You have entered “Rare Air: The Ross Associates Think
Tank.” Our CEO, William R. Miller, IV, used the phrase during his
October 28, 2010 speech at Lincoln University. With a high school
dropout rate of 28 percent for African American males, speaking to
a standing room only auditorium of African American university
students was indeed rare air. As we enter a new decade, this forum
will dispute stereotypical thinking and propose unconventional
ideas to address new challenges, as well as resolve lingering ills
that are decades in the making. Ross Associates adopted as its
philosophy the acronym D.I.E.:
Discipline, Innovation
and Education. We cannot do the same things the same
way or we surely will DIE. This applies to all aspects of life; our
individual professional and personal endeavors, as well as
corporate and government entities. We pose to you some of our
thoughts that we will explore in future Rare Air postings:
According to a recent Time Magazine article entitled “Can
Washington Tackle Its Sacred Deficit Cows?” the nation will face a
$20 trillion deficit in the year 2020. The article examined the
three large government programs that comprise 40 percent of the
national budget that, until now, were untouchable: Social Security,
Military spending and the “American Dream” subsidy – those
deductions for interest on mortgages. At nearly $1 trillion a year
added to the deficit, can we really afford to keep these cows
sacred? Add to this the cost of education, prisons and social
services and it’s no wonder the drain on the national budget, not
to mention state and local budgets, has evolved from a trickle to a
monsoon. If the United States is to right itself from economic
extinction, our leaders must force dramatic change. Is there anyone
in Congress willing to step up and lead? Are the American people
ready to accept a new way of thinking? Primary socialization has
gone the way of dinosaurs, nickel loaves of bread and the Edsel.
The lack of what Generation Y calls “home training” is lining the
pockets of the social service and prison industries which are
cleaning up the mess that the lack of parenting has created. What
if we could legislate parental means testing to determine whether
someone is capable of adequately raising a child? If children know
right from wrong and respect for others before they enter school,
could we significantly mitigate the cost of these drivers of the
federal deficit? Public education is mandatory in the United States
for children in grades K through 12. As more parents demand options
for their children, will public schools become the provider of last
resort for low-income children whose parents can’t afford private
or charter schools? Are we in danger of losing generations of
children to higher dropout rates and a fast track into the penal
system? What do you think? We encourage you to share your thoughts
in dialogue with us. Perhaps it will be within these posts that
together we find solutions to society’s ills or just create a new
way of thinking in the new year. Are you ready to think with us?
Stay tuned for more Rare Air.