Good Message in President Obama's State of the Union

So yes, the world has changed. The competition for jobs is real. But this shouldn't discourage us. It should challenge us. Remember – for all the hits we've taken these last few years, for all the naysayers predicting our decline, America still has the largest, most prosperous economy in the world. No workers are more productive than ours. No country has more successful companies, or grants more patents to inventors and entrepreneurs. We are home to the world's best colleges and universities, where more students come to study than any other place on Earth.

The President hit the right notes in his SOTU speech.  Things are better but still not great.  We need to get off our butts and rise to the challenges before us.  It's shameful that we have a 25% drop out rate for high school and that so many countries are doing better than us academically. 

I liked that the President co-opted so many Republican issues and did so in a way that will make it difficult for them to get around him.  Mixed houses of congress and presidents often lead to legislation that is good for the country.  It would be great if the next two years worked in the favor of us and not the special interests.

From the BBC: US steel town blames China for bad times

There is an interesting article on Youngstown with comments from locals and Thomas Friedman up on the BBC website.  Reporter Justin Rowlatt spent some time in the city discussing the decline of the American steel industry and manufacturing in general.  His article hits all the notes we've seen before, dilapidated buildings, Bruce Springsteen's song and empty lots that used to be home to mills.

We've seen all this before.

Yes, we have run down buildings.  We get it.

He spoke with a couple guys outside a downtown bar who wanted to leave, to go somewhere, anywhere that prosperity may be easier to find.  The problem is that prosperity is up to the individual.  A school teacher interviewed for the article cries at the thought of what lost jobs mean to a family but the article doesn't address the elephant in the room.  Namely, that too many of us don't make a good effort in school, don't go on to learn a trade or attend college and that we expect a good job to fall out of the sky and knock us on the head.

Even Thomas Friedman gets in on the act.  Lamenting what he sees as China showing us what we used to have; drive, ambition and a willingness to get things done:

"We see in China things we used to see in ourselves: can-do, get it done, hard work, sacrifice, 'own the future'.

"That used to be us, and now we see it in them."

The evidence is all around us. Youngstown has the worst performing school district in the state, high poverty and high unemployment. What we are also sorely lacking is the ambition to do better; to see our environment as a challenge to overcome rather than shrug our shoulders at the way things are.  That's something else they're doing in China.  The poorest resident in Youngstown still lives much better than most rural Chinese who still make do without indoor plumbing.

This area is full of success stories, whether the BBC sees that or not. It's up to all of us to make our own success and give reporters something else to write about.

A Civil Conversation about Gun Control

Nicholas Kristof has a good article up at the Ny Times today about reforming gun regulations.  He puts forth some very logical ideas that would curb the harm people commit with firearms while still allowing ownership without inconvenient restriction.  This is a fine example of how we need to deal with a problem through compromise and civil discourse.

It's Time for a Grown Up Conversation About Political Speech

It doesn't matter whether Jared Laughner was swayed to shoot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and nineteen other people by the absurdly hateful speech that dominates political speech today.  The incident is horrific on its own merits.  It is enough that this incident has so many people worried that such speech could incite an unstable person to attempt assassination.  This is a conversation we need to have.

American politics has been dominated by over-the-top speech for more than fifteen years.  It isn't just pseudo-violent rhetoric that is concerning, it's the way civil discourse about issues has degenerated into a football like atmosphere where only one side can be right and compromise is seen as weakness.  Think about this: we've gotten to the point where Sarah Palin saying something like "Don't retreat, reload!" or Joyce Kaufman saying "If ballots don't work, bullets will" is the point where we ask ourselves if we've gone too far.

It is has become acceptable for pundits like Rush Limbaugh to castigate Republicans who compromise with Democrats as RINO's (Republican In Name Only).  Democrats on the far left have beat up on President Obama for two years because he continues to reach out to Republicans.  Suddenly we cannot accept that grown men and women may see getting half the pie as better than no pie.

It's time for us all to grow up a little bit and stop treating politics like professional wrestling.  We can't just accept partisan speech from MSNBC and Foxnews without listening to other sources.  We can't take offense when John Stewart skewers our party for some outrageous thing they say or do.  There are real problems facing this country and we need deep thought, worthwhile discussion and compromise to solve them.  We can succeed without getting everything we want.  In fact, our future depends on it.

New Butterfly Design from Rustbelt Pop

This is the new Butterfly design available at Rustbelt Pop. You can see it on t-shirts, tote bags, journals and mugs.  Don't worry.  I know the blog hasn't been updated in some time but things have been busy and regularly scheduled programming will recommence soon.

 Butterfly Beach Tote

Butterfly Scoop Neck

 Butterfly Journal