About American Parallax
American Parallax is a project whose intention is to showcase different points of view on different subjects relating to American culture and government. The goal is to open minds, provoke thought and discussion, and to entertain.
Do you think your government is doing a good job? Could it do better? Should changes be made? If so, how? AMERICAN PARALLAX will be a feature length documentary film exploring the extent to which the US government is doing an effective job creating an environment in which US citizens can enjoy “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”.
what is parallax?
In the diagram above, a person looking at the star from Viewpoint A would argue the star is in front of the blue square. A person looking from Viewpoint B would argue the star is in front of the red square. This concept is particularly useful to astronomers in determining the actual position of stars, galaxies, and other celestial objects far away.
Relevance - Making an analogy between parallax and the effort to understand and reconcile different viewpoints on political and cultural issues has merit. We believe most disagreements and misunderstandings stem from a differing viewpoint on any given subject. Understanding different perspectives has merit, both in a quest to understand truth, as well as to provide connection with others.
About the Project
If the US were a business, would you buy their stock, respect their performance, or desire their product? Do you think the amount of taxes you pay is fair? Do you think your tax dollars are well spent? Is the US government helping you, or getting in the way of your “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness”? Successful corporations often hire consultants to examine and assess their strengths and weaknesses so as to gain a competitive advantage. In a similar vein, AMERICAN PARALLAX will evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement our government should consider in order to do a better job.
What makes for good government? Or, more importantly, what makes for a good life? How can government facilitate, or at least not get in the way of the enjoyment of a good life? A broad spectrum of opinions will be solicited from various experts, personalities, and interesting individuals.
After exploring the extent to which freedom, happiness, health, and environment are important to the enjoyment of a good life, we will examine how various government policies help or hinder citizens. How important is government involvement in health care, religion, education, defense, and taxation? How wisely is the government spending its money? How sensible are the various policies the government is pursuing?
Comparing US government policies and priorities to other countries in the world will provide a valuable perspective. What do countries that are more successful in a particular area do differently, and how might we learn from their success? Similarly, do countries that do a poor job have any policies or traits that we should be careful to avoid?
AMERICAN PARALLAX will present an unbiased and objective analysis of both our federal government and American culture. The goal of the analysis is to determine and present 3 or 4 definitive changes, which, if implemented, would improve the ability of citizens to enjoy the rights listed in the Declaration of Independence, specifically “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”.