What I want to see

I guess the first thing to do is lay out what I want to see happen with this. For two years, I've spent probably 2 hours a day on average reading numerous publications and blogs trying to get a full understanding of what's best for the USA re: the role of federal government and its policies. All too often, I've only found interpretations, opinions, and analyses that scratch the surface, tell a story rather than provide answers, or paint things as purely black and white. Whether its the Time magazine article of three whole pages that tries to explain the financial crisis; or the thousands of blog/editorial reader comments that are just plain annoying (i.e. in response to WSJ oped, anonymous wrote: "jake1283, you are an idiot and single-handedly responsible for all my problems"), it is truly difficult to get a full picture of why the USA faces certain challenges and what are the appropriate solutions. My personal opinion is that rarely is there such thing as black and white; rather, there are only layers upon layers of complexity. When one can mine those levels of complexity, one finds a full level of understanding.

I want to see Americans mining that complexity, understanding systemic issues, and really grasping what's best for our country's prosperity, freedom, and well being. I want that to happen without petty, superficial claims being thrown around, or baseless accusations that do no good for anyone. I want information, facts, logic and rationale to characterize our debates, and I hope this blog encourages and contributes to that kind of debate.