I just watched his speech and was actually impressed given the speeches he has made over the last 18 months or so. The one thing I would like to have heard from him regarding his list of things to work on is education. This country suffers greatly because the public schools are understaffed, teachers are underpaid, standards are almost nonexistent unless we're talking common core.


If we don't get kids properly educated then they will not become productive adults capable of earning a degree or a trade for jobs that will actually support families. It's fine to work certain sectors because you're a high school or college student earning money for whatever you need, but these jobs were never meant to be a career. They are not sustainable. Much of what is wrong with this country is due to poverty. Poverty reduction starts with proper education starting day one.


Another thing that hobbles this country is lack of a cohesive family unit, whatever form that takes. When there are not two parents in the home it can be and is a very unstable environment. When you have women with several kids and all have different fathers, or a man has several kids by different women, there is no stability, no respect, no accountability, no actual family dynamic and that screws a kid up with the parents not being much better for it. All of this can lead to instability in life, of which some never come out of.


We as a nation need family cohesiveness and educated children if we ever want to see it as truly great again. Greatness comes not from who the greatest superpower is, how many states are red or blue, what our foreign policy is, and all of the other things that could be listed. It comes from the individual person who comes from a grounded family that teaches (and lives what they teach) accountability, discipline, respect, common courtesy, personal beliefs be it religious or not, etc. An individual who has been well educated from day one, both in school and at home, and understands the importance of that education. An individual who understands the importance of what they learned and passes it down to their children.


In my opinion and from first hand experience these are the two most important things that shape a person, who in turn shapes a family, who goes on to shape a community which turns into a nation. You can't have what you don't work for. You can't work for what is unattainable. You can't attain what is not set before you as both an example and a choice, and you don't have those if you are never shown (taught) you have them.

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