Daniel L. Gardner
Guest Columnist

This year’s election is boiling down to the role government should play in America. Should we have bigger government that provides more and more things for more and more people, or should we have smaller government that provides only essential services as stipulated in the Constitution?

Since the election of ’08, and in particular since the rise of TEA Parties across America, the debate has used words like socialism and capitalism to characterize the two sides.

Merriam-Webster defines socialism in part as “any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.” The same source defines capitalism as “an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market.”

Necessarily socialism has a political component because in all of its various forms only government can implement socialism, whereas capitalism is simply an economic system based on private ownership.

So, which is better: to have the government own or control everything, or to let the people have private ownership?

For the past 110 years or so progressive politicians in both parties have created bureaucracies to meet an assortment of needs for a variety of different groups. Common sense says every time government creates a new program or bureaucracy, government must raise more money to pay for the new service, and government raises more money by raising taxes.

Needless to say, as government grows bigger and influences or controls more of our lives and livelihoods, we have to pay the government more and more money in taxes. That’s the very point TEA Parties began making three years ago.

Nobody denies Washington wastes a lot of our money. In fact, politicians routinely run on promises of cleaning up Washington and eliminating waste, and yada, yada, yada…. We’ve heard it all before, and since the ’08 elections we’ve seen Washington increase government spending, ergo raising the need for higher taxes, every year. That’s not terribly surprising since virtually all governments raise spending every year.

Do we really need all that spending? No. Has anyone in Washington slowed that spending? No. Has anyone cut any waste out of government spending in Washington? No, and double no.

The problem has gotten so bad in recent years that we now owe more than we produce every year, and we are quickly getting to the point where we won’t be able to pay for anything in Washington except interest on the debt. All the money we pay in interest goes for no benefits whatsoever. That’s a huge waste of dollars.

We’re getting to the point where the government would have to own or control everything we produce in order to pay for all the money we’ve borrowed as well as interest on that debt. And, that brings us back to the question of whether we want government to get bigger or whether we want government to begin cutting back on spending.

In essence, those who have grown government bigger and bigger are espousing socialism regardless of their empty campaign speeches and slogans promising to cut waste out of government. Voters need to judge politicians on what they’ve done, not on what they say.

Daniel L. Gardner is a syndicated columnist who lives in Starkville, MS. You may contact him at Daniel@DanLGardner.com, or visit his website at http://www.danlgardner.com Feel free to interact with him on the Clarion-Ledger feature blog site http://www.clarionledger.com/section/blogs06. Gardner’s columns are also featured on http://dannygardner.opinioneditorial.com

His views do not represent the views of Starkvillenow.com

Daniel L. Gardner

Guest Columnist

Media has created a lot of buzz lately about God. Everything from Tim Tebow to the perennial war on Christmas and holiday trees has been in the news the past few weeks. I counted no fewer than three featured articles in the Sunday New York Times related to God.

Of course God has been a mainstay in GOP politics. After all, God is a Republican isn’t He? That reminds me of a poignant rejoinder in the book of Joshua chapter 5 and verses 13 – 15: “Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, ‘Are you for us or for our adversaries?’”

“And he said, “No….” (Now that’s poignant!) “Rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord.” Joshua learned a valuable lesson: Sometimes we presume way too much when we ask either/or questions.

In the last two verses Joshua bows down and removes his sandals because the “captain of the host of the Lord” told him he was standing on holy ground.

As mere humans we often want God to be “on our side.” How foolish is that? Is God on Tim Tebow’s side? Does God root for the Denver Broncos, or actually perform miracles so the Broncos can win? Please!

I doubt Tebow has ever said God was on his side, but more likely he has said he was on God’s side. Claims like that infuriate atheists like Bill Maher who’s mocked and criticized Tebow for his prayer-like poses after scoring touchdowns.

For those who don’t follow sports, Tebow is quarterback for the Denver Broncos, son of missionaries, Heisman Trophy winner, and expressive Christian who has unexpectedly – some say miraculously – led the Broncos to seven wins out of the last eight games. Bill Maher is a comedian wannabee who mocks all things Christian.

