of Law
Constitutional, Easily Understood, and Widely Supported
Collegial Improvement
Legislatively Originated
Piloted, Beneficial, and Stakeholder-Oriented
Impartial and Consistently Applied
Justice
Periodic Review
Judicious Litigation
Chapter 44
Inclusion and Meritocracy
Ethnic Sensitivity and Appreciation
Integration
Meritocracy and Comparative Advantage
Equal Opportunity
Goldilocks Minimum Wages
A Can-Do Attitude
Chapter 45
Prudent Taxation
Disincentivize the Undesirables
Sales Taxes on Nonessentials
Uniform Application of Taxes
Spending Restraints
Chapter 46
Financial Strength
Privatization
Free Enterprise and Free Markets
Transparency and Good Information
Sound Money
Sound Lending Practices
Balanced Budgets and Limited Indebtedness
Prudent Taxation, High Productivity, and Full Employment
Capital Formation
Chapter 47
Savings Accounts and Social Safety Nets
Avoiding Socialism and the Redistribution of Wealth
Savings Accounts
State Social Safety Nets
Employment of the Unemployed
Chapter 48
Consumer-Driven Healthcare
Harmful Medical Intervention
Advantageous Immigration and Judicious Litigation
Goldilocks Minimum Wages and Savings Accounts
Universal Coverage
Patient Choice
Out-of-Pocket Payments
Chapter 49
Assimilation
From Many, One
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
English as the National Language
Impervious Borders
Advantageous Immigration
Chapter 50
Peace Through Fitness
Seven Levels of Human Fitness
Financial Strength
Law Enforcement and Justice
Military, Cyber, and Intelligence Strength and Restraint
Allies and Limited Treaty Powers
Democratic Realism
Chapter 51
Sustainability
Water, Air, and Land
Ecosystem Conservation and Biodiversity
Responsible Resource Use, Recycling, and Waste Disposal
Clean Energy
Population Growth
A Note on the Winning Practices of Government
Chapter 52
Toward Truth, Freedom, Fitness, and Decency
Truth, Freedom, Fitness and Decency
Looking Within and Without
Seven Levels of Human Organization
Winning
The Prevalence of Winning Perspectives and Practices
Circle of Influence
Leadership and Service
Winning Culture
Introduction
Good intentions, idyllic wishes, and flawed policies do not improve people’s lives.
Like so many other Americans, I am a product of people who came to this country in search of a better life. Three of my grandparents were of Anglo-Saxon descent, and one was of German descent. My Anglo-Saxon ancestors came to America in the 17th and 18th centuries; my German ancestors arrived in the 19th century. And like so many other Americans, life improved for each generation of my ancestors throughout our country’s history. Sadly, this has not been the case for the current generation, as our nation no longer exhibits the vitality and promise that it did in prior decades.
Many American children live with one parent, grow up in poverty, and receive a poor education. Many families cannot access or afford proper healthcare. When adjusted for inflation, most American incomes stagnated for 28 years. Our country has unprecedented levels of debt. Unknown numbers of criminals, terrorists, and unvaccinated people enter the country illegally each year. Immigrant assimilation is no longer a priority, and a common language and culture no longer unify us. Inequality increases, as social mobility declines. Identity politics and polarizing policies, news, and speech divide us. Dysfunctional federal and state governments fail us.
If these challenges were not enough, we degrade our ecosystems and spew billions of tons of climate-altering carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year. Radical Islam and terrorists threaten us. China and Russia expand their geographic influence and footprint. The maniacal, repressive regimes of Iran and North Korea oppress their people and threaten us. Why are our challenges mounting, and why are we no longer ascending?
In 1978, at age 19, I participated in an economic development field study of Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Columbia. In Columbia, we visited a family that was living in a one-room home which had a dirt floor and was fly-infested. The parents and seven children slept on mats. A year later, I participated in an agricultural field study of Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union. The contrasts between life in Upstate New York and many of these countries shocked me and made me ponder why some populations prosper while others merely subsist.
International economic and cultural differences were not the only ones that I experienced during my college years. I ran into our country’s great cultural divide. Raised in rural America, I was given a strong Protestant faith and many accompanying perspectives and practices. In college, I found that most professors had little use for them.
After completing my undergraduate education in 1980, I again traveled behind the Iron Curtain to Poland where I taught English composition to scientists. I chose Poland because of the great political and economic unrest in the country and its many cultural contrasts to the United States. Poland was ethnically and religiously homogenous, Communist, and poor. Men and women with full-time jobs had to queue up for 15 to 20 hours a week just to purchase their food and household supplies. They lived in small apartments and remained poor no matter how hard they worked. The Polish government prohibited travel to Western countries and censored their communications, news, books, and periodicals.
Two years before my arrival, Karol Wojtyła, the charismatic cardinal from Kraków, became Pope John Paul II. His election gave the Poles tremendous confidence. While I was there, most Poles went on strike and gathered in the churches to protest their lack of freedom, living standards, and the Soviet occupation. All my students were members of Solidarity, the first independent labor union in a Soviet-bloc country. President Reagan and Prime Minister Thatcher supported the Poles’ strikes and protests. Lech Wałesa, the leader of Solidarity, Pope John Paul II, and Cardinal Wyszyński, the Roman Catholic Primate of Poland, orchestrated the movement.
