Op-Ed Columnist - A Date With Scarcity - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Columnist - A Date With Scarcity - NYTimes.com

This article by David Brooks is a must read. It lays out the scenario on national scarcity. It's something Americans haven't been faced with since the great depression. Now some of my thoughts: Let's put America first. I don't suggest a bunker mentality, but rather an assessment of where best to spend our scarce commodities. For example, is it more important for America to spend 20 billion dollars to cure HIV in Africa or is it more important to spend that 20 billion dollars hiring American workers to begin repairing our infrastructure? Choices need to be made. I'm not arguing that we withdraw from the world, I'm arguing that we can't afford to support that world anymore. Why should we be paying for a division of troops garrisoned in Germany---shouldn't we either withdraw those troops or demand that Germany pick up the cost? Examples such as this are legion. Choices need to me made soon---I hope our political leadership is up to the task. Jim