But still, why all this buzz about God? I understand the God-religion issues in the GOP. Democrats don’t have to worry about God-questions. The Reverend Jeremiah Wright posed no serious threats to President Obama’s candidacy. Religion is a big “value” among the GOP faithful.

If God of the Bible is real – and I believe He is Who He says He is in the Bible – then shouldn’t true believers behave more like stricken Joshua who just encountered the “captain of the host of the Lord?” I mean, what else could possibly matter?

Christians are as fallible as anyone else, maybe even more so. At least, I know I’ve failed way more than my fair share of the time. Want to mock Christians? Go ahead! We’re very mockable. But, God isn’t. And, that’s the point progressive media pundits haven’t grasped.

As we approach Christmas, I hope everyone will reconsider God and His “good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people…a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

Daniel L. Gardner is a syndicated columnist who lives in Starkville, MS. You may contact him at Daniel@DanLGardner.com, or visit his website at http://www.danlgardner.com Feel free to interact with him on the Clarion-Ledger feature blog site http://www.clarionledger.com/section/blogs06. Gardner’s columns are also featured on http://dannygardner.opinioneditorial.com

His columns do not reflect the views of Starkville Now.

Daniel L. Gardner

Guest Columnist

Frustration is unmet expectations. I believe Stephen Covey wrote something like that in one of his books. If I had to characterize our nation’s attitude I’d say we were a frustrated nation. We’ve been frustrated a long time, more than a decade.

I believe we began to get frustrated when hanging chads held up the final vote count in the 2000 election for president. Since then we’ve had 911, two major wars, lots of bubbles bursting – stock market, housing, banking, etc. – TEA Parties, Occupy Wall Street, and a super committee. Yes sir, we’ve seen a whole lot of frustration going on.

What have we been expecting that we haven’t gotten? The one thing just about everybody would agree with: we haven’t had effective and responsible leadership. In 2008 we voted for hope and change and got neither. Instead we got more gridlock, more debt, triple sized deficits, and a downgrade.

The super committee was charged with reducing our national debt by $1.2 Trillion over the next ten years. That’s $120 Billion per year, or about a nickel out of every dollar spent: chump change. Frankly, that paltry amount wouldn’t put a dent in our debt and would almost certainly not prevent another credit downgrade.

This is not a Republican or a Democrat problem. It’s a leadership problem and those in office in DC have failed to lead. It’s time for another change…a real change this time.

Arguably, our mounting debt is the biggest threat we face as a nation. Contrary to partisan chattering on cable news outlets, no one in DC has cut anything. No budgets have been cut. Increases have been pared a bit, but no one in Washington has actually cut anyone’s budget. So, all the harem scarem theatrics put on by partisan ideologues about cutting programs necessary to care for our elderly, children, and less fortunate are pure shams.

We need someone to set up a responsible budget for Washington that balances revenue and spending. We’ve overspent our revenue by nearly $1.5 Trillion each of the past three years. Those deficits are more than 50-percent more than we actually raised in revenues. Who’s running our government in Washington?

We need to cut out of the budget any department or program that is not absolutely essential. We need to reform our tax code in simple terms that make sure everybody pays something into the system. At the very least we need to cap spending where it is today.

We’re facing a debt threat that will undo our nation and everybody is frustrated. As Jerry Clower used to say about the coon hunter who was fighting a bobcat up a tree, “Shoot up here amongst us! One of us has got to have some relief.”

That coon hunter had been expecting to roust a coon out of the tree, but ran into a surly bobcat. Talk about your unmet expectations!

American voters don’t have unreasonable expectations. Washington needs to step up and meet those expectations before it’s too late.

Daniel L. Gardner is a syndicated columnist who lives in Starkville, MS. You may contact him at Daniel@DanLGardner.com, or visit his website at http://www.danlgardner.com Feel free to interact with him on the Clarion-Ledger feature blog site http://www.clarionledger.com/section/blogs06. Gardner’s columns are also featured on http://dannygardner.opinioneditorial.com

His column does not reflect the views of Starkville-Now.