Cosmos and Dragons of Eden by Carl Sagan were two of the several books I had brought with me. They described the evolution of the universe and human intelligence. I reflected on these books, my previous three years of reading and traveling, and all that I had learned at Purdue. The better acquainted I became with the scientific explanations of the universe and life, the more I realized that my childhood faith rested on incredulous, unsubstantiated stories that conveniently dismissed scientific perspectives which better explained the origin of the universe and life. Awestruck with the cosmos and science, and skeptical of my religious tenets, I came to favor scientific thought over my faith-based beliefs and begrudgingly underwent the religious-to-secular transformation that millions of other people have undergone.
By age 26, I had traveled to 45 states and 26 countries. I had lived in two states and two countries and completed my B.S., M.S., and the courses for a Ph.D. I had read some 200 of the world’s most thought-provoking books. I had confronted our cultural divide, embraced evidence-based knowledge, and detected the primary question that would preoccupy me for years.
Through my exposure to various cultures and thoughts, I encountered many conflicting perspectives and practices. As someone who is inquisitive, contemplative, and who values intellectual consistency, these conflicts did not sit well with me. They forced me to evaluate many of my childhood paradigms and grapple with many questions, such as:
How did the universe and life arise?
What are the implications of the narratives of science?
What is universal to human life and what is unique to a group, locale, or country?
Why did our country’s founders distrust concentrations of power?
What works best—authoritarianism or democracy, nationalism or federalism, capitalism or socialism?
What fueled the extraordinary rise of the English Common-wealth countries, the United States, Western Europe, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore?
What enables large middle classes to flourish?
How do we prevent recessions, depressions, and inflation?
When are conservative and when are liberal approaches most advantageous?
Why are the results of many public policies antithetical to their authors’ intentions?
Why do people make so many decisions that inflict future suffering on themselves?
Despite my shattered paradigms and many questions, I functioned reasonably well, pursuing truth wherever it took me, being considerate of others and drawing on the habits of my youth. However, when my wife placed our son in my arms, I experienced a bit of a crisis. He came with no instruction book. What was I going to teach him? Given the perspectives and knowledge our civilization gained over the last five hundred years, what does a child need to learn? What fosters our health, effectiveness, longevity, civility, and happiness? How do we adapt our lifestyles to live responsibly and do no harm?
These questions and our faith-versus-science, right-versus-left cultural divide have haunted me for years because they separate our families, communities, and citizens. They diminish our effectiveness, social cohesiveness, and children’s futures. Having spent time on both sides of these divides and having friends who are conservative, liberal, of faith, or without faith, I have felt and been saddened by the distrust and animosity the groups have for one another.
The great irony of the divide is that each side has things the other lacks. Conservatives and people of faith maintain an empowering culture and understand that doing the right thing yields positive effects. Liberals and people of science build an empowering knowledge base and recognize that life is what we make of it.
For many years, I pondered these questions, the divides, and the insights and positions of faith communities, scientists, conservatives, and progressives. I raised my family, built three businesses, and sat on numerous local, state, and national boards. I read hundreds of books, traveled to many more states and countries, attended educational programs, and ran for Congress.
Eventually, I realized that most of us lack the interest and maturity to comprehend the evolution of the universe and life and their implications while we are in high school. And unless we study the physical and biological sciences in college, we generally never fully grasp them. This is unfortunate because if we take the time to understand these perspectives and integrate them into our thinking, we can improve our effectiveness and lives immeasurably.
This book is about the perspectives and practices that enable a population to flourish. Section I examines how Americans, Singaporeans, and the Swiss are doing, and why Americans no longer ascend. Section II discusses nine perspectives that come from an understanding of the evolution of the universe and life—Truth, Causality, Scale, Evolution, Fitness, Human Nature, Culture, Periodic Disaster, and Eco-Dependency. Sections III-VIII introduce Winning Practices of Individuals, Groups, Families, Education, Enterprise, and Government.
After years of assaults on culture and major institutions, our country is at a critical crossroads. In more credibly explaining our context, origin, and nature, scientists undermined the Judeo-Christian worldview and many of its tenets. In changing how we elect U.S. Senators in 1913 and reinterpreting the “General Welfare” clause of the Constitution in the 1930s, progressives broke crucial restraints on government. Reacting to their historical mistreatment, separation, and ongoing discrimination, many African Americans embrace an oppressor-oppressed, anti-Caucasian counterculture, and lacking English proficiency and legal status, many Hispanics do not assimilate.
Without unifying leadership and culture, we fight among ourselves, lurch left, lurch right, and stagnate. A right-leaning coalition values the Constitution, rule of law, limited federal government, a strong defense, free enterprise, legal immigration, intact families, charter schools, work, and economic ascendance. A left-leaning coalition values unions, public education and healthcare, improved opportunities for women and minorities, the redistribution of wealth, larger government and more regulation, the legal and illegal admission of people into the country, the environment, and the advancement of social justice. The prevalence of Winning Perspectives and Practices decreases in our population, and the prevalence of losing perspectives and practices increases.
