Forfeiting the Space Race to China

One of the most frightening things about the wrong direction our nation is following is the virtual surrender to the new space race, the one we should be having with China.  The overwhelming lead we had in space technology is rapidly disappearing.  Our failure to consider space exploration as an industrial and military imperative, beyond our commendable scientific inquisitiveness, has made our space program an afterthought in the national political debate.  It last appeared in a presidential debate when Newt Gingrich suggested the creation of an American Moon base during the 2012 campaign.  The idea was instantly ridiculed by the mainstream media.

The first sign of an American decline in space came with its commitment to the International Space Station (ISS) without pursuing any other major American dream project. Our magnificent fleet of space shuttles, which became the primary building tool for the ISS, was allowed to fizzle out with the last flight of the shuttle Atlantis on July 21, 2011. For years thereafter, U.S. astronauts had to hitchhike on Russian Proton and Soyuz rockets.  

Today, NASA sets its aim on Martian voyages and flyby missions to the outer planets. At the same time, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) has an accelerated program of technological development, which already sent men into space with its Shenzhou 5 spaceships.  It now has plans for its own space station and men on the Moon by 2020.  Their leaders openly talk of Earth-Moon industrial development and space-based energy projects, which is obvious considering that the Moon is rich in the mineral Helium 2, essential for fusion energy development. And just to highlight the danger to America, the Chinese have tested satellite-killing missiles that could literally blind our military in a conflict.

We have not gotten here for lack of money, not when we have borrowed and spent 20 trillion dollars in the last two decades.  Someone is asleep at the switch.

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From the Politics of Personal Destruction to Reasonable Compromise:

#1 Undocumented Immigration

--- It is unfortunate that candidates for president concentrate their statements on character attacks of their opponents and polarized and intransigent policy positions.  I believe that candidates themselves would better serve the public by presenting proposals for viable compromises on the issues that have lingered in the limbo of inaction and gridlock.  Surrogates and the media will take care of the personal destruction part.  May I humbly propose here in my blog, and probably simply repackage the thinking of many others, a series of what I consider reasonable compromises.

Undocumented immigration has been a divisive issue for as long as I can remember, and I have been around for a while.  In the 50s and 60s, the exploitation and mistreatment of "braceros," cheap manual laborers imported across the Mexican border by American farmers, became a national scandal.  Cesar Chavez, a Mexican-American labor leader, founded the United Farm Workers Union in 1962.  His struggle gained national attention and the active support of political figures the likes of Robert F. Kennedy.  Over the years, the illegal employment of undocumented aliens by American industry, as well as households, has created a magnet for border crossers in search of a better life.  As the population of illegal immigrants grew, Congress granted a series of seven amnesties as follows:

  

1.         Immigration and Reform Control Act (IRCA), 1986

2.        Section 245(i) Amnesty, 1994

3.        Section 245(i) Extension Amnesty, 1997

4.        Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) Amnesty, 1997

5.        Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act Amnesty (HRIFA), 1998

6.        Late Amnesty, 2000

7.        LIFE Act Amnesty, 2000

1.     

 In total, these amnesties provided legal status to more than six million illegal aliens.  In the past 16 years, the undocumented population has accumulated again, but this time with more than 12 million people.  Calls for amnesty number eight have divided the nation.  Democrats want Hispanic immigrants to come and vote but not to take jobs from their union supporters, while Republicans want them to come and work cheaply but not to increase the democratic voting bloc.  The hypocrisy goes on at the expense of those who are forced to live in the shadows.

Today an argument on the "left" is that the millions of undocumented immigrants already in the U.S.  have contributed to our economy and deserve some form of legalization and not the cruel separation of individuals from their families, ergo amnesty number eight.

An argument on the "right" is that immigrants from countries with similar languages and cultural backgrounds are arriving in indigestible numbers and overwhelming our natural "social assimilation machine." It is further argued that what our country needs is more educated immigrants, who are in short supply for our economy, not more unskilled laborers to compete with the ones we already have.