Daniel L. Gardner

Guest Columnist

Would you like to know the future? While many assume some things and events are inevitable, some of us wonder whether we could change the inevitable, especially if change would be for the better.

For at least the last hundred years or so American politicians have toyed with following European models of progressive socialistic democracies. Why? I suppose they view government benefits as being not only good for the people but also good for the governors who wield the power.

But therein lies the problem: Does power belong to the government or to the people?

America was founded upon principles of government of the people, by the people, and for the people, whereas Europe has a rich tradition of powerful aristocracies and governance by kings, queens, popes, and dictators. For heaven’s sake, didn’t our forefathers rebel against these governors and create a whole new egalitarian form of governance?

Yet, politicians are drawn to power like moths drawn to a flame. Progressive politicians have never heard a problem they could not solve with a government program. That’s what’s gotten us into this mess today.

Progressive politicians – from both sides of the aisle I might add – have grown our government well beyond what those of us who pay taxes (the 51%) can afford. But, government leaders should not be fearing taxpayers as much as bond traders.

Taxpayers have been revolting against the government forever. TEA Parties are the latest iteration of tax revolts, and TEA Parties are making a dramatic difference in state houses and legislatures across America.

But bond traders, those who buy, sell, and rate government bonds will be the death knell of progressive politicians as we have seen in Greece and Italy, and will surely see in Spain and France.

European nations are reaping the end results of government giving people everything “for free” including healthcare and education as well as overly generous government wages, pensions, and early retirements. Not only are governments crumbling under overwhelming debt, but people are rioting because these same governments cannot continue giving them the benefits they promised. They’ve run out of credit.

America is not that far behind because our debt has skyrocketed to nearly 100-percent of our GDP and we’ve already suffered one credit downgrade. We’re on the verge of suffering another credit downgrade if Washington does not rein in spending.

We’ve seen rioters across Europe protesting cuts in entitlements because nations have run out of credit. When America runs out of credit and Washington has to cut entitlements, will we see rioting in our cities? We’re already seeing rioting.

We’ve followed Europe’s lead in growing entitlement spending well beyond what taxpayers can afford, and we’re well on our way to having to implement severe austerity measures just like European socialist democracies.

Are cuts in government benefits and riots across America inevitable? Yes, if we continue progressive politics as usual. But, we can change the future if we act now and stop irresponsible deficit spending. Europe’s present need not be our future.

Daniel L. Gardner is a syndicated columnist who lives in Starkville, MS. You may contact him at Daniel@DanLGardner.com, or visit his website at http://www.danlgardner.com Feel free to interact with him on the Clarion-Ledger feature blog site http://www.clarionledger.com/section/blogs06. Gardner’s columns are also featured on http://dannygardner.opinioneditorial.com

His column does not reflect the views of Starkville-Now.

Daniel L. Gardner

Guest Columnist

On November 1, more than 1,000 paratroopers and infantrymen – most of them attached to the 11th Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Kentucky – were ordered to witness an atomic explosion and to inspect heavy weapon’s damage within a few hundred yards of ground zero.

A friend in Selmer, TN, wrote the account of this “test” and sent it to me a couple of weeks ago. I was shocked reading about troops being used as guinea pigs, as live human subjects in a nuclear explosion. As I began to investigate this incident I learned more than 1,000 atomic bombs were exploded between 1945 and 1992. It’s all in the record books, unsealed now.

Maybe I missed that day in American history class, but I certainly don’t remember reading about atomic bombs and live human test subjects. Over the years I’ve read about and written about some really stupid policies and projects coming out of Washington, but this one tops even “Operation Fast and Furious” the ill-advised gun running operation by our own Department of Justice.

Bill Browder, the friend who sent the email to me, wrote, “Almost immediately after the breakup of the mushroom shaped atomic cloud they [the soldiers] were trucked back to their command post, picked up their packs and weapons, turned in their radiation film badges and marched to within a few hundred yards of ground zero to inspect heavy weapon’s damage. No one remembers having a personal radiation film badge.”

