Why the Government is Failing..."We the People"

By John M. Zito

I have been fortunate enough, that over the past 30 years, my job has allowed me to travel all over the world. This book is about my observations during these travels and what I have learned during my time abroad. It is about what I believe that we, the United States of America, can do better, regarding the economy, healthcare, education, the environment, and basic infrastructure.
For each chapter of this book, I will point out where I feel this country, or our government, is deficient, and I will provide examples of where other nations and their administrations are doing a better job.
This book is about improving our quality of life, not having children go to bed hungry, providing a safe learning environment so children are not afraid to go to school, having a Congress, regardless of their party affiliation, that wants to work side-by-side on improving and advancing our country. It’s about...“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” Together (united), we can make a difference!
I will be donating 100% of the net proceeds of this book to charity. I will highlight some of the charities throughout the book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John M. Zito
• Release date: Sep 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005991302

John M. Zito

John is a typical average American, who grew up in Middle Village Queens, New York. He attended college at the State University of New York College at Buffalo. He has worked in the Insurance industry for the past 32 years.John lives in New Jersey with his wife and 3 kids,

Book preview

Why the Government is failing… We the People

Published by John M. Zito

Copyright 2020 John M. Zito

ISBN: 9781005991302

Cover by Vila Design

This book is dedicated to anyone

who donates to charity - monetarily or with their time.

You are awesome, and the world is a better place because of you!

Why the Government is failing…

We the People

John M. Zito

Contents

Preamble – I Love my Country

Chapter 1 – Where it all began

Chapter 2 – Foreign Affairs (a history lesson)

Chapter 3 – Infrastructure

Chapter 4 – Healthcare

Chapter 5 – Education

Chapter 6 – Gun Control

Chapter 7 – Economics

Chapter 8 – Environmental

Chapter 9 – COVID-19

Final Word

Charities

Bibliography

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Preamble – I Love my Country

The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only a page

- Saint Augustine

Question:

Why do you think America is the greatest country in the world?

Answer:

"It’s not the greatest country in the world. That is my answer. There is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world. We’re 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median household income, number 4 in labor force, and number 4 in exports. We lead the world in only three categories, number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending (where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined, 25 of whom are our allies). So, when you ask what makes America the greatest country in the world, I don’t know what the f#@k you are talking about. We sure used to be. We stood up for what was right. We fought for moral reasons. We passed laws, struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed. We cared about our neighbors. We put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chests. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and we cultivated the world’s greatest artists and the world’s greatest economy. We reached for the stars… We aspired to intelligence. We didn’t belittle it. It didn’t make us feel inferior. We didn’t identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election and we didn’t scare so easy. We were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed, by great men, men who were revered. The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore." From the TV show, The Newsroom, A college student asks a panel can you say why America is the greatest country in the world? This was Will McAvoy’s, response. [1]

If those words and numbers surprised you, you’re not alone. They should be shocking. Our country should be doing better. My goal is to demonstrate why America is not the greatest country in the world anymore, and why we can point to our government for blame. I will make suggestions on how we can improve on the categories just mentioned: literacy, math, science, life expectancy, infant mortality, exports, etc., so we can start to regain the status that is expected of us.

I love my country and what it stands for... Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. I am not an expert on any of the topics that I present in this book. I am not an economist. I am not a radical nor a conspiracist. I don’t have extreme political views. I am not a civil engineer. I am no expert on foreign policy, nor do I pretend to be an expert on education, healthcare, or environmental matters.

I am an average American, who grew up in an apartment in Queens, New York in a lower-middle-class environment. I don’t have strong ties to either political party and consider myself a moderate. I am registered as a Republican but have voted for Democrats. I lean towards candidates that share my views and how to improve our standard of living. As an American, I am tired and fed up with America falling far behind in almost every measurable category.

Our Founding Fathers created our government and thus the United States of America. In our very short history, we were the first to fly an airplane, we invented electricity, the light bulb, the automobile, the cell phone, the personal computer, Wi-Fi, and the internet. For God’s sake, we put a man on the moon!

We are a resilient country. We have overcome a Civil War, two World Wars, disasters (both manmade and natural), the Great Depression, the Great Recession, and 9/11. We are a great country, but there is tremendous room for improvement, and we have much to learn from other nations.

I have been fortunate enough that, over the past 30 years, my job has allowed me to travel all over the world. Between business and personal travel, I have visited:

Aruba

Sydney, Australia

Linz, Melk, Salzburg, Vienna, Austria

Nassau, Bahamas

Bermuda

British and US Virgin Islands

Brussels, Belgium

Toronto, Canada

Santiago, Chile

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

London, Manchester, England

Cannes, Paris, France

Munich, Passau, Germany

Budapest, Hungary

Agra, Bangalore, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune, India

Rome, South Tyrol, Italy

Mexico City, Playa Del Carmen, Mexico

Casablanca, Rabat, Tangier, Morocco

Lisbon, Portugal

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Singapore, Republic of Singapore

Bratislava, Slovakia

Cadiz, Malaga, Marbella, Spain

I have traveled extensively to many of these locations. In the early 1990s, as part of a global system rollout, twice I spent six weeks traveling around the world. Those trips started out in New Jersey, then to Los Angeles, then two weeks in Sydney, a week in Singapore, two weeks in Brussels, a week in London, and then back home. My company was acquired by a German company in the mid-1990s, and since then I have visited Germany over 100 times. For two years, I spent one week a month in Germany. I have traveled to Toronto about 30 times and London about 20 times. I have traveled to India 4 times. From 2015-2017 I commuted from New Jersey to Hartford, Connecticut every other week (firsthand experience with our rail systems).

