Advice From Grandma

Excellent article by Thomas Friedman.  I dont always agree with him and I am uncomfortable with his apparent fascination with authoritarian power as a tool to get major policies implemented.  Perhaps I am misreading him in that respect.  Regardless, this column hits on many of the things I think and include in my lectures.  The final paragraph sums it up for me:

"The standard answer is that we need better leaders. The real answer is that we need better citizens. We need citizens who will convey to their leaders that they are ready to sacrifice, even pay, yes, higher taxes, and will not punish politicians who ask them to do the hard things. Otherwise, folks, we’re in trouble. A great power that can only produce suboptimal responses to its biggest challenges will, in time, fade from being a great power — no matter how much imagination it generates."

I would not be adverse to paying more in taxes IF I thought for a minute that 30% to 50% (I am not alone) of it would not be wasted as I believe it is right now.  I want a politician that will show ME some restraint BEFORE they ask me to pay more taxes.  Is that asking too much?