The path forward is unclear to many people. Ignorance, opposing ideologies, and vested interests hinder us. Our past success, accumulated wealth, and tremendous capacity to borrow enable us to ignore our problems and to be foolish for a long time.
The Winning Perspectives and Practices presented in this book are a synthesis of many of the world’s most empowering perspectives and practices. They serve everyone’s interests in the long term. Health, prosperity, diminished heartache, great accomplishment, and a full life await those who understand, employ, and improve them.
Section I
How Are We Doing
Chapter 1
Three of the Most Desirable Places to Live
Winning Perspectives come to us as we understand the evolution of the universe, life, and culture. They help us identify Winning Practices from a murky sea of unlimited possibilities.
Singapore, Switzerland, and the United States
Of all the countries I have visited and studied, Singapore and Switzerland are two of the most desirable places to live in the world. Each has a strong national identity, a democratic government, little corruption, a strong rule of law, and affordable, high-quality healthcare. The countries also have excellent education systems and large proportions of their populations flourish.
Like the U.S., Singapore and Switzerland have multiple ethnic groups with different histories, cultures, and religions. The Asian city-state of Singapore is comprised primarily of Chinese, Malay, and Indians who speak English, Mandarin, Malay, or Tamil. Its principal religions include Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity. The small European country of Switzerland is comprised of people with German, French, Italian, and Romansh heritages who speak their own language and historically are Roman Catholic or Protestant.
Ethnic, cultural, and religious differences were a problem in Singapore and Switzerland for years. Territorial and religious wars plagued the German, French, Italian, and Romansh areas of Switzerland in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Racial riots were common in Singapore in the 1960s when the Chinese dominated the Malays and Indians. Today, however, the Singaporeans and Swiss make social cohesiveness a national priority and enjoy enviable cultural harmony.
The populations of Singapore, Switzerland, and the U.S. are only 6, 8, and 320 million.[1] While the smaller populations of Singapore and Switzerland offer some social cohesiveness advantages, they are not the primary causes of their success. Most other small countries do not flourish like Singapore and Switzerland. Rather, their success is a function of their leadership, cultures, and prevalence of Winning Practices within their populations.
In 1940, Lee Kuan Yew was one of the top students in Singapore. After the Japanese occupation of Singapore, he studied law at Cambridge, and then returned to Singapore in the late 1950s. Singapore was poorer than Haiti at this time.[2] Drugs, gambling, and prostitution were widespread, and the annual per-capita income was less than $425.[3] Malaysia, concerned about the large Chinese population and racial riots, abandoned Singapore in 1965. Yew and his supporters took control of Singapore, implementing a strong rule of law, imprisoning political opposition, and cleaning up the mess. He became the first Prime Minister of Singapore and is considered the founder of the Republic of Singapore. Life steadily improved under Lee Kuan Yew and ever since. Today, Singaporeans have a thriving democracy, reside in one of the greenest and most livable cities, and have the 7th highest per-capita income in the world.[4]
Switzerland, another of the most desirable places to live in the world, has a much longer history as a nation than Singapore. It developed from the bottom up rather than the top down. Switzerland is interesting for many reasons, including its limited federal government, Executive Council, national referendums, and universal, affordable, high-quality healthcare. Figure 1 compares life in Singapore, Switzerland, and the United States. While we can learn much from many countries, Singapore and Switzerland provide some of the most important lessons.
Crime, Corruption, and Poverty
The information in Figure 1 indicates that crime, corruption, and poverty are much more serious problems in the U.S. than in Singapore or Switzerland. Homicide rates in Singapore, Switzerland, and the U.S. are 0.3, 0.5, and 5.4 and incarceration rates are 201, 81, and 655 per 100,000 people per year.[5] This means you are 12 times more likely to be murdered and 5 times more likely to be incarcerated in the U.S. than in Singapore and Switzerland. And if you live in one of the major U.S. cities, you are 100 times more likely to be murdered and 50 times more likely to be incarcerated. The Singaporean and Swiss rules of law protect people, deter crime, keep more families intact, and create environments for people to flourish better than the U.S. rule of law.
How about corruption—the abuse of public power for private gain? According to Transparency International, a highly respected international anti-corruption organization that uses expert reviews and opinion surveys to assess corruption, Singapore, Switzerland, and the U.S. ranked 6th, 3rd, and 16th among the countries in the world in 2017.[6] New Zealand, perceived to have the least corruption, ranked 1st, and Somalia, thought to have the most corruption, ranked 180th.[7]
Anecdotally, many people over 50 years old who lived in small communities recognize a general decline in honesty over the last 50 years in the United States. Few, if any of us, needed lockers in school to keep our belongings safe, and many of our parents did not lock their homes or cars. Life is much more pleasant when those around us are trustworthy and we do not fear them.
