Sunday Talk Shows - My World is Changing

For the last several years I have loved to watch the Sunday morning talk shows. Not always but most times they had the brightest and most interesting people discussing the issues of the day. But recently the quality of the shows has gone way down. Now the majority of the talk is just 'talking points' from politicians, not really substantive discussions of the issues.

Thank heavens; Fareed Zakaria has come to the rescue with his Sunday afternoon talk show, Global Public Square (GPS)! He interviews excellent people from around the world and it is an orderly and intelligent process. Each guest is asked terrific questions and we get to listen to their opinions and views. There is no shouting or interruption or rebuttal. If needed Fareed gives a correction or asks a follow-up question for clarification and challenge. He is extremely well versed in all the issues around the world and well respected by significant and important thinkers from many countries. Today, October 5, 2008, the first guest was Bill Gates and the later guests were from India, China and Singapore. The reactions from the international community are very important and were enlightening. Gates was asked to explain why 75% of his and Warren Buffett's wealth in the charitable foundation is being spent overseas instead of here at home. I've wondered about that too. It doesn't seem right or smart. But Gates gave an intelligent and reasonable explanation that makes me feel better about it. Overall our country is doing pretty well and we have a good governmental system and many private enterprises trying to allocate our resources in the best possible ways. We haven't figured out what to do about our education system or what to do with all the kids who drop out of even high school. The total is staggering at 50% of our inner city kids and 17% nationwide. But the problems are not about a lack of money. From a world point of view there are many worse inequities and injustices that his foundation is trying to improve. It makes sense. We, the American people, care about justice and fairness everywhere. Of course if things change the foundation could redirect their resources.

I also liked Bill's endorsement of Warren Buffett's philosophy about not leaving too much to his kids. He told about Buffett saying "Why don't we just take all the descendents of the Olympic winners from 50 years ago and put them in our Olympic games?" The same thing is true about passing down so much wealth and control to the kids of very successful people. I like that.

Now, about what to do about our school system and the dropouts, I have some ideas.

Jerry W. Willis

[http://www.jerrywwillis.com]

To receive the free E-Workbook: Starting the Journey - the first step in understanding your Purpose in Life which will help you and your kids build the life you've been dreaming of, visit [http://www.jerrywwillis.com] go to the Contact Us tab fill in the information, ask any questions and make any comments and submit.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1556701