Yesterday a retired general told me that "75% of Americans between 17 and 25 years old are unfit for military service." He referred to Pentagon official Curt Gilroy, who found that obesity in this group has soared from 6% in 1987 to 35% today. "Kids are just not able to do push-ups, can't do pull-ups, and can't run," adds Gilroy. He cites the widespread elimination of school physical fitness programs as one cause. Drug addiction and inadequate schooling are other service disqualifications. Another shortcoming has to be failure to educate families in proper nutrition.

The New York Times reports that the US, once the educational envy of the world, now has a higher percentage of high school drop-outs than all but four of the world's 30 richest nations. Finland has 94% graduating, the US around 67%. The reason cited: Finland has a "highly effective way of recruiting, training and supporting teachers."

Purple concludes that a highly educated, healthy population is essential for America to lead economically, scientifically, and militarily in a world where China and India vie for those roles. For decades we have been on a consumption binge, fueled by cheap credit, government borrowing and tax cuts. Our national debt - much of it financed by nations that save, such as China – has skyrocketed, while investments in the future – education, basic research, infrastructure and clean energy – have lagged. The "Great Recession" is now used as a reason to stimulate the economy by increasing personal purchasing power to create jobs, returning us to our role as the world's greatest consumers.

Sadly, this strategy of restoring the recent past only assures more failure. We must instead become investors in America's future, supporting better education from birth on, restoring and improving our roads, airports, and broadband network, increasing basic research in clean energy sources and efficiencies, addressing climate disruption, and by modernizing our military. These are responsibilities of government, and so must be funded by taxes.

Politically, one Party has adopted a mantra of "No New Taxes," in effect making a firm commitment never to do what needs to be done. Many politicians appear to embrace this fool-hardy approach to governing. A few days ago the Virginia legislature voted 97-0 to reject the tax increase proposals in the 2010 budget proposed by departing Governor Kaine. The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors is fighting to avoid raising real estate taxes in the face of burgeoning school enrollment. Their strategy? Increase class sizes, starve the County's libraries and avoid hiring more teachers. (For the record, Purple favors Charter Schools, and allowing school officials to replace ineffective teachers.)

What is the rationale against raising taxes on those who can afford to pay? Answer: taxes lower consumption and thus cost jobs. Let's examine that logic. Yes, higher taxes will affect housing and consumer goods, costing jobs (some of them offshore) in those sectors. But that tax money will not disappear from the economy. It will be spent to provide more and better teachers, build roads instead of McMansions, hire more energy researchers, and finance energy-saving equipment and processes. It will build a modern military. All those will provide American jobs. In short, those added taxes will finance a stronger, more secure nation.

It's time to get real, America. We must prepare ourselves for future success, not seek to recreate a past that put our nation on the road to financial disaster. The times demand change, not self-indulgence. If we take proper action, we will again have earned the right to call ourselves great Americans. If not, our grandchildren will remember us as the generation that ended the American miracle. The choice is ours.