We have worked hard to find evidence-based solutions to our nation’s challenges.  What we discovered through this process is that, when you drown out the noise of special interest groups, ideological labels, and the paralyzing backlash of a hard-core base, the answers become surprisingly clear. 

 

Thanks to exhaustive research by governmental agencies, think tanks, colleges and universities, nonprofit organizations, and private foundations, many questions have been definitively answered.  In many cases, it's just a matter of doing the math.  The problem is our current politicians have very little incentive to acknowledge or accept the results unless, of course, it backs-up whatever side they already come down on.  

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1787's strategy is the exact opposite.  The policy recommendations you see on this site are here only to begin the conversation and to have a blueprint to work from.  Our goal is to gather as many good ideas as possible, then create solutions that allow for a certain amount of flexibility so we can appropriately respond to changes in the national condition or when we all, together, discover a better way — a perpetual work in progress.  Hopefully, seeing all of these topics together in one place will make it easier for every American to work hard to prove these initial ideas wrong, or at least offer recommendations they think may be better.  That is the very best way to find the very best solutions!

 

Please believe, we honestly don’t care where the answers come from
or what ideology they align with. We just want the very best ones.

 

In every issue we face, there are sustainable solutions that can emerge if we commit to pragmatic, comprehensive problem-solving strategies that mobilize all of our available resources.  However, we have gotten into the horrible habit of constantly reacting to negative outcomes as opposed to proactively anticipating them. 

 

Worse, instead of approaching our national policies comprehensively, our politicians act like they exist in total isolation from one another. Their actions (and inactions) suggest that they think our long-term economic health is separate and apart from our unstable entitlement programs, ridiculously convoluted tax code, schizophrenic immigration policy, non-evolving energy practices, suffocating debt, and severe inequality of both income and opportunity. Evidently, they think our ability to preserve supremacy within the international power structure is separate and apart from the way we educate our children, the way we treat the planet, the cost and quality of our health care, our level of investment in research and development, and the condition of our infrastructure.

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This is a lazy, ineffective and irresponsible approach and does nothing more than waste precious time, as we are now so painfully aware.

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America, we don’t have time for these shenanigans.  We have to — for once and for all — solve the roots of our problems instead of continuing to treat the symptoms.  This means a more proactive approach, which will minimize potential problems before they escalate into full-scale catastrophes.  Anyone who thinks we can keep our superpower status without meticulous attention to detail and tremendous foresight needs to think again.  That is exactly what the Greeks, Spanish and Romans thought, and they are now named in history books as failed empires. 

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The time has come for serious people to come up with serious solutions.  From immigration to entitlements to our fiscal crisis — to the racial health, education and wealth gaps to criminal justice reform — we have to make very difficult decisions and come together as a nation to fix this.

 
Einstein once said, “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” We should take his advice and move beyond the ineffectual thinking of our past.

Because there are so many problems to solve, the only plausible answer is to be boldly strategic in our attack.  We can no longer expect half-measures and incremental ideas to work in systems that have all but collapsed.  Instead, we have to embrace a full and fundamental restructuring.

As we begin to make revolutionary changes, it is essential that we always make today’s decisions with tomorrow seared in our minds.  Our best bet is to always keep our eyes firmly on the horizon and visualize the future we want for our shining city upon the hill, not only in the 21st century, but far beyond.  

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