THE CHALLENGE OF RUSSIA-CHINA WORLD ORDER BY T.S.KHANNA, 3-25-23.

 

The challenge of Russia-China World Order

By T.S. Khanna, March 25, 2023,

Foundation For better Government,

 

The whole sphere of human thought is set out with logical obstructions; even human logic is obstructed by religions invoking the power of God perceived as beyond human logic.  Some people from the visions of the invisible Almighty, seem to have established two opposite theories: Caste system (inherent inequality of man in Rig Veda) and “All men are created equal” in the Declaration of American Independence.  Experience shows both wrong at times.  The only certainty seems to be the innate human desire to dominate others.  This has been the basis most wars fought in the past.

 

Equality of all men (persons) has been the bedrock of American democracy, lifting people out of poverty and misery like never before.  And, like never before, now there is a new challenge of Russia-China trying to establish a new World Order under their domination.

 

The Founders of American Democracy expressed with rigor the political dilemma of their time and established American Government, fitting their vision of human equality.  At the time, modern time dilemmas could not be envisioned and the Government was not designed to meet them.

 

No matter what political theory a constitution adopts, it can work with only certain assumptions and probabilities. There can be no mathematical certainties in it.  In handling the ensuing crisis, much depends on the smarts of the persons at the helm of affairs.

 

Democratic process, by its very nature is divisive and slow.  The responsibility and accountability of public officials are not well defined in American Democracy.  To overcome these weaknesses, it is suggested that the President may appoint a ten-person emergency committee (five from each party) for quick actions in response to constantly changing risks and policy readjustments.

 

The President, along with the proposed committee, may clearly define the American goals publicly.  Clarity of goals to the public and officials will provide a basis of unity for

the divided people and the parties; provide a basis of good judgment by officials at critical moments; and, steadily channelize national energy in a cumulative manner.

 

Democracy can thrive only on non-partisan public power.  Common goals will unite the public and generate that power.

THE U.S. GOVERNMENT NEEDS INTROSPECTION BY T.S.Khanna, February 14, 23.

 

The U.S. Government Needs Introspection

By T.S. Khanna, February 14, 2023.

 

Looking at the short history of the U.S. Government, it seems public panacea of one time can become the poison of another time.  Past success can become the cause of future failure.  The unparalleled success of the American government founded on the Constitution adopted in the late eighteenth century, now seems to be causing some obstruction in the mental vision for the American future.

 

The Constitution is still being looked at, studied, and interpreted too exclusively in parts on principles, ignoring the experiences. This approach has restrained us from evaluating the overall effectiveness of the Constitution.

 

Since the 1960s, the performance level of the government seems to have lagged behind the new challenges of changing times.  It has shown its inability to resolve certain issues that are now dividing the American polity.

 

Take a look at the issues Federal Government has been engaged in during the last several decades.  It has become a crucible of repeated stalemates of inconclusive small quarrels, pumped up to the national level: 1. Social spending and growing national deficit; 2. Out-of-control border and illegal immigrants; 3. Free Trade v/s Protectionism, 4. Arms Control for citizens; 5. Corporate taxes and Unions wages v/s losing American jobs to other countries; and, 6. Abortion.

 

 The indicated issues could be resolved by common sense instead of divided debates.  However, in the absence of any adopted National Goals, these issues have been rubbed on the American polity for too long, eroding the national socio-political cohesion.  Now these issues have become like a skin disease with constant irritation and no treatment in sight.  Political groups keep blaming each other for infection.

 

Government introspection is too vast a subject to be covered in this short article; only certain pointers are indicated for a quick glance.

1.     There is no quality control of eligible and elected officials.  There is a great gap between the skills needed for campaigning by inciting/fooling the voters with fabricated facts and the knowledge, character, integrity, and the spirit needed to perform the job;

2.     There is no quality control of voters re their citizenship and knowledge of issues or even the English language.  This has latent/silent adverse effect in the decision making processes of public interest;

3.     Representative Democracy, by its very nature, generates centrifugal forces in a polity that keep splitting the society in the absence of some centripetal overpowering force in place.  Such a mechanism is not provided in the Constitution;

4.     Phenomenal growth of non-compromising parochial and special interests, with sufficient democratic protection, keeps obstructing the positive governmental processes from maturing in the public interest;

5.     Experience has shown that democracy serves best under capitalistic economy in producing wealth and benefitting the citizens with the least involvement of government.  Yet, the government has adopted political economy, abandoning the classic economics principles of open market economy.  This has caused a huge deficit.  The Constitution has no provision to safeguard the capitalistic economy and keep the government limited in size and role;

6.     First generation immigrants, without the knowledge of American history, politics, demography, sociology of the American polity, national interests, and the feel for the American culture get elected as public officials.  Unknowingly, they disrupt the policies/plans from jelling to serve the wider public interest.   Citizenship by birth is a Constitutional requirement only for the president’s position;