Child poverty is a larger problem in the U.S. than in Switzerland and most likely than in Singapore. While the poverty rates are unmeasured or unpublished in Singapore, you just do not see signs of much poverty anywhere in the country. The child poverty rates are 9 and 23 percent in Switzerland and the U.S.[8]
Health and Longevity
If we are not doing so well compared to the Singaporeans and Swiss regarding crime, corruption, and child poverty, how are we doing regarding health and lifespans? Obesity, a primary cause of diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and large medical bills, occurs at a frequency of 6, 20, and 36 percent in Singapore, Switzerland, and the U.S. While Switzerland has some problems with obesity, the U.S. has a serious problem. What is most disheartening about the U.S. obesity rate is that we have known about the harmful nature of American diets and sedentary lifestyles for 40 years, and yet obesity rates and the incidence of related diseases keep increasing. How can we flourish when over one-third of our population is obese?
In Singapore and Switzerland, 100 percent of the population is covered by health insurance. In the U.S., after the Affordable Care Act, 92 percent of the population has health insurance.[9] Health expenditures as a percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Singapore, Switzerland, and the U.S. are 5, 12, and 17 percent.[10] Healthcare in Singapore and Switzerland is consumer-driven, of high quality, and a much better value. Life expectancies in Singapore, Switzerland, and the U.S. are 85, 83, and 80 years.[11] We spend one half to three times more on healthcare per person and have a shorter life expectancy.
Income and Financial Security
Per capita incomes adjusted for purchasing power in Singapore, Switzerland, and the U.S. are $93,900, $61,400, and $59,500.[12] Singaporean living standards are remarkable given the country has no natural resources, has little developable real estate, and did not have its own drinking water until recently. Gross National Savings rates in Singapore and Switzerland are 47 and 33 percent, substantially greater than the 18 percent U.S. rate.[13]
Home ownership rates are 91 percent in Singapore, 44 percent in Switzerland, and 65 percent in the U.S.[14] Singaporean home ownership is the second highest in the world, largely because of the people’s strong work ethic and high savings rates. The government does subsidize home ownership for 20 percent of the lowest income citizens. Generally, when people purchase homes, they feel more financially secure, build equity as they age, and develop greater pride in their neighborhoods and country.
Singapore and Switzerland have more responsible governments than the U.S. Their low debt levels and little external debt are evidence of this.[15] Unlike the U.S., Singapore and Switzerland maintain balanced government budgets, and their citizens form the capital that their economies require.
Carbon Emissions
The U.S. pours far more climate-altering greenhouse gases per person into the atmosphere than Singapore and Switzerland. Americans emit an estimated 17 tons of CO2 per person per year, while the Singaporeans and Swiss emit only 10 and 4 tons.[16]
______________________
Throughout most of the 20th century, America was the land of opportunity and possibility. Most people throughout the world wanted to emulate our ways and live in or visit our country. And while we have much for which to be thankful and are doing better than people in most countries, most people I meet around the world no longer hold America in as high a regard. Benchmarking life in our country against life in other countries reveals why this might be the case, teaches us what is possible, and indicates where we can find better approaches. Studying history and consulting older, accomplished souls suggests where we have gone wrong.
Chapter 2
Losing Our Way
We thought we were different . . . more able, prosperous, and blessed. And we were more of these things, as we were more honest, hardworking, and responsible, as we took marriage, parenting, and education more seriously, and as we were more community- and country-minded.
One of the most telling indications that our country is slipping is the relative change in American and Chinese living standards between 1960 and 2017. In 1960, American living standards were 120 times greater than Chinese living standards. In 2017, they were 7 times higher.[17]
Chinese living standards have improved steadily while our living standards have stagnated. Figure 2 shows real and hypothetical growing U.S. household incomes between 1988 and2016; the blueline signifies hypothetical growth and the blackline illustrates actual growth. Adjusted for inflation, our real-median income has been flat for a generation. If our incomes had grown at an inflation-adjusted 3 percent, which is more of a historical norm, median household income would be $121,500 rather than $59,000. Not having our act together has cost all of us dearly.
Amazingly, the Chinese economy has become almost as large as the U.S. economy. If the two economies continue to grow at their recent 21st century rates, the Chinese economy will be twice as large as ours in 12 years and four times larger in 24 years.
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Economic Research Division
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/mehoinusa672n
Rising living standards in China are a great thing, but the combination of Chinese ascendancy and American decline is not good for Western values and populations. The Chinese have their own values and interests, many of which compete with ours. As China rises and the United States declines, China will reshape the international order to reflect its values and interests. China will encourage one-party rule around the world rather than constitutional republics and the rule of law. It will promote state prerogatives over individual freedoms. It will seize control of the South Pacific shipping lanes and make the terms of trade more favorable for China and less favorable to other countries. China’s currency, the renminbi, will replace the dollar as the reserve currency, decreasing American living standards an additional 10 to 20 percent.
Rising Chinese and stagnant American living standards are not our only challenges. Radical Islam and Islamic population growth are also serious problems. While our leaders hesitate to acknowledge it, the Western and Islamic cultures collide. Where we value democratic and secular government, individual rights, and male and female parity, most Islamic leaders value authoritarian and religious rule, religious orthodoxy, and male dominance.
