Fareed Zakaria at Willamette University

Salem-News.com posted an article on Fareed Zakaria's recent speech at Willamette University.

(SALEM, Ore.) - The U.S. is struggling to effectively address issues like Social Security, immigration and health care because the government’s solution so far has been to “kick the can down the road in hopes the problem will solve itself,” Newsweek International editor and CNN journalist Fareed Zakaria told a group of Willamette University students Friday.

Zakaria visited campus to deliver the university’s fall Atkinson Lecture in Smith Auditorium. Prior to the lecture, he met informally with students in politics Professor Greg Felker’s “Capitalism and Democracy” class.

One of the books the students read in class was Zakaria’s The Future of Freedom, and they queried the journalist on everything from why American leaders seem unable to act on policies, to whether the country’s consumer-driven culture is impacting people’s attitudes toward politicians and spending.

As one student asked whether U.S. leaders were “inept,” Zakaria countered that the country’s politicians are “very intelligent people.” “But the system is one that encourages short-termism. … It’s not that our politicians are stupid. It’s that they’re smart. They’re responding to the infrastructure we have given them.

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