Browder should know. He was one of the men in the experiment in 1951.

I have great respect and admiration for all who serve our country in the military. Those of us who have never served will never fully know the extent of their sacrifices. Yet we can enjoy safety and liberty here at home because of the prices they have paid and sacrifices they’ve made. I’ve said “Thank you” many times with heartfelt gratitude to friends, family, acquaintances, and complete strangers in uniform for serving our nation.

Browder ended his note to me with these memories: “Most of this group of naive young paratroopers (and the thousands who followed in the next few years) who walked into that desert 60 years ago, not knowing what was about to take place or whether they would walk back out or not, have already passed on. Too many of them died from cancer and most passed genetic problems on to their descendents. To add insult to injury, all were ordered, under the threat of being tried for treason, not to talk about what took place on that day. How do I know this? I was there.”

As we mark the 60th anniversary of “Operation Buster-Jangle,” I marvel at the utter stupidity of our government and at the surpassing and utter bravery and loyalty of our soldiers. No one loves this nation more than those who have served in the military, those who have literally laid down their lives for our country. These men and women deserve our utmost respect and thanks.

Daniel L. Gardner is a syndicated columnist who lives in Starkville, MS. You may contact him at Daniel@DanLGardner.com, or visit his website at http://www.danlgardner.com Feel free to interact with him on the Clarion-Ledger feature blog site http://www.clarionledger.com/section/blogs06. Gardner’s columns are also featured on http://dannygardner.opinioneditorial.com

His column does not reflect the views of Starkville-Now.

Daniel L. Gardner

Guest Columnist

What if John McCain and Sarah Palin had won in 2008 and produced the same economy we have today? How might the mainstream media characterize our standing today?

In January 2009 unemployment stood at 7.8-percent, Black unemployment was 10.2-percent, more than 133 million workers were employed, regular gasoline cost $1.84 per gallon, national debt was $10.6 trillion, our debt to GDP ratio was 84.2-percent, and the previous year’s (FY ’08) deficit was under $500 billion.

One year later in January 2010 unemployment had soared to 9.7-percent. Black unemployment had rocketed to 16.3-percent, we had lost 4.3 million jobs, regular gasoline had jumped to $2.76 per gallon, national debt had ballooned to $12.3 Trillion, our debt to GDP ratio climbed to 93.2-percent, and the previous year’s (FY ’09) deficit was $1.4 Trillion, the highest deficit in history.

Interestingly, the mainstream media was very kind to Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden, placing all of the blame directly on Mr. Bush. Mr. Obama had done the best he could and had kept us from sliding into another Great Depression. In other words, Bush had created an economic mess and if Obama had not done what he had done we would surely have slid into our second Great Depression. But, things were looking up!

By the spring of 2010 Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden were touting the next few months as the Summer of Recovery! Their economic policies were finally kicking in and America was on track to more prosperous times.

However, dismal economic numbers plagued America throughout the summer and into the fall, and rhetoric about the Summer of Recovery shriveled in the afterglow of by-gone campaign speeches. Still the mainstream media cast nearly all of the blame for our economic woes on Mr. Bush.

By January 2011 unemployment remained stubbornly high at 9-percent, we had regained just over one million jobs out of the 4.3 million we had lost in 2009, Black unemployment had risen another point to 17.3-percent, regular gasoline had jumped the $3 barrier and stood at $3.04 per gallon, national debt continued epic expansion to more than $14 Trillion, and our previous year’s (FY ’10) deficit was $1.3 Trillion, the second highest in history.

If McCain and Palin had won in 2008, what analysis might the mainstream have offered of their performance, particularly regarding our “jobless” recovery? Would progressive pundits have continued blaming Mr. Bush? Or, would they have blamed McCain for his policies?

Today unemployment stands at 9.1-percent, we’ve added about 846,000 jobs since January but are still more than 2-million jobs under January 2009 figures, Black unemployment remains high, regular gasoline is $3.49 per gallon, national debt will soon breach $15 Trillion, our debt to GDP ratio is nearly 100-percent, and last year’s deficit (FY ’11) remained steady at $1.3 Trillion.