While we may find it incomprehensible that large numbers of Muslims hate us, the fact is that many do. Our promiscuous lifestyles, dysfunctional families, alcohol and drug abuse, and high crime rates are unappealing to them. Our freedoms, gender equality, and tolerance undermine their patterns of life. Our priorities, power, and actions thwart their leaders’ aspirations.
To these serious challenges, I add seven more: (1) a failure to develop and educate many children, (2) a failure to integrate many African Americans, Hispanics, and Muslims in our country, (3) our government’s dysfunction and propensity to live beyond its means, (4) our emissions of large quantities of greenhouse gases, (5) the degradation of ecosystems and ground water, (6) the eradication of many species, and (7) the tendency for Winning Practices to decrease in prevalence and losing practices to increase within our population.
Inclusion Failures
Our ancestors provided us with a stunning start. Their pragmatism, ideals, and newly minted government, courage, hard work, sacrifice, and perseverance are legendary. The problem with our start was that our ancestors took our country from the Native Americans and enslaved Africans. The institution of slavery and the eradication of most Native Americans were travesties. While we have acknowledged the horrific treatment of Native Americans and ended slavery, we have yet to integrate many Native and African Americans into our communities.
Our destruction of the Native American culture was genocide and a lost opportunity. Had we treated Native Americans more honorably and shared more of the continent with them, we might have acquired their reverence for the environment. We might emit less carbon and fewer pollutants, be healthier, and have a brighter future.
Our inclusion failures were not only at the start. They have occurred in every decade since our country’s founding. Segregation, discrimination, and education dysfunction have created animosity between white and black people and depravity within minority communities. They have created unsafe neighborhoods, broken families, poorly parented children, and widespread alcohol and drug addiction.
Majorities discriminate against minorities throughout the world, as people ally with those who are similar to dominate those unlike themselves. This behavior is instinctual. “Birds of a feather flock together” and “There is strength in numbers” are descriptive adages of this tendency. But while this instinct served hunter-gatherers well, it serves us poorly. A people comprised of different races, ethnicities, and creeds must overcome discriminatory behavior with education, training, and legal recourse.
The lack of a clean start and our integration failures divide us. They diminish minority actualization and contribution and increase our social welfare burdens. They decrease our living standards, the prevalence of Winning Practices within our culture, and our ability to overcome challenges.
Change in the Election of U.S. Senators
The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.[18]
—James Madison
Our founders limited the scope of the federal government in the Constitution, and they enforced this restriction with the way Senators were elected. We broke this enforcement mechanism when we passed the 17th Amendment in 1913. Before the amendment, state legislatures chose the U.S. Senators. After it, the people of each state elected the Senators. State legislator–selected Senators limited federal power; citizen-selected ones expand it.
As Figure 3 illustrates, our federal government’s expenditures as a percent of GNP were less than 4 percent for the first 125 years of our nation’s history except for a 10-year period around the Civil War. After the passage of the 17th Amendment, federal expenditures grew more than nine-fold from 2.5 to 21 percent of GNP. Add state and local expenditures to this, and government spending comprises 35 percent of GNP.
Since 1913, our federal government has expanded its powers significantly and become a wasteful, inefficient, and corrupt colossus, regulating every aspect of our life, burdening us, and stifling the economy.The stories of the state governments are more mixed. States such as New York, Illinois, and California have created larger governments, stifling their residents’ living standards; states like Florida, Indiana, South Carolina, and Texas have maintained smaller governments, furthering increases in their residents’ incomes.
Ending the state legislature check on the federal government was one of our greatest mistakes, as now special interests buy our elected representatives with campaign contributions, and our elected representatives buy our votes with legislative and spending favors. Too much government burdens a country, just as too much overhead and debt burdens families and companies. You only need to compare the great gains that populations make throughout the world when their government spending is in the 5 to 15 percent of GNP range to the small increases that occur when this ratio exceeds 20 percent. The histories of Canada, the United States, Western Europe, and Japan all demonstrate this reality.
Government Spending, Download Spending Data, Multiyear Download of US Spending 1792-2017
https://www.usgovernmentspending.com/download_multi_year_1792_2017USb_17s2li001mcn_F0f
Presidential Constitutional Failings
World history is one long chronology of governments abusing their citizens. Only with the signing of the Magna Carta by King John in 1215, the signing of the Petition of Right by King Charles I in 1628, and the passage of the Bill of Rights in 1689 did English-speaking people obtain some freedom from the oppressive rule of their leaders. Only with the adoption of the Articles of Confederation in 1781, the Constitution of the United States of America in 1788, and the first ten amendments known as the Bill of Rights in 1791 did our ancestors free us of this yoke.
The Constitution and Bill of Rights of the United States are two of the most important documents ever written. Hundreds of millions of Americans as well as other people around the world have had much better lives because of them. If you have not read these documents, I highly recommend that you do so. They are ingenious, understandable, and only about five oversized pages of text.
From 1777 to 1900, Americans appreciated their Constitution—its separation of power and checks on power and specified institutions, procedures, and requirements. Most of the government leaders took their oaths of office seriously, preserving and defending the Constitution. Unfortunately, this changed with the election of Theodore Roosevelt and has continued largely unabated ever since.
