Hare and Tortoise

The Aesop fable of The Tortoise and the Hare is famous. The Hare and the Tortoise enter into a race. It is obvious that the fleet Hare will easily run circles around the Tortoise. The Hare takes off and disappears in a blaze before the Tortoise can take a single step.

The Hare is extremely confident, so he does not want it to look too easy. He slows and dallies along the way. Finally he takes a nap near the finish line. All the while, the Tortoise is progressing one ponderous step after another. 

The Hare wakes from his long nap. He looks back down the road to see if he can see the Tortoise coming. No, the Tortoise in not in sight. He looks up ahead toward the finish line. He is shocked.  The Tortoise is about to cross the finish line. The Hare really never considered the Tortoise might catch up and move ahead. The Hare races as fast as he can. The Tortoise wins. 

America sprinted ahead in the 19^th century.  

• It had a wealth of natural resources and an influx of immigrants bringing different ways of doing things. This mushroomed into never before seen innovation. 

• The Great Depression really worked to America’s advantage. It created a labor force to perform public works still in use and a marvel today. It also resulted in social experiments that had world changing payoffs, such as universal free mandatory public education. 

• An ocean separated America from the machinations of the European powers. It gave breathing room and less demands on finances initially for security. 

• The great wealth of the nation allowed investment in other things that were to have high paybacks, such as NASA. The government funded research of universities and individuals out of purely intellectual interest. Some of the research resulted in home runs in innovation, technology and medicine. 

America has been napping. For nearly 70 years we failed to maintain and invest in core infra-structures. The roads, bridges, dams, water systems,  sewage systems and electrical grid are failing. It is estimate it would take 2 trillion dollars to bring them back up to standard. The political system has been captured by the richest 1% of Americans. They orchestrate the elections and demise of political candidates. They control the courts. The dysfunctional political system and the ever widening gap in economic disparity will result one day in revolution.

Today all the politicians are looking in the rear view mirror for guidance on today’s dilemmas. In some cases all the way back to the birth of the nation. But the past is not the present and the conditions are different. Looking back is a way for politicians to do nothing really constructive.

The Tortoises of the world are passing us in even our sacrosanct areas of science, technology and medicine. Our military prowess is not immune. 

We might wake up to the reality and sprint with all our might. At this point we would still find ourselves trying to hold on in the second world.