Florida excels at avoidance. If an issue is too difficult or costly, government kicks it down the road for future politicians to tackle. It speaks to our culture of instant gratification that doesn’t understand the concept of sacrificing today to avoid suffering in the future.

 

Unfortunately, today, serious problem-solving tops Florida’s agenda. We need to develop an engaged and better-educated society, ensure that all Floridians have adequate mental and physical healthcare and equal access to justice, as well as address the myriad of environmental concerns facing this peninsula. Rising seas will swallow every single coastal community and decimate our economy.

 

We know the problems exist, but since they are presently invisible, legislators pay lip service to constituents by solving the simpler problems.

 

Perhaps, Florida can learn to govern by solving a complex future problem that’s also visible today: Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare. Children languishing in the state’s dependency and delinquency system embody our inability to better govern. What’s more important than actually rehabilitating and protecting our most vulnerable asset, our children? It’s our duty to solve the problem even if the return on our investment isn’t obvious in time for the next election cycle.

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