I find myself suddenly feeling a little more optimistic for our country than I have in decades. That brought to mind something that I wrote back on February 16, 2011. I feel it is summed up by this comment:

“Declining nations glory in their past accomplishments because their future looks so bleak. Rising nations become great by looking to the future, investing in their people and their infrastructure, and taking risks.” ~ Michael R Honig, “Republicans Must Think That Knowledge Grows on Trees” (2011-Feb 16)

I think that our nation became more nostalgic and less daring with the Ronald Reagan era which began 40 years ago. If you might recall, he was so opposed to renewable energy that he took the solar panels that Jimmy Carter had already installed on the White House roof and removed them!

Joe Biden has proposed a great infrastructure program to be accomplished over the span of 8 years. It may be the most important quantum leap in our infrastructure since the great programs of the FDR era over 80 years ago.

It will cost a lot of money, but it’s not an expense. It’s an investment in ourselves that will pay dividends for the lifetimes of everyone alive in America today.

I hate the comparison of running Government like a business, but I’ll allow this comparison, imperfect though it is: Business borrows to invest all the time, with the expectation that the debt will be repaid many times over by  the improved profitability from the business’s increased productivity by virtue of it’s improved competitiveness. In short, from it’s revitalized infrastructure.

The Biden/Harris Infrastructure proposals will make the US more competitive, more productive, and more profitable in commercial, financial, national security, and human terms.

It will make us a better country.

I wrote the article below just over 10 years ago. Aside from the dates and names, it could have been written this year or last year.

Republicans Must Think That Knowledge Grows on Trees

I have long believed that America is a profoundly anti-intellectual country, in spite of the paradox of America’s belief in its technological and intellectual superiority over the rest of the world.

You hear the insults all the time, concurrent with an actual or understood sneer: Long hairs, eggheads, nerds, geeks, Ivory Tower academics, brainiacs, book worms, teacher’s pets, know-it-alls, rocket scientists.

(See this essay written by Dennis Wu, “Why Isn’t Science More Respected and Rewarding?”)

Modern conservatives seem to be the worst at this form of hypocrisy Continue reading →