Whether or not we liked Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Truman, Johnson, Nixon, Bush 41, Clinton, Bush 43, and Obama and their policies, their flagrant failures to defend the Constitution and abuses of power should trouble us. Their failure to uphold and defend the document that defines the separations of power, checks on power, governing processes, and our rights as citizens jeopardizes our freedoms. Their misuse of the government to reward supporters and punish opponents delegitimizes the government and polarizes us. Brion McClanahan explains many presidential failings and abuses of power in his book 9 Presidents Who Screwed Up America. Figure 4 lists several of these presidential failings and abuses of power.
Starting with Theodore Roosevelt and contrary to the separation of the legislative, executive, and judicial functions in the Constitution, numerous presidents have used the executive office, presidential favors, and executive orders to push legislative agendas. Some examples of this include: Teddy Roosevelt’s Square Deal, seizure of 230 million acres of land, and 1,081 executive orders; Woodrow Wilson’s New Freedom legislation and 1,803 executive orders; and Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and 3,734 executive orders, one of which confiscated much of the gold in the country. Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society legislation and 325 executive orders as well as George W. Bush’s 291 executive orders, many of which ignored fundamental American rights, are other examples of serious presidential violations of the Constitution.[19]
Several presidents also supported the federal government’s assumption of powers that “the people” and the Constitution never granted. Franklin Roosevelt pushed through Food Stamps, Welfare, and Social Security; Lyndon Johnson involved the federal government in education, healthcare, the arts, and public broadcasting; and Barack Obama tried to put the federal government in control of our healthcare.
Some presidents have created executive agencies with the ability to create, enforce, and adjudicate regulations. Woodrow Wilson did this with the Federal Trade Commission, and Richard Nixon with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Some presidents have treated various groups more favorably or unfavorably than other ones. Woodrow Wilson exempted agricultural organizations and labor unions from the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914, and Barack Obama’s Internal Revenue Agency discriminated against conservative nonprofits.
Barack Obama made appointments to oversee the executive departments, the National Labor Relations Board, and federal courts without congressional consent. He also weaponized federal agencies against his political opposition, prohibited the enforcement of drug laws, restricted the 287(g) program that enables police officers to apprehend illegal immigrants who are stopped for other crimes, ignored the illicit activities of sanctuary cities, and eliminated federal funding to find visitors who overstay their visas.[20]
The Constitution of the United States of America gives Congress the power to declare war and the President the authority to make treaties. Theodore Roosevelt used the military in the Panama Revolution without a declaration of war from Congress. Woodrow Wilson used the military in several Latin American countries and Russia. Lyndon Johnson did this in Vietnam, Ronald Reagan in Grenada, and Barack Obama in Libya and Syria. Harry Truman used the U.S. military as an agent of the United Nations, and Bill Clinton used it 40 times around the world.[21] Historian Brion McClanahan writes:
The slew of executive legislative initiatives since the 1930s has forced Americans to believe that American government is executive government, regardless of political party. We feel confident in our guy in office and think little of the potential ramifications should our guy be out of office and the other guy take his place. Republicans who insist on impeaching Obama for his unconstitutional acts are the same who defended George W. Bush and his unconstitutional acts, and vice versa. Inconsistency and excessive partisanship—something George Washington warned against in his Farewell Address—have inflicted terrible damage on the American experiment in republican self-government.[22]
While we need to deal with crises quickly, end discrimination, look out for the poor, assist some seniors, preserve habitats, curb pollution, and defend ourselves, we also need to adhere to our Constitution if we are to preserve our freedom and prosper. I describe approaches consistent with the Constitution to achieve all these things in Section VIII.
People wonder why our federal government is so expensive, intrusive in our lives, partisan, and dysfunctional. While there are many reasons, certainly our failure to hold our presidents accountable to the Constitution is a primary one. The repeated presidential violations of the Constitution, and the failures of Congress to impeach the presidents, the Courts to find the violations unconstitutional, and the press to expose the violations do not bode well for our country. Congress, the Judiciary, the free press, and public opinion are the only mechanisms to check unlawful presidential behavior.
Whether we are aware of it or not, our freedom, living standards, and well-being depend upon our leaders’ and citizens’ respect for and adherence to the Constitution and rule of law. When government leaders violate these rules, we must impeach them and not re-elect them. When journalists ignore leaders’ unconstitutional and unlawful actions, we must boycott their organizations. If we impeached a couple of presidents, did not re-elect more of our leaders, and ended our patronage of the most irresponsible news organizations, we would curtail these undesirable behaviors. As founding father James Madison wrote:
There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.[23]
Supreme Court Constitutional Failings
Supreme Court constitutional failings refer to the periodic failure of the U.S. Supreme Court to nullify legislation and executive actions that violate the Constitution. They result from the appointment of justices who are more interested in advancing political agendas than upholding the Constitution. They enable the Executive Branch, Congress, and the federal government to usurp many state powers and the Executive Branch to assume judicial and legislative powers.