Even though to his credit Mr. Obama has taken ownership of the economy, the mainstream media continue to attribute blame for the economy on everything except Obama’s economic policies. Why? Are mainstream media objective and fair?

Daniel L. Gardner is a syndicated columnist who lives in Starkville, MS. You may contact him at Daniel@DanLGardner.com, or visit his website at http://www.danlgardner.com Feel free to interact with him on the Clarion-Ledger feature blog site http://www.clarionledger.com/section/blogs06. Gardner’s columns are also featured on http://dannygardner.opinioneditorial.com

His column does not reflect the views of Starkville-Now.

Daniel L. Gardner

Guest Columnist

From time to time we hear rumors of politicians or government officials trying to take away our guns. Conspiracy theories abound in books, legends, and online gun-rights sites.

Our right to have guns is as sacred as our right to free speech or our freedom to worship as we please without government interference. Yet, even these rights have been compromised over the years, sometimes with good intentions, sometimes not.

Operation Fast & Furious (F&F), a joint operation of numerous agencies under the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is coming under more and more scrutiny from Congress. The House has been investigating this operation since early spring, and testimony and documents coming out of DOJ are implicating administration officials of covering up the operation at the highest levels.

In a nutshell, the operation ordered DOJ agents in the various agencies to facilitate the sale of guns, including assault weapons, to known buyers for Mexican drug cartels. Initially, the plan was to track guns sold in order to tie U.S. gun store sales to these criminals in Mexico.

You may have heard the Obama administration or the Bush administration saying 90-percent of guns going to Mexican drug cartels come from U.S. gun store sales. Officials in the Bush administration routinely quoted this figure to justify any number of law enforcement operations. Officials in the Obama administration continue using the same figure even though actual documented figures show no more than 20-percent of these guns come from U.S. gun stores.

DOJ and its agencies have documented the bulk of guns showing up in Mexico come from Central America and from U.S. government sales to the Mexican military. Even Factcheck.org, a left-leaning organization, estimates no more than 34-percent of guns going to Mexico are sold in U.S. gun stores.

But that’s not the story worth pursuing. On December 14, 2010, a killer used an AK-47 – one of the F&F guns – to murder Brian Terry, a U.S. Border Patrol Agent. Why would anyone in Washington approve an operation not only to facilitate sales of guns to cartels in Mexico, but also to use taxpayer money to purchase these guns? Thousands of guns have “walked” into Mexico from the U.S. as a result of Operation Fast & Furious.

Wouldn’t someone know that sales of assault weapons to criminals would escalate crime and violence? Some have speculated that F&F was actually a political plot “to prove” lax gun laws in America contribute to drug violence on our border with Mexico. Such proof could be used to justify stricter gun control laws.

One would have to be pretty jaded to believe any politician would be stupid enough to hatch such a dangerous plot merely to help push gun control legislation.

Nevertheless, testimony by DOJ agents continues to tie the operation directly to political efforts to enhance gun control laws in Washington.

Congressional hearings into this deadly operation continue to uncover damaging emails and testimonies. Could gun control ideology really be the underlying cause of such an ill-advised operation?

Daniel L. Gardner is a syndicated columnist who lives in Starkville, MS. You may contact him at Daniel@DanLGardner.com, or visit his website at http://www.danlgardner.com Feel free to interact with him on the Clarion-Ledger feature blog site http://www.clarionledger.com/section/blogs06. Gardner’s columns are also featured on http://dannygardner.opinioneditorial.com

His column does not reflect the views of Starkville-Now.

Daniel L. Gardner

Guest Columnist

The problem with our economy is politics; DC knows it, but doesn’t know what to do about it. Progressives say, “Raise taxes on millionaires and billionaires and fight the economy with all the spending we can muster! Spending increases demand, and demand increases jobs.” Conservatives say, “Reform taxes, get rid of oppressive ‘Big Brother’ regulations, and let small businesses create jobs again.”

The public and pundits alike see Washington as largely to blame for our stagnant economy because ideological partisan bickering has created nothing but gridlock this year.

