15. Terrorism

A. Many nations on earth are facing a growing and substantial threat from militant Islam. Jihadist groups and their millions of sympathizers in the Muslim world are spread out in many countries, and are fully committed to harming “infidels.” Groups such as Al-Qaeda and its many offshoots, theocratic governments like that of Iran, and Islamist-dominated regimes in parts of the Arab world pose a great danger to the free world. They seek in the long run to impose their repressive version of Islam on all societies. Muslim preachers in Western countries who preach a jihadist worldview should therefore be monitored, banned, or even expelled. Considerable anti-terror resources and extensive programs to protect us at home and abroad from the threat of Islamist terror will continue to be necessary for the foreseeable future.

B. Terror is one of the many problems facing the world today, and it isn’t even among the most serious problems. Singling out Islamic terror and characterizing the danger as both a domestic and a global problem is unwarranted and even counter-productive. Al-Qaeda and similar groups represent a miniscule fraction of the Muslim world. They are clearly acting contrary to the spirit of Islam, and therefore the term “Islamic terror” should not even be used. Governments often tend to amplify such threats to serve their own purposes—to instill fear in citizens and to institute more police-state-like measures. In fact, a belligerent anti-terror policy not only sows fear at home but also creates more enemies abroad. Case in point are the heavy-handed anti-terror tactics which include killing some of those suspected of involvement in terror without even giving them due process of law (for example, through drone air strikes).

16. Voter ID

A. A small percentage of our population—among them the very poor, new immigrants, and those with debilitating illnesses—find it difficult to obtain and maintain a government-issued photo ID. There is no reason, in the absence of clear proof of voter fraud, to force such people to obtain an ID in order to participate in the democratic process, which is every citizen’s right. Because most of the people who don’t have such IDs constitute a demographic that tends to vote for one political party over another, members of the opposite party prefer to place hurdles in their path, to reduce their likelihood of voting.

B. It should be mandatory for all voters to identify themselves using a government issued photo ID prior to casting their ballot at a polling place. This requirement should not be dependent on whether actual fraud is shown at various polling places, or whether voter fraud is prevalent or rare. It simply goes against logic to allow people who don’t identify themselves to participate in our elections. Allowing non-verified individuals to vote serves to undermine our iron-clad faith in the integrity of our democratic process. Any citizen who wishes to fulfill his or her civic duty and influence our collective future should make the minimal effort required to obtain a government issued ID. Many countries around the world already have this basic requirement because it is self-evidently important.

17. Education

A. Our education system suffers from various problems, but chief among them is lack of funding. Several factors, including a substantial population increase, a need to use more expensive teaching tools than in the past, and a need to remain competitive with emerging economies that are producing students with higher math and science test scores, all mean that we should allocate more resources to our public education system. Diverting funds to non-public educational institutions will only weaken our existing system. To promote uniformity and to set a core curriculum program that standardizes learning, the federal government has to set guidelines and policies to ensure this in fact happens. Schools should not only reward personal academic achievement, but should also recognize the unique circumstances of every student and the student’s potential for achievement. Many students can fall behind because of outside factors, but they must never lose their sense of pride, self-worth, and the belief that they can be anything they would like to be if they set their mind to it.

B. Despite the great increase in funding for public education over the last few decades, students’ academic performance has not increased. In fact, because the source of our education problems has little to do with funding, we can make our education system much more effective even with smaller budgets. Parents should have the option of using their child’s allotted government education funds as vouchers for the school the parents think is best for their child, rather than be stuck with the public school nearest to their home. Educators should enjoy greater autonomy from various federal, state, and local mandates—with the exception of accountability. Private companies should also be encouraged to enter the education market to bring in more innovation and competition. Schools should promote excellence and personal achievement—not give everyone a trophy under the guise of promoting student self-esteem. Good teachers should be rewarded more, poor teachers should be let go, and failing schools should be closed.