This book details my observations during these travels and what I have learned during my time abroad. It is about what I believe that we, the United States of America, can do better, regarding the economy, healthcare, education, the environment, and basic infrastructure. For each chapter of this book, I will point out where I feel this country, or our government, is deficient, and I will provide examples of where other nations and their administrations are doing a better job. Some of these examples will shock you. This book is not about making America great again. It is about improving our quality of life, not having children go to bed hungry, providing a safe learning environment so children are not afraid to go to school, having a Congress, regardless of their party affiliation, that wants to work side-by-side on improving and advancing our country. It’s about…We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity. [2] Together (united), we can make a difference!

I will be donating 100 percent of the net proceeds of this book to charity. I will highlight some of the charities throughout the book. A full list of charities can be found in the appendix.

Chapter 1 – Where it all began

Let us not be unmindful that liberty is power; that the nation blessed with the largest portion of liberty must in proportion to its numbers be the most powerful nation upon earth.

- John Quincy Adams

First, let us recap where we, as a country, stand today. (Hint: it’s not great.) Our financial system is fragile, due to COVID-19 and the shutdown of our economy. On March 9, 2020, the Dow dropped 2000 points, the largest single-day loss in the history of the stock exchange. (Chapter 9 COVID-19).

Our national debt sits at a staggering $23.25 trillion and is growing at an alarming rate. It is the largest deficit in our history. (Chapter 7 Economics).

We are still haunted by one of the deadliest school shootings in United States history, where 17 people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida on February 14, 2018. Four months earlier, on October 1, 2017, Stephan Paddock killed 58 people and injured over 500 when he opened fire from a Las Vegas hotel overlooking a concert attended by 22,000 people, making this the deadliest mass shooting ever. (Chapter 6 Gun Control).

Our infrastructure is crumbling. Since 2014 there have been 26 Amtrak derailments. Our road surfaces are a disaster. Bridges and tunnels built in the 1930s are collapsing or crumbling around and under us, and need to be replaced. Based on a report released by TRIP titled National Bridge News Release, as of 2012, a total of 25 percent of the nation’s bridges (20 feet or longer) are either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Eleven percent of America’s bridges are structurally deficient, meaning there is significant deterioration of the bridge deck, supports or other major components. Bridges that are structurally deficient may be posted for lower weight limits or closed if their condition warrants such action. An additional 14 percent of the nation’s bridges are functionally obsolete. Functionally obsolete bridges no longer meet current highway design standards, often due to narrow lanes, inadequate clearances or poor alignment with the approaching roadway [3] (Chapter 3 Infrastructure).

Our students are significantly outpaced by other countries, particularly in math. (Chapter 5 Education).

We find ourselves with troops deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq. We are at odds with Iran and North Korea regarding nuclear weapons. The Russians have just been indicted for using social media to tamper with the 2016 presidential election. (Chapter 2 Foreign Affairs).

Our healthcare system is a laughingstock. Between what was introduced by President Obama and then recently overhauled by President Trump, no one really knows what it takes to get it right while not hurting those that need it the most. Compared to 10 of our peer countries in healthcare statistics, we rank dead last. We have the highest infant mortality rate compared to those same countries. Yes, that shocked me too. (Chapter 4 Healthcare).

We are running out of natural resources at a catastrophic rate, and we are experiencing more frequent and severe natural catastrophes due to global warming. The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season will long be remembered as one of the busiest and most destructive seasons on record. (Chapter 8 Environmental).

If we compare where we are as a country today, to any other point in our history, there are some similarities to the late 1920s, especially regarding the Stock Market crash and the eventual Great Depression. Looking at this period, we will see how the government played a vital role in turning the country around. (Chapter 3 Infrastructure).

During my travels and as I made these observations, the question I kept asking myself was, how did we get here? How did things get this bad? When did the government start failing us? My conclusion is that we actually experienced a perfect storm between two major factors. So, when, exactly, did the government start failing us? Let’s take a closer look.

The first factor coincided with the Gilded Age. "The Gilded Age is a period in American society (between the Civil War and World War I) with rapid economic growth but also characterized by corruption, materialism, monopolistic businesses, and growing inequality.

The Gilded Age was a time of unbridled capitalism, with some business leaders becoming very wealthy through the consolidation of key industries into powerful monopolies.

The term ‘Gilded Age’ implies that the outer wealth was a mask for inner corruption and inner poverty. ‘Gilded Age’ is a satire on the rich monopolists, who were accused of gaining wealth through monopolistic practices, mistreatment of workers, and corruption of the political process". [4]

Greed! It became the driving factor, and for the first time in the history of the United States, we had some very wealthy and powerful men who would drive the government and their agendas, including how we handled foreign affairs and what was in the best interest of big business. Coincidentally, this is also the same time that we started to see intense lobbying occurring. Technically, the First Amendment allows for lobbying. It states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or