Where are the jobs anyway? According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, small businesses (500 or fewer employees) employ nearly 60-percent of all American workers. Not only does the small business sector employ more workers than big business, but small businesses also create more jobs than corporate America.

Think about that. If you wanted to reduce unemployment – now at record levels – what would you do? Raise taxes on small businesses or lower them? Add more regulations and costs to small businesses or reduce burdensome regulations?

When President Reagan inherited one of the worst recessions in our history, he instituted business-friendly economic policies and within three years began to grow GDP by between 5 – 8-percent. In the same length of time Mr. Obama’s policies have created a stagnant GDP around 1-percent.

And, what about all the talk of increasing taxes on large corporations as well as millionaires and billionaires? The U.S. already has the highest corporate tax rate of any industrialized nation. President Obama is recommending raising taxes on anyone making more than $1 million annually – about 233,000 households. This might play well with voters, but any revenue generated would likely be offset by cost of jobs lost.

For the first 24 months of President Obama’s term, Democrats enjoyed comfortable majorities in both houses of Congress. Together they passed nearly $1 Trillion in stimulus bills (not counting Obamacare) and created thousands of new regulations estimated to cost business owners hundreds of billions of dollars.

To his credit, Mr. Obama stopped the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) from implementing new regulations estimated to cost businesses about $90 Billion which would have shut down coal power plants in several states and increased unemployment significantly in those states.

Washington (not counting state and local regulations) has generated more than 25,000 pages of regulations for businesses. These regulations are on top of more than 16,845 pages of the U.S. Tax Code.

Washington has tried Big Government, Big Spending, Big Taxing policies to help our economy recover, but it’s not working.

Revenue and jobs are intimately related. When more people work, we generate more tax revenue. When more people are unemployed, not only do we lose revenue but we also spend more money to help the unemployed.

Washington needs to reduce regulatory burdens on small businesses and reduce taxes on employers to encourage more hiring. We don’t need penny-ante tweaks to the Tax code aimed at garnering votes. We need a wholesale overhaul to help small businesses flourish.

Daniel L. Gardner is a syndicated columnist who lives in Starkville, MS. You may contact him at Daniel@DanLGardner.com, or visit his website at http://www.danlgardner.com Feel free to interact with him on the Clarion-Ledger feature blog site http://www.clarionledger.com/section/blogs06. Gardner’s columns are also featured on http://dannygardner.opinioneditorial.com

His column does not reflect the views of Starkville-Now.

Daniel L. Gardner

Guest Columnist

Last week in class we discussed ethnocentrism: “the belief that [one’s] way of life is the ‘right’ and superior way.” I like to recount an experience in Russia to illustrate this concept.

In 2000 I was lecturing at Ivanova State University speaking to one of the English-speaking classes. One of the students asked me whether I believed America was the greatest nation on earth. I asked whether they believed people of any nationalities should believe their nations were the best. We enjoyed a spirited discussion, and all the class – as far as I could tell – believed Russia was the greatest nation on earth.

Eleven years later I asked my American class whether America was the greatest nation on earth. A resounding “No!” At first I thought this was odd. Then I realized I’d been hearing the same anti-patriotic sentiments from progressives for years.

Forty or fifty years ago, teachers of American history taught American exceptionalism. That’s not true today.

Shelby Steele, a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, opined in a Wall Street Journal column last week how American anti-exceptionalism born out of post-60s liberalism has changed America: “In this liberalism America’s exceptional status in the world follows from a bargain with the devil—an indulgence in militarism, racism, sexism, corporate greed, and environmental disregard as the means to a broad economic, military, and even cultural supremacy in the world. And therefore America’s greatness is as much the fruit of evil as of a devotion to freedom.”

None of us should get caught up deciding which nation is the greatest. That’s not the point. However, patriotism has always been – until radicalization of American liberalism after the 1960s – a positive value shared by a broad range of political adherents.

It’s bad enough that progressives in politics and academia have chosen to major on all that’s wrong with America in order to push their socialistic agendas and “fundamentally transform” America into a quasi-European socialist democratic nanny-state, but this movement has actually eroded confidence in “truth, justice, and the American way” across the political divide.

