Dear President Biden...

Dear President Biden,

I hope that you, your family, and your administration are doing well.

During your State of the Union address tonight, I was wondering if you could please send your well wishes to major world leaders, whether or not they consider themselves allies of the United States, in order to build good will with them. If you could just say that you're thinking of them, you hope they're healthy, happy, and prosperous, and you've been reading or watching some of their speeches recently, and you learned something from them, I think that could go a long way toward building more good will toward the U.S. from the rest of the world. All while standing firm in your own resolve to defend U.S. sovereignty, of course.

We're currently in a perilous time with the war in Ukraine, and with China and other countries feeling emboldened, it is crucial that we don't stumble into World War III. And showing some appreciation for political leaders like Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un, and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei can go a long way. Let's be honest, all four of these leaders--despite their antagonistic posture toward the U.S.--are fundamentally rational and normal enough, and they have good qualities too. This is highly preferable to dealing with someone who's completely impossible to deal with, so we shouldn't take it for granted.

I also hope that you can help bring an end to partisan divides in Congress once and for all. Right now, it appears that most votes are split along party lines, rather than having each senator and representative vote their conscience and develop more of their own legislation. Can you help set things up so that each senator and representative can truly vote their conscience?

I also was wondering if you could please name a cure for aging as a good long-term solution to the national debt. If people could live youthful, healthy lives into their 70s, 80s, and beyond, then there would be less need for Medicare or Social Security, at least at younger ages.

Another thought on the debt ceiling drama right now is that you could impose a high value added tax, which is a form of consumption tax, which ultimately could replace the income tax if you were interested.

Thank you.

China's President Xi Jinping Called for "Win-Win Outcomes" in January 2022

Chinese president Xi Jinping struck a conciliatory tone at the World Economic Forum’s virtual Davos Agenda meeting on January 17, 2022, a little more than a year ago. You can watch his speech here and read his speech here. In one section of his speech that stood out, he advocated for countries around the world to seek “win-win outcomes.”

I thought that this was a noteworthy part of his speech. Here’s the transcript of what he said:

“Fourth, we need to discard Cold War mentality and seek peaceful coexistence and win-win outcomes. Our world today is far from being tranquil; rhetorics that stoke hatred and prejudice abound. Acts of containment, suppression, or confrontation arising thereof do all harm, not the least good, to world peace and security. History has proved time and again that confrontation does not solve problems; it only invites catastrophic consequences. Protectionism and unilateralism can protect no one; they ultimately hurt the interests of others as well as one's own. Even worse are the practices of hegemony and bullying, which run counter to the tide of history. Naturally, countries have divergences and disagreements between them. Yet a zero-sum approach that enlarges one's own gain at the expense of others will not help. Acts of single-mindedly building ‘exclusive yards with high walls’ or ‘parallel systems,’ of enthusiastically putting together exclusive small circles or blocs that polarize the world, of overstretching the concept of national security to hold back economic and technological advances of other countries, and of fanning ideological antagonism and politicizing or weaponizing economic, scientific and technological issues, will gravely undercut international efforts to tackle common challenges.

“The right way forward for humanity is peaceful development and win-win cooperation. Different countries and civilizations may prosper together on the basis of respect for each other, and seek common ground and win-win outcomes by setting aside differences.”

In these challenging times, I hope that world leaders can consider taking this to heart.