Reimagining the American Dream

The American Dream is an idea – an idea that has driven this country and inspired the world for almost 300 years. This dream is rooted in our Declaration of Independence with the words: 

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Read more: Reimagining the American Dream

Organizing Chaos: A Unified Vision for S&T

Until recently, the United States relied on our vast expenditures and resources to remain at the forefront of the technological revolution. Given the increasing speed of global advancement, this is no longer an effective strategy. We cannot rely on investments that only support government agencies seeking incremental advancements in science and technology (S&T), serving the issues of today rather than enabling the world of tomorrow.

Our investment into S&T and research and development (R&D) needs to be an end unto itself. In a world dominated by advancements in S&T, the US must lead. In order to lead the world, we must be the prominent player in the most important areas of S&T – the areas that promise to revolutionize our future. Leading the charge on sequencing the human genome and dedicating the resources needed to get us to the moon were riddled with challenges. A government-focused effort can overcome these types of difficulties and get us where we want to be. Working towards a vision of the future is not a task for one company or industry.

Read more: Organizing Chaos: A Unified Vision for S&T

Regulatory Failure in Flint, Michigan

The Flint, Michigan water crisis represented a failure of government at multiple levels. However, the damage could have been prevented if key components of a regulation evaluation process had been required at the inception of the rule making process. A coordinated implementation strategy along with enforcement to ensure regular retrospective review could have, in the case of the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations and Safe Drinking Water Act, prevented the crisis that occurred in the Flint water system. A high level framework, applied to all regulation making, should be created and implemented to provide guidance to regulators on how to conduct retrospective evaluation.

Read more: Regulatory Failure in Flint, Michigan

Book Review - Wayward Pines: Where Paradise is Home

Given the opportunity, is there anyone that would turn down living forever? Suspended animation has been a cornerstone of fairy tales and science fiction novels, albeit the two genres utilize long-term sleep in hugely disparate ways. Fairy tales, such as Snow White, tend to use it as a means of saving a beloved character or helping them see the error of their ways, while science fiction focuses on the use of non-magical suspended animation to make interstellar space travel possible, or for purposes of preserving the human race. In the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, suspended animation is used to both travel through space and preserve a race of genetically modified super-humans.

Read more: Book Review - Wayward Pines: Where Paradise is Home

Global Extinction or a Space-Industrial Complex

During the the peak of the Apollo program, the United States government funded NASA at over 4% of the federal budget1 as compared to the less than 0.5% of federal funding NASA receives today. The allocation of resources was possible as our country perceived a real threat from the Soviet Union and their launch of Sputnik. Not only did we mobilize our military and technological assets to protect our way of life, but President Kennedy energized the nation in a time of global crisis while the Cold War was threatening the world with nuclear annihilation.2

...this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.

Read more: Global Extinction or a Space-Industrial Complex

©, 2016-2024, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, All rights reserved.