Dangerous Delusions: America on the Brink: A Critical Solution to America's Political and Economic Dilemma

The United States is on a collision course with reality. The outward appearance of a functioning democracy, campaigns waged, elections held, and legislation passed-obscures the structural flaws that have rendered America's political system incapable of solving the intractable problems that threaten the nation's future. The danger signs are evident-high levels of crime and poverty, anemic job creation, huge budget and trade deficits, and a burgeoning national debt. Solutions to these and other problems exist, but difficult decisions are required, and America's government has lost the ability to make them. In the absence of war or economic depression, democracies are slow to adjust to changing realities. The reason for this lethargic response is that change requires consensus, and building a consensus is typically a laborious task. Unfortunately, America's warped system of campaign finance has given special interests primacy over the general interest, and as a resul! t, consensus building has become an almost impossible task.

While it is widely recognized that political problems exist, little is being done to fix them. The participants work to make incremental changes to the status quo, but changes insufficient to veer America off the dangerous path it now treads. The United States faces a simple, yet enormously important choice. It can fix things now, or it can fix them later. Waiting for disaster to strike is a poor substitute for preventive action.