For The Defense, December 2011 - DRI Today
For The Defense, December 2011 - DRI Today
For The Defense, December 2011 - DRI Today
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in need of improved education systems,<br />
honest governance systems, and systems<br />
designed to attract investments and<br />
improve infrastructure.<br />
While poor countries suffer from<br />
these systems voids, in wealthy countries,<br />
the systems in place can become<br />
problematic, according to President Clinton.<br />
In wealthy countries, systems now<br />
function primarily to preserve the systems,<br />
and the people running the systems<br />
are more interested in holding on to<br />
what they have than working to advance<br />
the purposes for which the systems were<br />
originally designed. This, he believes,<br />
is evident in the tensions surrounding<br />
income disparity, the lack of a good,<br />
vibrant debate on role of government,<br />
and regular attempts to disenfranchise<br />
the American voters. That is why building<br />
and reforming systems, by working<br />
with governments and the private sector,<br />
is a primary focus of the work that<br />
he does with his foundation.<br />
“We’re going to be fine,” said President<br />
Clinton, “but we need to have the right<br />
debate. And in the world, we need to keep<br />
in mind that the choices will be more<br />
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inequality or a future of shared prosperity;<br />
more instability or a future of shared<br />
responsibility; and a sense of our common<br />
humanity, which will lead us to do<br />
the right thing to save the planet for our<br />
children and grandchildren.”<br />
After concluding his speech, President<br />
Clinton fielded several questions<br />
from Mr. Sneath. When Mr. Sneath asked<br />
the president about his view on the current<br />
negative political discourse, especially<br />
as presented by the media, the<br />
president said that the debate we’re having<br />
right now is not a real debate, and<br />
that he pleads that we actually get down<br />
to a discussion of what our real choices<br />
are. Asked to evaluate the relationship<br />
between terrorism and the economy,<br />
Mr. Clinton recalled a recent address<br />
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave<br />
in which she emphasized that economic<br />
strength cannot be divorced from<br />
national security. According to the president,<br />
if people in the United States do<br />
not feel secure enough in their own economic<br />
fortunes, they are not going to<br />
support the investment needed to build<br />
more partnerships around the world and<br />
reduce the threat of terrorism. When Mr.<br />
Sneath asked how we can rebuild confidence<br />
in the financial markets without<br />
creating inequities, President Clinton<br />
emphasized the importance of addressing<br />
mortgage debt and updating infrastructure<br />
if we want to see a return to the<br />
growth of the 1990s. Finally, when asked<br />
to identify the accomplishment from<br />
his presidency that makes him the most<br />
proud, President Clinton gave Mr. Sneath<br />
a specific answer and a general one. Specifically,<br />
he pointed to the 22.7 million<br />
jobs created during his administration,<br />
92 percent of which were in the private<br />
sector, as well the 7.7 million people who<br />
moved from poverty to the middle class<br />
during those eight years, which was 100<br />
times as many as during President Ronald<br />
Reagan’s two terms. He also said that<br />
he was generally proud of the fact that<br />
when he left office, it was understood that<br />
the government, the private sector, and<br />
individuals had to cooperate to achieve<br />
progress. People had confidence in government<br />
and expected to solve problems<br />
together.<br />
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<strong>For</strong> <strong>The</strong> <strong>Defense</strong> ■ <strong>December</strong> <strong>2011</strong> ■ 9