United States has big problems that are not going away

I think I have figured it out, "it" being the frustration so many in this nation, in this world, have about the planet's current state of affairs.
This same frustration has turned out voters in record numbers during our nation's presidential race, something all the current candidates have noticed. And I, after a year of offering my "take" on national and international issues, for whatever that's worth, have also noticed this frustration, and even exploited it while writing this column. Yet after a year writing, I have begun to ask myself why I do so, why I spend one night each week writing about our collective woes and our potential for triumph.
Recently, I answered my question. I have been searching, perhaps unintentionally, for the stem to "it," the stem to this frustration. And believe it or not, the reason why voters are turning out in record numbers for a presidential race, the reason why pundits are screaming at each other on the television over the merits of the Iraq War, the reason why so many in this country actually believe that my generation will have it worse off than theirs, has nothing do with George Bush. Or, for that matter, Dick Cheney. Or Donald Rumsfeld, Paris Hilton, Osama Bin Laden, al -Qaida, the Taliban, Nicole Richie, the Donald, the Rosie, Exxon, or even Wall Street. The reason why people are frustrated, more so than any other recent generation according to most polls, despite living lives better than these many generations, has nothing to do with any of the aforementioned people. Instead, the reason why is radically simple. So simple, I can spell it out on this page, in plain, black and white newsprint.
Here goes: There are problems, big problems which at times seem insurmountable, which won't go away.
We have an energy crisis, which with gas reaching $4 a gallon, is finally beginning to catch our attention.
We have deadly diseases endemic to developing nations taking million of lives each year, when medicine that can stave off death exists in hospitals throughout the developed world.
We're fighting wars for the promise of peace, forgetting peace is a promise without wars.
Despite all of these frustrations, these problems, nothing has been done on a massive scale to find any credible solutions. Sure, citizen led organizations have done wonders in Africa containing and treating HIV/AIDS, and yes, Al Gore has certainly done his part parading around the world spreading awareness about global warming. Yet still, a cure to AIDS, cancer and other diseases has not been found, nor a solution to global warming.
A few days ago, NASA released updated footage of the first explorations into space more than 30 years ago. Watching the gloved hands of astronauts reaching out to grab the brilliant blue planet earth, I realized the possibilities of this great nation.
When President Kennedy announced a race against the Soviets to reach space, the task seemed impossible. Yet this country became obsessed with the program, and our government poured money and attracted the best talent into the race for space.
Obviously, when the space race began, and ended, the United States was in the middle of the Cold War. Reaching space, for as far as the government knew, could have made the difference between a cold and a hot war, but no matter what we were going to do, we were going to reach space first.
Today, our enemy is not the Soviet Union. Our enemy isn't even al-Qaida, or any other terrorist group, although they certainly aren't making the quest for peace any easier. Instead, our enemy is ourselves, or more precisely, our apathy.
This country desperately needs an Apollo-like program to solve our energy dependence problems; to solve our various health crises; to solve our global economic problems; to save ourselves from impending environmental catastrophe; and to save ourselves from fundamentalist terrorists; to find peace.
Today, we are on the cusp of solving many of the world's problems, more so than ever before. But what holds us back, what holds us from finding peace, is a lack of purpose, a lack of drive, and a lack of leadership to rally the troops of common citizenry in achieving their wildest dreams.
Whether the leadership arrives tomorrow or Jan. 31, 2009, we cannot wait when we have already run so strongly to our current stride; coming so far in medical, technological and social advancements.
Perhaps the hardest races are the ones we run against ourselves.

Matthew Christ is a senior at South Walton High School and a resident of Santa Rosa Beach. You can contact him at matt.waltonsun@gmail.com. You can also hear the “Matt Christ Live Show” on 107.1 FM 30A Radio on Sundays, 11 a.m. to noon and online at 30aradio.org.