Without taking sides, let's consider a simple compromise as follows:

1. For the "Right." 

a)      Provide the Immigration Control and Enforcement Agency (ICE) with whatever resources are needed to verifiably secure the Mexican-American border.

b)   Provide ICE with whatever resources are needed to pursue and deport all those who overstay their "visa period."

c)     Create a national electronic verification for employment system and provide ICE with whatever resources are needed to detect and substantially fine employers of undocumented immigrants.

d)      Prioritize future migration to favor those with the skills needed by our economy

2.  For the "Left."

a)      Suspend deportation of undocumented immigrants without a criminal record.

b)      Provide a grace period for undocumented immigrants in the country to register with the government for legal status and provide resources for a community-based registration system.

c) Reform the process that keeps applicants for legal entry waiting for many months and even years so that it can be a quick and efficient experience for future would-be Americans.

The trick to the compromise is that it all needs to be approved and funded simultaneously, without new promises of future compliance.  This compromise is simple and obvious if both sides act in good faith, it leads to gridlock when one side or the other tries to cheat.  The big losers are the undocumented immigrants now in the country and the country itself.

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China, the Impending Threat

There was a time when American corporations were viewed by the public, perhaps with naiveté, as patriotic organizations that would place national interest first.  Not so today in the age of outsourcing manufacturing and the sourcing of undocumented cheap labor.  American and other Western corporations have pursued both in the endless sea of humanity of China, which also offers a future astronomical market.  The West did not recoil from doing business with China after its massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square but rather rewarded its communist government brutality with the greatest transfer of wealth in human history.  America and the rest of the West would be well advised to remember the anti-communist metaphor used by President John F. Kennedy during his inaugural address in 1961; "those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside."

The Soviet Union collapsed during the Cold War because by aiming to be a military power, it became an economic basket case.  China would have suffered the same faith, except that the West transferred the bulk of its manufacturing base there, flooding the communist-controlled nation with cash.  China's central planners have managed to squander a great deal of its reaches, but the Chinese military is expanding to confront us with another and far more dangerous "cold war."  Their military leaders have taken aim at America's underpinning might by developing aircraft carrier-killer missiles and satellite-killer space vehicles.  Their land forces, with vastly superior numbers, are massing on their neighbors' borders, and they are defying international law by claiming ownership of the China Sea and building artificial islands in it.

Allowing China to grow more powerful will not improve matters.  As Frederick Douglass said, "Power concedes nothing without a demand.  It never did, and it never will." Without necessarily starting an all-out trade war, the U.S., in particular, must arrest the transfer of wealth to China by demanding a balanced trade policy and reminding Chinese leaders that becoming an international bully will have consequences.  China must be made to realize that its future development rests on fair international trade and the rule of international law, putting aside for now the conversation on human rights and the dignity of man.

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Requiem for the European Union?

There are real concerns about the stability and cohesiveness of the European Union, which have been brought center stage with the departure of Britain, the so-called "Brexit."  Open borders and open markets under a centralized, socialist model of government have not produced the desired effects.  The South European nations of Greece, Spain, Italy, and Portugal are facing economic ruin, while in the North, France and Germany are struggling with massive Muslim migration.  European nations have also suffered from globalization with the outsourcing of good-paying jobs, although perhaps not as much as the U.S.

The unrestrained migration of Muslims into France, Germany, the Netherlands, and others, with rising resistance to integration and the existence of no-go neighborhoods, is fueling an anti-union movement in Europe, probably more than any other factor.  France is facing social turmoil, and President François Hollande has stated that France is at war — and that it must be fought both inside his country and outside in the Middle East.  Operations are underway in towns and cities across France.  It is a battle on two fronts.  It is no longer unthinkable that France may descend into a form of civil war.

The departure of another nation from the union may trigger an irreversible domino effect and the rapid demise of the Union.  It behooves the remaining members to rapidly amend their charter concerning the re-establishment of national borders, fair international trade practices, and consequences of irrational deficit spending by member nations.  The premise of a European Union is still a worthwhile goal within reasonable limits.    