James Madison, as the primary author of the Constitution, also was very clear on the limited, specified powers of the federal government and the intended interpretation of the “general welfare” clause:
With respect to the words “General Welfare,” I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators.[24]
Who would have foreseen that a few well-placed progressives could transform our federal government with a reinterpretation of two words, “general welfare”? It took over 140 years, a national crisis, an activist president, and a cohort of liberal judges, but this constitutional decoupling finally happened during the Franklin Roosevelt presidency. Like water breaching a dike, the powers of the federal government have grown unceasingly once the general welfare clause was reinterpreted.
Now, our Congress favors some groups over others, has regulatory agencies fill in the details of its poorly written laws, and legislates, taxes, and spends unconstitutionally. It and our Executive Branch have assumed many state powers, regularly redistribute wealth, use racial preferences, and interfere with private contracts. Figure 5 summarizes some of these Supreme Court constitutional failings.
Abiding by the Constitution and our laws is in everyone’s long-term interests. If something needs doing that the Constitution does not allow, state legislatures and federal government representatives can amend the Constitution and change the laws. Only the states and representatives of the people are authorized under the Constitution to expand the power of the federal government. Individual presidents and five of nine Supreme Court Justices should not be doing this.
Special Interests
With the state legislature check on the federal government eliminated in 1913 and other constitutional checks destroyed by the Supreme Court in the 1930s and 1940s, federal expenditures grew and grew. And as the federal government grew, the number of special interests protective of its expenditures also grew. To understand why this is, consider a government’s importance to the social safety net recipients and government employees, unions, and contractors before they exist and after they emerge and start to grow. Before these government activities exist, there are no constituents. Once in place, they expand and garner more constituents each year.
Figure 5: Supreme Court Constitutional Failings
Home Building & Loan Association v. Blaisdell(1934) enabled governments to interfere with contracts between private parties.[25]
Helvering v. Davis(1937) allowed the government to enact the Social Security program, spend for the “general welfare,” and redistribute wealth. It gave Congress a free hand to legislate without judicial review.[26]
United States v. Carolene Products Company (1938) enabled federal and state governments to pass legislation that devalued property without any obligation to compensate the property owners. The case allowed the government to infringe upon citizen’s economic liberties without judicial review.[27]
Wickard v. Filburn(1942) extended the federal regulatory authority to nearly every productive economic activity, including activities that are neither interstate nor commerce. It ended the principle that the federal government only has the powers expressly granted to it in the Constitution.[28]
Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council(1984) gave the departments and agencies of the Executive Branch the power to interpret the law.[29]
Bennis v. Michigan(1996) gave the government the authority to seize the property of innocent people without judicial hearings.[30]
Whitman v. American Trucking Associations, Inc.(2001) enabled Congress to pass poorly defined laws and let unelected regulatory agencies fill in the details.[31]
Grutter v. Bollinger(2003) gave institutions the right to use racial preferences in their admittance procedures.[32]
Kelo v. City of New London(2005) gave governments the right to use eminent domain to seize private property for economic development.[33]
Crony capitalism is a form of special-interest government that occurs when business leaders promise to employ and handsomely compensate government officials later and/or make large contributions to candidates who will do favors for them once in office. The favors take the form of permitting market concentrations, supporting legislation that is advantageous to the contributors, and/or awarding government contracts and grants to their businesses. While some of these favors accommodate everyone, most of them benefit the contributors at the expense of taxpayers and consumers.
Crony unionization is another form of special interest government that occurs when union leaders make large campaign contributions to candidates to incentivize them to pass legislation, which enables unions to extract more from taxpayers and employers. While this exchange seems harmless, these favors decrease the competitiveness of enterprises and increase the cost of public and private products and services.
When people allow their central government to become large, special interests form and the government responds more to the special interests than to citizens. Special interests buy elected officials, and elected officials use the credit and revenues of the government to buy people’s votes. These exchanges diminish our living standards and future.
Less Faith-Community Relevance
As science has exposed more of the cause-and-effect relationships of the universe, life, and related processes, it inadvertently has decreased the credibility of religions. Religious teachings, rewards, and penalties—like an eternal afterlife in heaven or hell—lost sway over progressives first, moderates second, and conservatives third. When religious institutions lose progressives, they become less adaptive. They lose the ability to keep their perspectives, practices, heroes, and art forms relevant to new generations. Also missing is the opportunity to teach large portions of the population to act in an honest, responsible, civil, and considerate manner.
We see the decline of faith communities in the change in Christian church attendance in the last 50 years. Over 60 percent of the U.S. population regularly attended services in 1960, while that number dropped to less than 20 percent in 2005.[34] The reduced influence of a dominant institution on 40 percent of the U.S. population coincides with the decline of honesty and civility in our culture and politics.
Less Integrity, Responsibility, and Civility
As faith communities emphasizing responsible conduct and service lose relevance, we would expect people to exhibit less of these characteristics, especially if other institutions do not teach and positively reinforce those behaviors. And this is what has happened. Spouses have become less committed to each other. Parents have become less courteous to principals, teachers, and coaches. Children have become less respectful of parents, teachers, and police. Employers and employees have become less conscientious about their responsibilities to one another, and many people have become less community-minded.
