Election periods always prompt trend observations

Reading the tea leaves is chancy work, much as always subject to the eyes of the tea reader. Today’s soothsayers, usually called pollsters, provide the recent trend forecasts.

The influence of the TV media in trying to promote the mostly producers’ candidates is a trend. The influence of the younger college age generation being concerned about what the rest of the world thinks about America is a trend. The self-announced power of the pundits to predict what is happening recently is a trend. The latest version of propaganda managed and paid for effects on we people, called the media managers and spin masters, is a trend.

The biggest trend of all still is seldom talked about. The last few decades of status quo in America is about over. To put a good face on the trend, most of what we Americans have tried to improve for we, America, and we, the World, will still take more time, and the trend is to reinforce all that is good about America, and within budget. This smells like a slow down trend. How about we catch up at home, locally, state, and even federal?

Now many of us have heard that lack of growth in federal budgets “is a cut”, which of course is baloney. And many Americans wonder if the present candidates for our federal President want to be President of the world? If correct, that is not an American trend, though some may disagree. Do we really want our taxes to go towards trying to solve the world’s problems, as defined by the politicians running for the federal office? Do we really want to live in their vision of their future using our taxes. If their trend, not ours, is to be President of the World, then they are in the wrong place and running for the wrong office. If you buy the do-gooder ideas balanced with some financial sobriety, then there are other alternatives to be more USA American that can become trends for the next decade or so. Even the most conspiracy oriented will probably go along with taking care of our country first. Even this probable trend is obvious, and for our world and human benefit in the long run.

The underlying trend of the last two decades is also so obvious. The trends need to focus on local, state, and sometimes federal tax distribution for our benefit. The frictions between benefits like retirements and the local taxes that it takes, and basic police and fire security like most expect from government, is becoming more obvious. If one has to hire an extra, on top of basic police neighborhoods patrols, to protect their life and home, to include little kids, then something has trended out the wrong way.

Most of American local communities have not yet suffered this way. But it is coming as a trend. Vote to make things better, of course, in your voters mind. And voter choices are often more grey, than black or white. Now that is our America.