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Nationalism-vs.-Globalization

---As communications and information began to travel around the world at lightning speed with the birth of The Internet, humans everywhere have gotten to know more about each other.  The feeling of global brotherhood predicated in that reality has been a blessing in which we all rejoice. Humans, nevertheless, are still the architects of world communities and continue to be far from perfect.  Globalism expressed in a rush to create open borders and open markets, regardless of intentions, has produced serious complications for our nation and for others.  Poor people from neighboring nations have flooded our land in unprecedented and indigestible numbers, and well-paying jobs have moved to other nations that have no minimum-wage laws and few regulations.  It has been a noble experiment, and nothing is gained by retro-blaming; rather, forward-looking changes in policies must be adopted.

It would be irrational to suggest that anyone is going to deport the 12+ million undocumented immigrants in our country. Yet, it would be equally foolish to insist on maintaining an open border that inevitably invites millions more to come across.  International trade must not be stifled, provided that nations can agree to respect the need for and bring about a reasonable balance.  There is nothing wrong with sovereignty and a measured degree of nationalism in today's world. 

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The Loss of Trust

Our successful American democratic republic has primarily rested on the trust of the majority of the general public.  That is to say, if the majority of the public disobeyed laws, all enforcement mechanisms would be rendered impotent.  I felt that trust in our government was earned when President Richard M. Nixon was impeached and forced to resign over the Watergate Scandal, proving that we have a nation of laws that apply to all; that was a high point in American history, which the entire world admired.

Unfortunately, today, we have a low point in our history when the Attorney General holds an unethical secret meeting and dismisses it as chit chat, when the FBI Director denies the obvious and demands credence, and when a secretary of state mismanages American secrets and makes jokes about erasing thousands of emails from public records.  It is hard to trust that we still have a nation of laws that apply to all and even harder to trust those who demand that we do.


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June 24, 2016

The Shame of American Criminal Justice: Prison Madness

What do we know about jails and prisons?  We all seem to know, or at least suspect, that incarcerated persons undergo horrible experiences behind bars; they do.  There are close to two and half million people in federal and state prisons and local jails, far more than any other country.  The poor are overrepresented in the inmate population, especially those who are suffering from mental illness and drug addiction.  In many ways, our jails and prisons are warehouses for these populations, while institutions for the mentally ill are in short supply, and addiction treatment centers are poorly funded.  Starting in the 1980s and continuing to the present day, tough drug enforcement laws have flooded our jails and prisons with convicted offenders; the overcrowding has become insufferable.    

Who goes to prison?  Mostly the poor who lack the resources, both for bail and for a proper defense.  Other reasons stem from discriminating legislation, for example, the different treatment of powder cocaine, used by the wealthy, and crack cocaine, the cheaper version used by the poor.  The latter is actively pursued by the police and carries mandatory prison for small amounts (28 grams).  Power cocaine is often not on the police radar, and prison requires a violation involving very large amounts (500 grams).   Some argue that the creation of for-profit administration of prisons is behind the increase in incarcerated persons, and there is probably some degree of corruption in this area as well.

What happens once in prison?  A phrase attributed to inmates suggests that newcomers to the inmate population are either Vikings or victims.  That is to say that if you are not tough and strong, you will be a slave; you will be continuously raped and frequently beaten. If you can fight your way out of slavery, then you must join one of the prison gangs and be always at war.  Since there is only one jail or prison guard per hundreds of inmates, guards are usually on the other side of the bars, and inmates run the prison blocks and yards.  It is believed by many that official corruption is significant and everything is for sale.

What happens to inmates after jail or prison?  Rehab programs are poorly funded and inefficiently run inside, so employment opportunities outside are usually beyond their reach.  The poor transition leads to a much higher recidivism rate than it needs to be.

How can it be made better? It will require more funding for additional security personnel, anti-corruption mechanisms, and rehabilitation efforts, including work-release programs, as well as other diversion programs.  It is not rocket science, but it does not happen when only the poor are imprisoned, and the middle and upper classes have to foot the bill.  Plainly speaking, there is no voting constituency.  Proportional bail and uniform enforcement of drug laws would be an offer the middle and upper American classes can't refuse.


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