Consider that 25 percent of our population, ages 18 and older, now engage regularly in heavy drinking.[35] Roughly 15 percent of Americans ages 12 and older use illicit drugs each year and almost 50 percent use them sometime in their lifetimes.[36] Over 40 percent of Americans ages 18 to 59 had a sexually transmitted disease(STD) in the last 5 years.[37] 66 percent of all traffic fatalities are caused by aggressive driving.[38] The U.S. ranks 16th on the World Corruption Perception Index.[39] Our country also ranks 47th among 120 countries in incidents of crime. Azerbaijan, India, Iraq, Israel, the Palestine Territory, Russia, and Turkey all report lower incidents of crime than the U.S.[40] The prevalence of heavy drinking, illicit drug use, STDs, preventable traffic fatalities, corruption, and crime are not characteristics of an ascending population.
Promiscuity and the Decline of Marriage
Before the 1950s, most men and women married at a relatively young age, remained married for life, and provided a stable home environment for their children. Since then, marriage rates have fallen by two-thirds, and separation and divorce rates have increased threefold.[41] Incidents of promiscuity, cohabitation, and divorce have increased dramatically with the declining influence of religion, the development of highly reliable forms of birth control, the changing roles of women, and the implementation of generous welfare programs. Now, half of all marriages fail, and more than half of all children spend time in a single-parent household or nontraditional family.[42]
These new patterns of life have a greater impact on non-college graduates than on those who finish college. Robert Putnam, professor of public policy at Harvard University, writes:
In the college-educated, upper third of American society, a “neo-traditional” marriage pattern has emerged. It mirrors the 1950s family in many respects, except that both partners now typically work outside of the home, they delay marriage and childbearing until their careers are under way, and they divide domestic duties more evenly.
In the high-school-educated, lower third of the population, by contrast, a new, more kaleidoscopic pattern began to emerge in which childbearing became increasingly disconnected from marriage, and sexual partnerships became less durable.[43]
The adverse effects of these new patterns of life on the economically-challenged lower third of our population should concern all of us, as we cannot flourish for long as a people when one-third of our children grow up in dysfunctional families, neighborhoods, and schools.
Poorly Parented Children
While some parents who maintain healthy lifelong marriages do a poor job of parenting children, and some parents who separate and/or have multiple mates do a good job, generally the former group of parents does better for their children. Parents of traditional families have greater commitments to each other and their children. They provide them with more parental time, resources, and stability; a healthier balance of nurture, discipline, and expectation; and greater educational and mentoring opportunities.
Professor Putnam indicates that 6 percent of American children lived in nontraditional families in the 1960s, but today, more than 50 percent do so. Children with parents in the lowest educational quartile are roughly two times more likely to live with one parent during their childhood than those with parents in the highest quartile.[44] And again while some nontraditional parents do a fantastic job of raising their children, the research indicates that most do not do well. Professor Putnam writes:
Children in divorced or remarried families face distinctive challenges, partly because their families’ limited resources must be spread across more than one household, and partly because their parents’ lingering grievances, and physical and emotional distance from one another, hamper effective communication and coordination. Multi-partner fertility is associated with less parental involvement, less extended kin involvement, and more friction, jealousy, and competition, especially when there are children from different partnerships living in the same household.[45]
Unionization and Liberalization of Education
In the 1960s, the Democratic Party and union leaders saw an opportunity to increase their membership and influence by unionizing the public sector. Undoubtedly, public employee compensation was low in some places, and some school boards and superintendents were undesirable employers. Yet, some 50 years later, it is painfully clear that the ill effects of this change outweigh the benefits.
Primary and secondary education have become costly and less effective throughout the country. Proportionally fewer children are proficient in math, reading, and writing, acquire empowering habits, become well-equipped to parent children, have productive careers, and become responsible citizens. Public schools no longer group students by their abilities. They are hesitant to discipline children and uphold basic behavioral and academic standards. Many no longer give children credit for doing homework, and some even forbid teachers from assigning it. Many public schools offer students multiple opportunities to retake the tests, sabotaging the chance to instill the habit of preparation in students.
Union work rules, seniority-based compensation, and tenure politicize education and hinder the employment of the ablest administrators and teachers. They cause the staff to support the candidates for public office who support the unions, increasing the number who register as Democrats and donate to the Democratic Party while decreasing the number who belong and give to the competing parties. Union work rules, seniority-based compensation, and tenure prevent administrators from adjusting teachers’ compensation in accordance with their performance. They also make it difficult for administrators to terminate poor-performing teachers, create unaffordable pension liabilities, and fill the education system with people who look unfavorably on many of the Winning Practices that enable us to flourish.
Liberalized schools “dumb down” curriculum, inflate grades, and advance students who fail to master the material. They promote cultural relativism, nonjudgmentalism, and multiculturalism, concepts that I discuss later in this chapter. Most schools no longer teach children about the advantages of limited federal government, free enterprise, and free markets. Not having a healthy mix of conservatives, moderates, and progressives teaching children in public schools leads to poorer educational, social, and economic outcomes.
Schools affect our lives tremendously—directly and indirectly. They affect our individual and collective fitness. We devote 13 to 17 years of our lives to them. It is in everyone’s best interest to correct these deficiencies and have our schools perform at a high level.
Social Justice Missteps
