From the biblical tale of David and Goliath, to mythical heroes like Odysseus, throughout history, people have been taught to embrace the idea that brain will always win over brawn. Odysseus tricked the Cyclops, gaining a victory he could have never won with physical strength alone. He also conceived the Trojan horse, a clever way to gain access to the impenetrable city of Troy.

America itself was built using those same blueprints. When America won its independence from Britain it wasn’t even a true country yet. It was just devoted groups of men fighting the super power of their time for what they believed in, giving their lives for opportunity. Regardless of the story or the time-period, the theme is always the same. No matter how big the challenge or challenger, wits can and will eventually prevail.

Even with all the benefits America has gained, the American government has seemingly forgotten and abandoned this idea. America spends more and more on war each year simultaneously cutting budgets for education. The government has increasingly failed to provide adequate funds for one of our country’s most important institutions, schools.

The National School Supply and Equipment Association reported that from 2009-2010 American teachers spent 1.3 billion dollars of their own moderate income to supplement the government’s shortcomings. If you include contributions by parents and PTA’s the dollar amount provided by private individuals climbs to 3.5 billion dollars. That same year, the United States Department of Defense listed that the U.S spent 683.7 billion dollars on defense and war.

President Barrack Obama saved our country from slipping into a depression. Today 1 in 6 people in America are hungry, which equates to 46.2 million impoverished people – an overall poverty rate of 15 percent.

The percentage of Americans without health coverage has risen to 16.3% – 49.9 million people. (The Associated Press September 13, 2011)

Even though American’s escaped a depression, we are experiencing our worst economy since the Great Depression. Neither presidential candidate spoke directly about poverty during their campaigns, but both candidates contributed to spending the most money for any presidential campaign in American history – almost 6 billion dollars. (USA Today Aug 02, 2012)

What are America’s values if we can’t feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, pay for school or find a job; but we can spend almost 700 billion dollars on war, and break records for campaign spending during our country’s most challenging economy?

America would be wise to follow the formula that made us great, not the formula of the powerful kingdoms, empires and countries that were all eventually defeated by their less powerful foes. We began as David, winning an impossible victory against a dominant enemy. Now, we have more weapons and devices of war than any other country on the planet, effectively transforming us into Goliath. If history repeating itself holds true, then it’s only a matter of time before the next “David” reinforces our collective belief that brain will always win over brawn.