business & profess
It Is Time For
Competence
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24
e're beginning a new year.
Maybe I'm off, but it feels
like the world is more off
kilter than usual.
ISIS (or ISIL) is a worldwide terror
threat with our emotions reaching the
boiling point with each beheading.
We're told the Ebola
threat is a controllable
problem since it is not
airborne transmitted;
but, at the same time, it
is expanding its reach.
Are we confident in
our government's lead-
ership (i.e. our White
House, congress, mili-
tary, CIA and Homeland
Security) to protect us
from these threats?
Beyond our government,
how confident are we that a coalition of
governments can unite to successfully
defeat ISIS and contain Ebola?
To me, it's a question of compe-
tence. Has our government dem-
onstrated the level of competence
needed to protect us?
It seems with each dramatic
event, we learn that our leader-
ship "misjudged or miscalculated:'
This issue rang true many times:
weapons of mass destruction, 9-11,
Hurricane Katrina and its after-
math, the financial crisis, Iran's
nuclear program, the failed effort
to address the atrocities committed
by the Assad regime, our failure to
detect the ISIS threat, our response,
as well as Ebola.
Granted, there is no shortage of
problems in our past and on our
horizon. On ISIS, I have noticed
a distinction. It seems to me that
CNN — in its never-ending quest to
be at the forefront of news coverage
(or news creation. for that matter)
always dispatches its news crew
to the scene. We saw this with the
recent Israel/Hamas conflict.
No journalists, however, seem
inclined to take the role of embedded
reporter in Iraq or Syria. Don't get me
wrong — I don't blame them. I just
wonder what the chatter was in the
CNN team meeting when the news
director said, "Who is going to volun-
teer to go to Syria and Iraq to cover
the fight against ISIS?"
Perhaps even the almighty CNN is
frightened.
We are the strongest nation on
Earth — that is undisputed. Our
military capabilities are second
to none and our economic output
is nearly double that of China,
threefold of Japan and fivefold of
Germany. What frightens me is our
lack of competence.
We totally failed to pro-
tect our economy from the
financial crisis, and we
are constantly reminded
of our failings to assess
threats that are a direct
challenge to the freedoms
we cherish.
The unemployment rate
did fall to 5.9 percent last
week, the lowest level since
July 2008. While some cel-
ebrated, others lamented
that the labor force participation
rate (those working or actively
seeking work) has fallen to a three-
decade low of 62.7 percent, (3.3
percent less than when the reces-
sion began) and that most of the
job gains have been in the low-pay
retail sector.
Do you feel confident that our
leadership has taken the steps
necessary to grow our economy
long term and protect us from cata-
strophic economic swings? Is there
a solution on the horizon to the
exploding student debt problem,
rising tuition costs at our universi-
ties or the ever-growing federal
deficit? If so, it must be classified
information.
We've watched the publicly traded
companies figure out how to reduce
costs, survive and then grow in a
difficult economy. The private sec-
tor understands profit and directs
its resources to achieve that end.
They may be greedy, but they have
demonstrated competence.
If we hold our leadership to a
competency standard, perhaps the
uneasiness we are feeling as to glob-
al security will shift to confidence in
our future. One thing for sure, there
is ample room for improvement.
❑
Ken Gross is an attorney with Thav Gross
and host of Law and Reality that airs
weekly at 8:30 a.m. Saturdays on WDFN
1130 AM, "The Fan" and 11 a.m. Sundays,
on TV20.