Musings: Fix problems we see before tearing them apart
If FEMA is doing poorly, the government should try to fix it or leave it alone while something better is prepared. Credit: AP/Nati Harnik
President Donald Trump has raised important issues that were not being properly addressed — primarily, of course, about immigration. But problems need to be solved by people working together. We have now had enough of government by anger, revenge, and lack of concern for affected people.
Immigration is a difficult, long-ignored problem. Mistakes will be made in correcting the situation, but they should be admitted and corrected.
In something as large as the federal government, there must be inefficiencies that can be reduced or eliminated. It is not too much to expect efficiency experts to retain people working with the already understaffed air traffic controllers.
Why are people working in meteorology fired when farmers need their data for crop production and all of us need them for early warnings of dangerous storms? When such storms hit, the need can be beyond what any state can supply. Federal help is essential. If the Federal Emergency Management Agency is doing poorly, either try to fix it or leave it alone while something better is prepared instead of weaning off FEMA.
Getting serious about waste means looking at the biggest programs, with the biggest chance of inefficiency.
Wars are now being fought with drones. Why are we now planning to build new fighter jets? China has announced its intention to take over Taiwan. Why are we preparing to fight with World War II technology? The unthinkable can happen — remember Sept. 11, 2001?
Government health agencies need to prepare for the future. There will be another pandemic. Why are the experts who got us through the last one being fired?
Artificial intelligence has already had instances of disobeying human commands. As it becomes more capable and powerful, doing so could be dangerous or even deadly.
How can government provide protection to infrastructure, environment, and humans?
All of us can help solve problems by voting, but we need trained, experienced people and the ideas of young, diverse people to solve difficult problems.
— David S. Martin, Glen Head
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