America has one problem. That sounds crazy, I know, but when you really get this one problem, you see how it bleeds into and controls everything. This one problem is – Ethics. Ethical tenets are the moral lens through which we make decisions about how to act and interact. We are completely lost in this country because we bought into a false story early in the 20th century. We moved from connected neighborhoods and towns that understood morals, values, family and community to disconnected, distracted individuals, traumatized and focused on the one thing believed to bring happiness –  Money. We threw out the ethics to find security only to discover we gave away the very thing we were looking for.

This is a cycle that can be seen throughout human history. One where power and greed combine to bring down one great nation after another. It’s happening again. Before your very eyes. Can you see it? It starts slowly and because we are a trusting lot, we assume people have our best interest at heart, we are like the frog in a pot on low heat, and America is about to get to the boiling point.

Those left who trust the current congress and administration are truly deluded into the powerful-and-rich-have-my-back story, fiercely defending the unethical actions as it’s just how it has to be. The powerful, rich people in charge of congress today often say one thing but do another. The ideas of collaboration, discussion and decision making based in deeply held values, so important to most Americans, seems to be a way of the long ago past. Americans want a system that takes our values into account, and on many of these values, the vast majority of Americans agree. Take these examples –

• The financial district is set up to keep businesses safe. The rules and regulations protect corporations from being responsible for their risky behavior. Americans want the average person and the mom and pop stores to survive.
• Companies going bankrupt pay suppliers first and retirement funds last. Americans want retirees protected.
• Drug companies are not responsible for side effects that may permanently damage your quality of life. Americans want to know risks and be assisted when the worst happens.
• Drug companies are allowed to push products such as opioids without regulation or supervision. Americans want the government to hold businesses to the medical ethic of first, do no harm.
• Major corporations, such as oil companies with huge profits, garner government subsidies and tax breaks. Americans want corporations to pay their fair share.
• The wealthiest of Americans are provided tax loop holes so they don’t pay taxes. Again, Americans just want a fair system.
• Sole proprietor businesses are the cheapest to start but are also the easiest to sue with the least amount of protections.  Rather, the people in our government should encourage the safer LLC or even safer SCorp by making them the least expensive to start.
• Tobacco companies are not required to stop selling their product or pay for the healthcare to repair the damage clearly connected by study after study on effected consumers. Americans do not want to pay the bill for a product that we know is lethal.
• Global warming is downplayed in order to maintain profits over the health of our environment. Americans want clean water, air and land.
• The people in our government today are jamming through their agenda without bipartisanship. Americans want politicians to work together.
• Quality education, healthcare and jobs are hit and miss for the majority of Americans while the wealthy continue to pass the best of each within their tight knit group. Americans believe in an excellent public education, good paying jobs and quality healthcare.
• Food quality is hidden, standards are loosened, and companies prepare food based on profits rather than health. Americans want healthy food.
• The NRA, as main marketing firm for the gun manufacturers, creates fear and spreads misinformation in order to maintain record profits at the expense of American lives every day. The majority of Americans are clear on gun safety priorities for our society such as longer waiting periods and better systems for background checks when purchasing a gun as well as no guns for domestic violence cases or felons. These safety measures are ignored by a congress that does not need to be responsive to the American people.
• The government has also banned studies on gun use and death by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Americans want solutions based in science.
• The people in the government create confusion regarding the role of the press in the democratic process claiming reliable news sources as fake news. Americans want robust and accurate news sources.
• The government is unbalanced with inexperienced, financial sector or racist members in the highest of offices. Americans want to be world leaders, showing the way using the best of democratic principles.

Ethics being the principles that govern a persons behavior based on values we hold dear in this country, would be the antidote to all of the above. Justice, freedom, generosity and integrity are just some of the avenues to holding an attitude of benefitting not only oneself but also society as a whole.

I know it seems impossible to affect a change but I know the secret to accomplishing this goal. Ready? It’s really very simple. We must come together and demand it. Simple but hard since you are going to need to give up your unwillingness to see any other point of view. However easy it is for you to do that, is how easy it will be to make this change.

You are in charge of the transformation of yourself and therefore the country when you drop your righteousness and listen. Every day Americans have so much more in common than we have been lead to believe. Search your heart. Your love and compassion knows no bounds. Allow that love to overcome your need to have it your way alone and see what happens.

This is how we save America.