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Economy
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It's the Psychology Stupid
What Ever Happened to American Ingenuity... Optimism... "Can Do" Spirit?
How the Mighty Have Fallen
A Nation of Energy Vampires!
Note: This article is adapted from an article originally posted here before all hell broke loose. Then the big issues were the high price of gasoline and the falling stock market. It gives us pause to consider how much has happened, how much worse things seem to have gotten, even since then, so we've had to do some major editing and revising. The events that have occurred since the original writing, only play into our hands however, strengthen our point.)
As early as last Spring, the idea that the economy was in more than a bit of a market correction was beginning to hit home. Suddenly it was not only all over the news. It was all the news. From Fox to CNN, NPR, it didn't matter. Oil and
food prices, airline woes, subprime mortgages, layoffs. The tone and
slant was the same. "We're drowning. We're losing. We're broke." We heard
story after story of how someone couldn't afford to shop at Whole Foods,
cancelled vacations, not spending, staying close to home. It was a mess. Life was
tough all over. And now, looking back, some of us might be a little wistful of the economy we had nine months ago. It seems it has only worsened dramatically since then.
During the elections, the politicians pandered. They played to this. They tried to outdo each other
with attacks on speculators, oil companies, the government for not
doing something about it. They tossed windfall profits taxes and
suspension of gasoline tax at us like candy to children as the
political parade marched past. And of course now, in the post-bailout era, in the middle of the multi-Trillion dollar so-called solutions, we only get more pontificating, feigned outrage at excessive bonuses, clamour to nationalize private enterprise, add regulation, print money, money, money, to fix everything because things are so bad and still they get worse. And therein lies the problem.
We
have become a nation of children. Dependent, whiny children.
Complaining about "the Man." "Life sucks" because the Man let the price
of gas go too high, and the price of food. The Man leaves us on our own
to pay for health care, to cope with fluctuations in employment. The man let the bad banks give us liar loans and then bailed out the bad banks. Woe are we!
That
poor Man has a big job, takes a lot of abuse, makes a convenient excuse
for us to savor our suffering instead of acting like Americans and
standing up and doing something about what's wrong with our lives, our
economy, our country.
Tom Brokaw called the World War II
generation "the greatest generation." I would agree. Those people
didn't cave, certainly didn't whine, They rallied. They did what they
had to do individually and collectively and rid the world of its
heretofore greatest threat.
We seem to do well when it comes to
military threats, real, imagined, or hyped. Good old America, always
gets up for a war. If there's a dictator to hate, a empire to fear, an
"Axis of Evil"--we stand at attention and put our hands on our hearts.
But when the enemy is a down economy, a shortage of energy, a crash in
key markets, we cry like children. We're helpless. Pathetic. The Media
loves to drive this point home for those of us who haven't gotten it
yet. All we hear is sob stories from people who have given up.
John Gordon's book The Energy Bus has a term for people who are always negative, always saying can't, always whining, "Energy Vampires."
Gordon tells us to stay away from these people. They'll suck the life
out of us faster than the other kind of vampire. And unlike literary
vampires, these guys are real! These gals can really kill you. (See
related article on our Libertarian Spirituality page. Click for link)
If
we had reacted to Hitler the way we react to our current economic news,
we'd all be speaking German. If we had approached the Soviet threat by
cowering in fear in our fallout shelters, we'd be celebrating May Day.
So what's gotten into us? We can bring down the Axis powers but we
can't find a better way to get to work? We can bring down the Berlin
Wall but we can't bring down our cost of living? We can feed the world but when we get a pink slip we're ready to lie down and get in a bread line? We're drowning in our
fears when we could be riding a new wave of opportunity.
Opportunity.
In every crisis there is danger and opportunity. We've milked the
danger angle. It's about time opportunity got equal time. We're
Americans for crying out loud! Are we going to let the price of oil
determine our quality of life? Are we going to let an employer tell us we can't support our families? Are we going to wait for some mythical
"Man" to solve these problems by edict? We have our Obama. Is he our savior? Will he fix everything in a nice big stimulus package?
Lest we forget, the last time "The Man" tinkered with the economy in a dramatic way, things only got worse. Remember Nixon? Wage and price controls? Now there was a Man! The
Man really came through for us. Froze us in our misery. That was a
plan! But isn't that what people are asking for today? Raise the
minimum wage! Roll back the price of gasoline! Rescue me from my
mortgage! Subsidize the airlines! Uncle Sam, save me! You think you've
got something to whine about now? Just wait, if your prayers are
answered! (And if the trend continues, it appears your prayers for government "salvation" are being answered.)
The Man isn't the answer. Whomever he is, he can't
help you. Government. "Corporate America." Whomever. Whatever. Remember
the quote from the cartoon., "We've met the enemy and they're us?"
Well...?? We've met the Man and he's us. The Man. The Woman. The
Superhero. The Savior! more
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