Upon winning the presidential election, it is customary for the president-elect to recruit the members of the cabinet as well as the heads of key federal programs and to publicize an agenda for the first hundred days after being sworn in. This agenda indicates the issues that are most important for the new administration.
With America ravaged by COVID-19 because of Donald Trump’s incompetence, Joe Biden is forced as a new president to focus primarily on developing a strategy to mitigate the pandemic’s damage. So the New York Times has asked “top experts” to suggest the one idea that could “make the country a better place.”
A review of the suggestions indicates that there is no single idea that can correct all of the nation’s problems. It might be helpful for those interested in social change to review some of the proposed ideas by category:
Internet related
Marcelo Claure, the CEO of SoftBank Group International, would arrange for every American child to have access to an internet-enabled device as well as reliable internet access service. He points out that a study by the Pew Research Center in 2018 found a great gap in the internet access of children from low-income families. This deficiency puts those students academically behind.
John B. King Jr., the CEO of The Education Trust, points out that not only is internet access limited for the poor, but the unavailability of adequate training in technology retards the usefulness when access is available to the children of families with limited income. Distance learning was not always an option for these youngsters under COVID-19 conditions.
Prithwiraj Choudhury, a professor at Harvard Business School, suggests that remote work induced by pandemic dangers ought to become an accepted strategy to induce people to move to areas that might not have a robust job market to influence new residents.
Investment ideas
Robert F. Smith, CEO of Vista Equity Partners, and the wealthiest Black American, suggests that business entities contribute 2% of their annual profit to end systemic racism and to provide capital for Blacks to attain personal solvency, and to develop Black businesses to eliminate the racial wealth gap.
William Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, would provide every American with a cash boon, such as $6,750 at birth. This sum would be carefully invested to enable every citizen to retire as a millionaire.
Education Policy
Kwame Owusu-Kesse and Geoffrey Canada, executives of the Harlem Children’s Zone, emphasize that quality of life in the neighborhood is equally as important as the quality of pedagogy in schools.
Oren Cass, CEO of American Compass, insists that attainment of an academic degree is so persistently promoted, that many students who are better suited for other careers end up as college dropouts with substantial loans to pay. Other career opportunities should be emphasized.
Moral social change
Heidi Heitkamp, a former U.S. senator from North Dakota, wants the U.S. government to comply with its treaties with Native Americans and create objective accountability for all federal services and compliance due Native Americans.
Gun purchase background checks
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut wants to be certain all gun purchasers are investigated, as one measure to reduce the nation’s 100 gunshot deaths per day.
Conclusion
President Joe Biden will have a number of issues to pursue after he has stemmed the growth of COVID-19. The New York Times has provided information on what concerns some prominent Americans.
