Policy Making Should Focus On Longevity Rather Than Political Noise

Policy Making Should Focus on Longevity Rather Than Political Noise

Policy Making Should Focus on Longevity Rather Than Political Noise

By: Mark Brady

I want to discuss what I’ll attribute as the “relative scale” of public policy within this country. With the word “relative,” I desire to put issues on a neutral pedestal whereby they can be examined on a basis of longevity. I want to explore the relevancy of certain public policy, and perhaps, where we ought to turn our attention. 

A majority of people in our current society tend to delve into issues from a far shorter-sighted and passive view than I feel is necessary or useful. There are many issues at hand that I feel tend to absorb the “noise”, or more appropriately, “political energy” of our society. I feel these issues of less importance have clotted national discussion, and have therefore stalled progress. 

When I explore specific issues, I try and establish a mental “century outlook” for that proposal. When I speak of “longevity,” therefore, I tend to think of dilemmas that our society doesn’t wish to take care of, perhaps out of mere negligence, or the political “noise” that I described earlier. I feel there are many instances where our nation could be doing more but is tied down in “noise” and baseless, often irrational discussion. 

Take for instance, our nation’s space program. While I dearly admire the work of NASA, our government simply doesn’t provide the capital to pursue those things that I feel would be a great leap-forward for mankind. Presently,  NASA doesn’t even have its own rocket system to bring astronauts to the International Space Station; instead we rely on Russia. The agency is hamstrung by other budgetary concerns, primarily our growing social budget, which at times, acts as a mere “bread and circus” instrument for policy makers. Just think what could be accomplished if the .5% ante for NASA were raised in our $3.4 trillion budget. We wouldn’t have to wait for private contractors to reach Mars. We could put in the work ourselves, and unite the nation as a result. 

Domestically, many of our nation’s economic regions are in disarray, or even states of perpetual decline. Some cosmopolitan regions of our country, namely a select few urban centers, have the ability to project themselves louder than others, and frankly absorb the spotlight. Other regions of our country that need serious developmental or transformational work are commonly excluded from political discussion. It does not take an expert to note the deep, infrastructural decay of this country.  

On the international stage, I think America has engaged in a self-inclined practice of defeatism, largely derided by the ever increasing “noise” of non-ending social discussion at home. America has interests abroad that we may increasingly lose a grip of, simply because energy was exuberated on issues of far less strategic importance. While it can be easy to “deride” America’s policies abroad, some forget that the general state of international peace was carved by America’s positions overseas. The more we retreat, the faster we fall behind. The more “noise” inside, the easier it is for our competitors on the world scene to step in. While we engage in divisive and exhausting debate, China rebuilds Africa for its interests, and other nations fill the gaps.  

With the rise of this largely baseless “noise,” I feel a new era of environmental nihilism has developed, whereby we may doom the planet simply by prioritizing less important issues. Climate-change science aside, it is a well-documented phenomenon that ocean acidification is seriously harming coral reefs around the globe, a vital collection of ocean ecosystems. While we sit and simply stare at the current anthropocentric “Holocene Extinction” phenomenon, we all just remain passive, accept it, and move backwards to the other issues. We “settle fates” by simply ignoring issues of grand importance.

While there are those who frankly dominate political discussions in our country and carry self-described banners “progressivism” or “justice,” I believe there are many instances where this rather self-loaded mindset has dwindled precious resources into other aspects of this country, and the globe at large. There are times when very small populations of this country have developed “loud voices” on certain topics, only for it to absorb precious time and resources. I believe many of these topics don’t hold as great a projected importance as they may deem so.

As a reader, I will finish by asking you the following: Do you believe, that in a few decades time, the planet, or American citizens for that matter, will care about some of the social discussions that have been occurring over the last few years? Or rather, would it have appreciated efforts to aid the dying reefs, get a mission to Mars, or do the necessary investments to reinvigorate this country? I’d like to think the latter.