The State of the Union

This year's state of the union address came with much anticipation, wondering where the president would guide the country, and how he would approach conveying quite literally the state of the union.  Our country is dealing with huge problems right now, and we rightly so look to our president to help us understand how we will get out of this.  After watching the state of the union and reflecting upon it now, I am reminded of an article I read the next morning, describing the president as in a state of denial.  I almost would not understand how one could not seek such a thought after some of the statements he made Tuesday evening e.g. his statement regarding less government intervention in education programs, but more power to the states, which of course is a government in itself that controls much of education within the state to begin with.  The president is a rock in a hard place, what do you tell a nation of people who are waiting on your every word to solve everything, but the solution is so complex and perhaps not even understood yet, that it would be nearly impossible to discuss in approximately an hour.  Of course, I should state that it might also be difficult to disagree with many of the things the president did say, as most of what he said about the disagreements in Washington and the situations faced today do need to be converged upon and addressed accordingly.  Yet we can question his approach.  How much of this is actually possible?  It could be seen in many ways as the opening to his campaign, setting the standard for what he will use as his platform for the next 10 months.

My parents are small business owners that work almost exclusively with the military and government, priding themselves in being made in the USA, with stickers placed on every shipment that leaves the building.  They also make every effort to ensure that every piece they use to build a control box, or wiring harness that will go on a humvee or submarine for our military, is a product of the USA as well.  His proposition of giving tax breaks to those who keep their work within the United States sounds excellent; I think it is something that needs to be done.  Right now is the time especially since our workers are some of the hardest working people in the world right now, and their productive abilities should be seized as such.  Though I am optimistic of such propositions, it is hard to believe in his words or know that it will actually occur, because of the deep fissures that exist between legislators today.

Another important note to address as a college student I would enjoy his proposition for what universities should do in effort to receive funding, but I seriously question the substantiate of such statements.  It is difficult to guarantee such things in this economy, and is hard to believe when not only my own university is raising their intuition again, but also the state universities across CT are increasing tuition as well for reasons that are never explicitly clear.

Of course, fun will be poked at the politics that occur even at the one event, who laughs, who claps, who sits and who stands.  If the president opens with his strongest point or ends with his weakest, but there is a bigger issue to be heard.  Where is the state of our union truly headed?  We are in a very poor place right now and I use the poor because I do not know how else to describe the situation other than being nearly devoid of hope or surrounded by such poor societies, communities and people.  We are plunging further into it and I am scared when my parents speak of being worried about the future of their grandchildren who have not been born yet.  It is very difficult to agree on everything that needs to be done, but personal feelings need to be put aside and it just needs to be done.  I wonder when we will see it, if it is 4 or 20 years from now, and perhaps it is the unknown that is most intimidating.  Overall, the state of the union is always an important assessment as citizens of our country, though it is questionable about how much it tells us about the state of the union, rather than question that it may just be what a presidential candidate plans to use as his platform for the duration of his campaign.