How to fix the world.  The list of problems is a mile long.  Wage gaps.  Overpopulated prisons.  Violence.  Corrupt politicians.  Untreated mental illnesses.  I could fix them all, in one fell swoop, if the world would just listen to me.

A mandatory ethics unit, every semester, from kindergarten through college.  If only a few of the world's richest -- I think Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have already announced their willingness -- to put their billions to constructive use -- we could get 'er done.

Raise teacher salaries.  Put the unemployed to work rebuilding our infrastructure, and spend the rest on training enough guidance counselors and classroom aides so that the 5-, 10-, and 15-year-old snickerers are stopped in their tracks when ethics are mentioned in classrooms.

We have to start somewhere, right?

In a perfect world designed by me, we would have Enlightened Management at all our companies.  Instead of lining executive pockets, employees would be paid a living wage, violence would be outlawed, and mental illness would be de-stigmatized so that people could get the help they need.  HIPAA wouldn't be necessary because companies would be ethically bound not to hold illness against people.  (Mental OR physical.)

I don't expect any of this to happen, of course.  But wouldn't it be wonderful if people could just talk about it?

How far is it possible to fall?  As it stands, Jack Nicklaus is still the greatest golfer in history.  At least I think he'd win if every knowledgeable person had a vote.  But Tiger was, for a period of 10 years, the most dominant golfer ever.  No question.  He was SO dominant that I have a friend who is absolutely certain that Tiger will again be as dominant as he once was.

Nothing's impossible, but that sure SEEMS impossible, at least to me.

Currently, I'm in mourning for the current state of Tiger's game.  I'm also in mourning for the appalling notions that are creeping into my mind.

Tiger has never been in prison, and I don't imagine he'll ever sink THAT low.  (Again, nothing's impossible.)

But what's appalling is that when I try to think of public figures who have dropped as far as Tiger, two of the three are sports figures who have been in prison, and the other is Richard Nixon, who should have been jailed.

I'm thinking of Pete Rose and O.J. Simpson.  And again, I apologize to myself and to everyone else for linking the three.  Woods is nowhere near as horrible a person as Rose, and Rose is nowhere near as horrible a person as Simpson.  (Nixon ranks between Rose and Simpson.)

More later, maybe.  I'm going to watch TV with Barbara now.  We're getting ready for the Belmont Stakes, but first we're going to eat an early dinner.

*************

More thoughts, following American Pharoah's wonderful race to the triple crown.  (I hate misspelling pharaoh, but I guess I don't have a choice.  The horse's misspelled name is an established fact.)

About Tiger's problems.  He's made other major swing changes through the years, which confounds observers.  He's always trying to get better, and he was successful with those changes, and it's hard to quarrel with success.  Maybe he'll get good again, because he's got the talent and the dedication to pull it off.  But what I'm thinking is, his former swing methods were probably responsible for his knee and back problems.  Just about any golf swing is so unnatural that it creates stresses on various body parts.  Now that Tiger's been through reconstructed knee and through back surgery, he's created a new swing that he hopes will allow him to stay physically healthy.  Will his age and body permit a return to competency?  (Greatness is another question.)  And, in words close to what Yogi Berra once said, 50% of golf is 90% mental.  Yes, Tiger's mental state is questionable, too.

I wish him well, but I'm not optimistic.  It's just so sad, right now, to see him struggle this much.