Top 3 Most Urgent Issues in America Today: Excluding Pandemic

Troy-the-Centrist Column - There are many problems cascading across the plains and valleys of the U.S, but Infrastructure, Mental Health, and Race/policing reform should take the most precedent.

1. Last year, we watched as millions of people marched for justice, after years of failing policies and systemic racism. Not since the late 1960’s and early 90’s have we seen such demonstrations. The need for reform is an understatement.
2. As for mental health, the pandemic has highlighted this issue like never before. Cramped up in our homes, the spiraling of emotions became intimate, exacerbated, and ravaged as we set our eyes on an unpredictable future.
3. And lastly, our infrastructure has been crumbling for decades, but has consistently been pushed to the back burner in congress. In addition, don’t let the newly minted “C-“ rating (from “D”) by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) fool you. We are still far – far – behind, in both development and improvements.

Race, Policing Reform, and Extremism

Extremism is a growing trend today, and its reach has grappled onto police departments around the country. The military experiences the same problem. This is not new, but it is finally reaching a boiling point.

Gang members, white supremist, and terrorists have tried or succeeded in infiltrating the ranks of our military, and police stations for some time now. However, the riot (or coup, depending on who you talk to) on January 6th highlighted the need to take a microscope to extremism more broadly.

"I don't expect to see significant numbers inside our ranks, although I think the numbers would be probably a bit larger than that we would have believed," said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. "But I will tell you that a small number of people can have an outsized effect."

He is right, and an “outsized effect” has already been taking place. Dereck Chauvin: the policeman who killed George Floyd, prompting nationwide fervor is currently on trial (jury selection pending). He was one character amongst the wave of others, but his isolated actions launched the U.S. into national outcrying.

"It doesn't take an army to do what happened; it takes people with some skill set to lead those others," said former FBI Agent Tom O'Connor, who spent two decades investigating extremists. "Extremist elements in the United States have long tried to recruit former military and former law enforcement into their ranks for their skill set."

Stamping out extremism should be step one, and then followed by a review of tactical policies. We have a long way to go, but we must take drastic steps into reform, or risk further malpractice and uneasy racial tensions.

Mental Health

Children have been stuck (not in the classroom) but in their own room for over a year now, and the effects have impacted education system-wide. Mental health was already being unchecked, going undiagnosed, and developing into serious issues without intervention. What the pandemic has done, is show us just how crucial mental health is across the board. However, for children particularly, “50% of all conditions [develop] by age 14 and 75% by age 24,” according the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI).

Those figures mean we need to pay special attention to our youth, and their stages of development. We want emotionally strong, highly motivated, and happy students circulating the halls of education. Mental Health screenings, services, and guidance will ensure this happens at higher rates in schools, at home, and when traversing out into world.

“Investing in children’s mental health improves the lives of children and families. When children get the right care at the right time, we can prevent negative outcomes like school failure, hospitalization—and even suicide” (NAMI).

Infrastructure

Currently graded at a C-, America’s infrastructure in many areas continues to crumble, is outdated, and is beginning to dangerously erode.

From Aviation to Wastewater, the two best grades received were a B- for “Ports,” and a B for “Railways.” This can be viewed as obvious. Why? Well, what goes through ports and travels on railroads? Large volumes of commerce, commodities, and profit. Roads offer the same subset of factors, but the same capacity of goods are not funneled onto typical interstate highways and roads.

Expanding, repairing, and enhancing our infrastructure nation-wide will take many struggling cities out of poverty, offer families better quality of water (life), and transportation. Most of the nation’s crippling infrastructure is in low-income cities, and therefore results in a constrained level of economical dynamics. Roads, public transportation, and pathways are directly correlated to profit.

Infrastructure affects us all. The Biden administration should take this issue seriously, as it can eliminate poverty, inequality, and sickness under one umbrella. Water continues to have dangerous levels of lead; waste sites are still placed heavily in communities of color, and “growing wear and tear on our nation's roads have left 43% of our public roadways in poor or mediocre condition, a number that has remained stagnant over the past several years” (ASCE).

Troy writes a weekly column on his website: thebullmedia.org