After mentioning my students’ response to the question about American exceptionalism, one of my rabid conservative friends (I also have rabid liberal friends) agreed America had become a mediocre nation…and that the bigger the government grew under either party, straying from ideas and ideals of individual initiative, responsibility, accountability and freedom, the more we would shrink into the mire of mediocrity.

No doubt, progressives in politics, academics, and media have pushed their agenda to transform us into a collective society and culture supported largely by government assistance and promises. Large segments of our society have become resigned to mediocre expectations.

Where is the drive and leadership we used to enjoy that compelled Americans to excel, to succeed, to surpass all other nations as we endeavored to accomplish great things? Why have we allowed ourselves to become victims of circumstances? America is still the land of opportunities for those brave enough and free enough to go for them.

Daniel L. Gardner is a syndicated columnist who lives in Starkville, MS. You may contact him at Daniel@DanLGardner.com, or visit his website at http://www.danlgardner.com Feel free to interact with him on the Clarion-Ledger feature blog site http://www.clarionledger.com/section/blogs06. Gardner’s columns are also featured on http://dannygardner.opinioneditorial.com

His column does not reflect the views of Starkville-Now.

Daniel L. Gardner

Guest Columnist

Albert Einstein said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Not only is this a poignant thought, but it also presupposes we create our problems.

The world would be a better place if there were no blame. No doubt we all encounter problems, some profound, some mundane – problems of presidents and prime ministers as well as problems for spectators, speculators, and opinionators.

Traveling in Israel this past week, we observed a wide variety of sites, sounds, smells, and cultures. Fascinating! Sites included Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee in the north, to Old Jerusalem filled with so much humanity and history, to the Dead Sea and Masada in the south. Remarkable places.

But, as remarkable as the sites are, the people and their lives are even more interesting and remarkable.

One day our Muslim friend, Oda, braved unfamiliar territory and Israeli-manned checkpoints for the first time by himself to meet us at our hotel and guide us back to his home village just outside Bethlehem where we met his mother, father, three brothers, and a host of other family members. They were all as hospitable as any family I’ve ever visited in the South.

We ate grapes, melons, and freshly baked bread as we visited, watched children playing, and discussed mundane issues of life – work, family, faith, economics, politics, etc. After sunset Oda’s family treated us to a sumptuous and tasty meal of rice, chicken, beef, and many spices along with a number of exotic juices (almond and carob).

After supper the men (and children) sat under cooling summer breezes on the tiled front porch and continued pleasant conversations while sipping thick, hot, sweet tea. I could identify with and understand concerns they expressed about government and justice, though I did not detect a newer or different kind of thinking regarding solutions.

The same could be said for others we encountered during our brief visit to this Holy Land. The problems and concerns we observed were real, created by traditional means of thinking albeit from polar opposite points of view.

While we enjoyed complete freedom to move about the country with our American passports, inhabitants on different sides of borders and faiths could not travel freely. A couple of college girls from Germany told me they spent much of their 2-week vacation in Beer Sheva in a safe room due to daily rocket attacks.

Regarding domestic economics and politics, Jewish friends in Tel Aviv talked about the voluminous economic gap between the super rich and everybody else. They planned to participate in protests hoping for new laws to facilitate more equitable incomes for all citizens. Class warfare? Maybe.

After considering Einstein’s theorem on problems and solutions in light of problems on this and that side of the world, I realize even more that true hope and change can only come from Higher Thinking. While mankind is certainly prolific in “creating” problems, the question remains, “Are we capable of ‘creating’ solutions?”

Daniel L. Gardner is a syndicated columnist who lives in Starkville, MS. You may contact him at Daniel@DanLGardner.com, or visit his website at http://www.danlgardner.com Feel free to interact with him on the Clarion-Ledger feature blog site http://www.clarionledger.com/section/blogs06. Gardner’s columns are also featured on http://dannygardner.opinioneditorial.com

His column does not reflect the views of Starkville-Now.