7.     The firewall between the State and the Church, intended in the Constitution, is violated by the government by taking over social welfare responsibility which is the true jurisdiction of the religious institutions and social organizations.  There is no provision in the Constitution to correct this situation;

8.     President’s position always carried a high level prestige to facilitate smooth performance of duties.  Congressional investigations of the past few presidents have damaged the prestige.   Congress itself operates under a very low public prestige.  The Constitutional provisions are quiet about the subject;

9.      “Checks and Balances” design was intended for a fair decision-making process.  It is backfiring under the government divided in two parties by creating frequent log-jams in the decision making process;

10.  Children’s morals are being shaped not so much by humane religious influences as by the video games, where killing human beings is only an incident, not a tragedy; and,

11.   Individual liberty has been overemphasized at the cost of ignoring moral, filial, and social obligations, essential for bonding of society.  This is yet another reason that keeps splitting and disconnecting the people.

 

 

NATIONAL PRIORIY: AVERT THE IMPENDING CIVIL UNREST By T.S. Khanna, january 23, 2023.

 

National Priority: Avert The Impending Civil Unrest

 

By T.S. Khanna, January 23, 2023,

 

Over the past few decades, extremists in each political party have grown in number and strength, minimizing chances of compromise on various issues.  Extremists are the ones who took extreme positions in their campaigns, inciting their voters against losing their rights in compromises.  The “copy-cat” effect accelerated the extremism in both parties.

 

Now both parties seem to have taken uncompromising stance on various sensitive issues.  This attitude runs counter the Democratic Ideology, based on compromises.  In such situations, public debate only hardens the issues.  Private meetings are more promising.

 

We urge President Biden to appoint a “Compromise Commission” with rational members from both parties who can weigh their differences in light of the national interests.  At this time, the five most sensitive issues seem to be 1. Making next election trustworthy, 2. Border control and handling of illegal immigrants, 3. Budget deficit, and social spending, 4. Arms control for civilians, and 5. Abortion Dispute

 

We believe, compromises on these issues should bring considerable relief in political tension among the American polity.

 

 

DEFUSE THE BREWING CIVIL UNREST IN AMERICA By T.S. khanna

 

DEFUSE THE BREWING CIVIL UNREST IN AMERICA.

By T.S. Khanna, January 7, 2023,

Foundation For Better Government,

 

Little attention is being paid to the brewing civil unrest likely to mature at the next presidential election in 2024.  Political party leaders are causing it by their devotion to strengthening their respective parties to win “the battle of 2024” at any cost, even at the cost of destroying the Nation inadvertently.

 

Each party to fabricate and propagate false poisonous stories to brainwash voters abuses freedom of speech in a systematic manner.  In a recently published book, “The Storm Is Here; An American Crucible” by a journalist author, Luke Mogelson, who has well described the brewing process.

 

Mogelson has covered Michigan, Minneapolis, Portland (Oregon) and Washington, D.C.

He gives an overview of forces in action, probably financed by each political party, with a singular purpose of creating and promoting social discord.  It seems that Republicans and Democrats are looking at one another as enemies to be destroyed, not opponents to be compromised with by negotiations.

 

That was not the intent of the Founders of this great country.  However, George Washington, the very first President, did sense the party rivalry that may work against the national interest.  He warned in his farewell address.

 

Currently, we seem to believe that decisiveness and quick action, not compromise, are he tools to win.  This approach works well if our morality is in order for judging right or wrong (not for pursuing power).  False propaganda by each party has changed the morality standards of the polity in America.  Most people think only in party interest, with little vision for the national interest.  That is where the danger lies.

 

It is time for the party leaders to identify the conflict between strict party interest and the national interest and rise to save the national interest.  

At the moral tuning points, there is synapse between wanting to do something and actually doing it.  It is those short moments that make a difference.  When the morality of saving national interest weighs heavy enough on the mind, those short moments will lead to action for the nation-saving interests.

 

We suggest that each political party and each state establish a Group devoted to reintegrating American Nation.  The main purpose of these Groups may be to sort out and check the activities of the political parties that work against the national interest.

 

THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW.

 

 

 

CRISIS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY By T.S. Khanna

 

Crisis in American Democracy

By T.S. Khanna, December 4, 2022.

Foundation For Better Government,

 

Like most others, American political system was formed in a period of crisis.  It was the off spring of a revolution against the then British Monarch.  Normally, political revolutions are not noted for their originality but mostly for their vigor to enforce their doctrine in the newly developed revolution-friendly zeitgeist. 

 

USA, however, was an exception; here the Founders gave a detailed thought in developing the ideology of democracy as opposed to the prevailing unlimited power of the King.  At the time, compared to the King, every citizen looked like a powerless saint to the revolutionary Founders. 

 

In their newly developed ideology of democracy, they distributed power to the common man.  They emphasized their new-found truths like “All men are created equal” resulting in Supreme Court’s corollary “One-man-one –vote”, the “Bill of Rights”, “Representative Democracy” and “Checks and balance” as a part of the Constitution.  The newfound truths acquired the status of non-challengeable axiomatic truths in the American society.

