The really critical issues in this election

Iraq and the economy have been the dominant issues thus far in this election. And given the public’s normal short-term focus, that is not surprising. But are they really the most important issues?

Here are some of my candidates for far more important issues that ought to be hotly debated in this election, but of course won’t be:

1. Global warming. Risk management processes generally rate risks as a function of both likelihood and consequences. Things that are highly likely and would have very large consequences go to the top of the list. Global warming certainly fits that model. By now the evidence is overwhelming that the climate is changing worldwide at an unusually rapid pace, and the consequences include potentially displacing hundreds of millions of people and starving billions. Thus far the reaction to this threat from politicians worldwide, as well as from American politicians, have ranged from outright denial to ineffective promises. One might think that would be an important enough issue for serious debate.
   

2. Civil infrastructure. Most of the infrastructure in this nation has been neglected for almost half a century, and shows it. It’s not just the highways and bridges that have been neglected. City water and sewer systems, the national electric grid, railroads, port facilities, oil refineries and power plants have all been neglected, used well beyond their planned lifetimes, patched up at minimal expense, and generally allowed to gracefully decay. The reasons for this are many and complex, but the issue is critical, and deserves attention.
   

3. Civil liberties. The Bush administration, in the name of 9/11 and global terrorism, and with the meek cooperation of Congress, has mounted the most recent assault on our civil liberties, with laws that allow the government, among other things, to eavesdrop without a court order on telephone calls and email, monitor the books we check out of the library, and hold suspects indefinitely without trial - rules we have generally associated with police states. But in fact this erosion of civil liberties has been going on for decades. One might think this would be an issue of serious concern.
   

4. Social security and Medicare. Both of these programs, as currently constituted, will bankrupt the government within the next few decades. That is, as currently constituted they will eventually require more money each year than the entire federal budget. One might think that would be a serious enough issue for discussion in this election.
   

5. Public education. Despite spending more money per pupil than almost any other nation on earth, our public school students rank almost at the bottom in achievement among developed countries. And it is generally accepted that the current “No Child Left Behind” initiative has been an unmitigated disaster. For a nation whose economic well-being depends on a highly-educated workforce, I should think this ought to be a hot topic for debate and discussion in this election.

Will any of these topics get serious discussion and debate during this election?