This occurred to me recently as the presidential primary campaigns are underway. I propose that no one donate any money to a campaign for the Democratic or Republican nomination. As far as I can tell, whoever the nominee is for each party will espouse the same basic policies as his party on the major economic issues. The return on investment, for an individual and especially for the nation, is incredibly small on a primary campaign donation. Untold millions will be spent on these campaigns, and most of it will be wasted on losing campaigns. Instead, if you have a political passion and money to spare, use it to shore up nonprofits that provide social services, increase scholarship funds at colleges, or provide capital to a small business that could create the jobs people need.
The general election is a true choice. The amount of money spent on it is also obscene and wasteful. I have no good answer to that today.
Second proposal, as I listen to blow-by-blow accounts of where Col. Qadafi might be today: How about a newspaper that only prints stories about what happened three days ago? Then reporters could sift through what they learn in real time and give us the facts we would need to understand an event or issue, without the extraneous "scoop" that has no value to our ongoing understanding.
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