 

The Founders’ conviction of these truths was so strong that they did not feel the need of periodic testing their effect on governmental operations and on the decision-making process.  The powers got so divided that no public official feels the national responsibility over the partisan loyalty.  There is no provision in the Constitution to establish national goals and evaluate the positive and negative effects of the various aspects of the adopted democratic ideology, nor there is a provision to establish a centripetal force to overpower the centrifugal forces generated in the polity by the Constitution.

 

The practice of American democracy has enriched our knowledge of human nature, which was not known at the time of adoption of the Constitution.

 

The negative effects have been simmering for quite sometime; now they have ripened into a crisis. It does not take Cassandra to see that the present form of democracy is not sustainable.  Democracy generates problems that cannot be resolved by democracy.  In the times of crisis, it becomes an open season for stronger groups to place blames on weaker groups.  Now the focus should be on critically examining the Constitution and improving the system, instead of blaming one another.  Greatest danger to democracy is usually from within.

 

I am not young enough to offer any quick fix ready-made solutions to resolve the crisis but I do see the urgency for the well wishers of this great nation to start thinking in non-partisan, national and rational terms to seek lasting solutions.  Abraham Lincoln once remarked when it comes to hard choice of saving the Constitution or saving the country, the country must be saved first. The current crisis is rooted in the American Constitution.
 

UKRAINE: VICTORIOUS? By T.S. Khanna, November 17, 2022.

 

Ukraine: Victorious?

By T.S. Khanna, November 17, 2022,

Foundation For Better Government,

USA.

 

Withdrawal of Russian forces from the Kherson region may call for celebration to boost the morale of Ukrainian forces and its citizens.  However, the Ukrainian victory in Kherson battle is loaded with anxiety about the vulnerability of the rest of the country where war crimes are being committed continuously by Russian army.

 

Take a look:

·      Over 4,000 base stations of telecommunication providers in Ukraine have been destroyed by Russian forces;

·      More than 36,000 miles of fiber optic lines, used for Internet, have been destroyed or captured by Russia, rerouting Ukraine’s Internet traffic thru their own providers in the Kremlin for surveillance;

·      Before withdrawal in different parts of Ukraine, Russian forces installed landmines to obstruct the repair work;

·      A large number of residential and commercial buildings have been destroyed and citizens forced out without power, heat, and water supply;

·      Innumerable citizens have been tortured, killed and buried en masse in large-scale graves.

 

Putin has exemplified human nature at its worst.  All this is being done under the watch of NATO European countries.  They have proven to be non-violent, verbal allies of Ukraine, clearly fearful of Russia and sympathetic to Ukraine.

 

It seems, Putin and his cohorts plan to make tactical use of Nukes in Ukraine and its NATO allies in Europe with restricted energy availability.  Now is the time NATO may openly warn Russia of retaliation. 

 

During the nine-month Russian war on Ukraine, European NATO allies have come across as timid in action against Russia.  History informs us that there are times when non-violence and fear work against us by keeping us from taking the timely action.  It is those opportune moments that decide the rise and fall of civilizations.

 

European NATO allies seem to be missing out the opportune moments.  Putin must be sternly asked to vacate Ukraine territory as defined by the border decided in 1991. 

UKRAINE and NATO By T.S.Khanna, October 27, 2022.

 

Ukraine and NATO

By T.S. Khanna, October 27, 2022,

Foundation For better Government,

 

Ever since Russia attacked Ukraine in February ’22,NATO has been organizing and reorganizing itself to protect Ukraine.  NATO’s warnings to Russia and protection assurances to Ukraine have been of little help to Ukraine.

 

With liberal help of American arms, Ukrainian Army, with its skills and courage, has proven itself superior to Russian Army.  As the Russian armed forces withdraw from their illegitimate occupation of Ukraine, Putin has resorted to unprecedented air attacks on residential buildings, power plants, and civilians to break their will to resist.

 

Now Putin is waiting for a winter freeze of European countries by limiting their power resources.

 

Putin represent a cruel culture of the Russian Administration that has no humanitarian consideration.  During the period 1928-1953, over forty million prisoners were sentenced in Archipelago, where more than twenty million prisoners were executed (Ref. Gulag Archipelago, 1973 by A. Solzhanitsyn).  It seems Putin has a plan of en masse killing of people all over Europe this winter, not only in Ukraine.  Putin and his cohorts are psychopaths with Nukes.  They do not seem to have any regard for humanity.  They cannot be trustworthy.

 

Just as hundred fools cannot make one wise man, hundred cowards cannot make one brave man.  Where is the brave element of NATO?  NATO must take inspirations from Ukrainian soldiers.  Consider attack on Ukraine as attack on NATO. 

 

Stop Putin and his cohorts in their tracks right now.