They say in marriage counsellings that you write down and express your demands and expectations to provide clear communications. So here is a short and far from complete list of things that I feel America needs to change in order for us to avoid divorce court.

1 – Drop this “America is the Greatest Country in the World” shit

We are not. Not even close. The only thing we are number one in would be wealth and number of people in prison (see #2). Any major study has found that in a large number of key areas Americans are far behind the rest of the world. From our eduction system to health care we are falling behind the other industrialized nations with many 3^rd world countries quickly catching up. In a recent poll measuring general happiness we came in 16^th.

As just one example, we work more hours for less money and get less vacations. The U.S. remains the only industrialized country in the world that has no legally mandated annual leave. France leads the world with 30 days off a year. Employees in Britain, German, Australia, Spain and Sweden have 20 or more days off a year, and Canada and Japan have 10 days off, about the same as some American corporations allow their workers. The Chinese get three weeks off a year, and this is only the legally mandated vacation time. Many employees in other countries take six or more weeks off a year (the French average 39 days and the English 24).

Assuming you are prefect leaves little room for change. Saying you are the best at everything (even if false) tends to make people believe nothing needs to be done to improve the situation. America is a good country and we should be proud of her but not to the point of being disillusioned about her less then flattering truths.

2 – End the War on Drugs

This policy has been a complete failure that has cost us hundreds of billions. This massive payout has gotten us almost nothing, drugs can still be found in almost every corner of this nation with new addicts being spawned every day. The truth behind the War on Drugs is quite simple, it is one of the only areas where the federal government can act like they are tough on crime, other crimes falls into the local levels of government.

The idea of using military and police powers to end drugs has been show to offer little results compared to the price tag. A recent study by the Justice Policy Institute found that investments in drug treatment and education are 10 to 15 times more effective at cutting drug use than the same amount spent on law enforcement aimed at drugs. In the mid 1990's the RAND Corporation did a study that found that to get a one-percent reduction in cocaine use it would cost $2,062,000,000 in "Source-Country Control" The study found you could get the same reduction in cocaine use for only $155,000,000 spent on education and treatment. Yet the federal "drug war budget" allocates five times more on enforcement than on treatment. And for those that would say the police only really go after dealers, fifty-two percent of those incarcerated in Illinois prisons for drug offenses are there for "possession."

I am not saying that we should make all drugs legal and hand then out in front of schools. I do believe we should act to help people with addiction issues but this would be a medical problem and should be handled as such. We need to understand that anyone can fall victim to addiction, it would seem we are biologically geared for it almost. From prescription drugs to heroin to alcohol there is almost no family that has not been effected in some way by the cycle of addiction. We need to create an environment where there is no stigma created by admitting you have a problem and asking for help. We also need to understand that breaking this addiction is hard and painful, most people will fail a number of times and some will never be cured.

3 – Get Us Off Oil

You would think the 70's would have driven us to find a better way long before now. The ripple effect of the doubling of gas prices over the last few years is destroying our economy. This month just ten years ago gas was $1.23 a gallon, as recently as the end of 2006 it was $2.27. The latest numbers have the average price around $4.25, that means prices have gone up almost double in a two year period over the eight years before it. But there is also the hidden costs of importing this much oil from some of the most unstable parts of the world.

The Cato Institute, a libertarian think-thank, did a study on the subject. What they found is simply mind-boggling. They calculated that the US spent between $30 to $60 billion a year safeguarding oil supplies in the Middle East during the 1990s, even though its imports from that region totaled only about $10 billion a year during that period. A more comprehensive study that includes the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and other oil protection services (the coast guard is clearing shipping lanes and doing navigational support to oil tankers, etc) shows that actual subsidies to Big Oil are between $78 to $158 billion per year.

If a bright side can be seen to this problem is that our hand has finally be forced on this issue. It would seem to the only way for us to break the cycle of oil dependence. We are starting to see the people of this country demand action be taken toward getting us on to other forces of energy. SUV sales are falling and it looks like GM will be forced to dump the Hummer. For years I have been the source of good natured joking at work for my tiny car but the spare cash I now have over them has become quite apparent.

4 – End Globalization

I have to admit that when Bill Clinton first talked to us about globalization I bought into the whole idea that opening markets would promote free trade which in turn would promote freedom in general. Well that did not happen, take a look at China which is our largest trading partner. In fact here is a fun little game you can play if you want to see how intertwined our economies are; pick up some of the different objects on your desk to see if you can find one NOT made in China. I got one and that is made in Canada. In fact try to see if you can even find an America flag that was really made in America, I keep one on my desk that has a big “made in China” written across it as a joke.

The problem with free trade is that we are not on a level playing field. There is really nothing the America worker can do to make himself worth even minimum wage when you can pay someone in China that less then that hourly sum for an entire day. The rise of Wal-Mart has shown the people really do not care where their products come from so the idea that some “Buy American Made” campaign would be effective against this is silly. So with completely free markets the only option to keep American workers competitive would be to either rise the pay standards of other countries such as China or to lower what we pay our workers to match that of the 3^rd world...guess which one seems to be happening.

Just two generations ago it would not be unreasonable to expect someone with just a high school eduction that was willing to put in an honest 40 hours of work a week to be able to afford a home, a car, and to send their children to college. And that would be with only one parent working. Finding a household that does not have both parents working is getting harder then finding blue jeans made in America.