Spiritual and Moral Malaise, part two

In an election year like the one in which we find ourselves, the center gets pulled in opposite directions to such an extent that it is a wonder we can survive at all. Lately, I have been hearing so much drivel, in my mind, from both sides, in which both sides seem to be attempting to paint the other side as extreme and dangerous. In my opinion, neither candidate seems ready to lead the nation out of the malais in which we find ourselves. Unfortunately, the economic situation is global in scope and will take a strong, intelligent president, working in concert with the rest of the world.

It did occur to me that no matter who is elected president, the ultimate winner will suffer as a result of the state of the economy. I have stated on several occasions that whoever wins will probably be a one term president, and suffer from the downward pull of the economic situation.

Most of us out here are looking to the government to affect conditions to the extent where the economy can right itself. Depending on our political orientation, we are looking for more governmental assistance or less. But the economy of this country depends on so many factors outside our control, and anything that the government can or even should do is limited.

At the same time, there are many things which the government has done over the past twenty years which have adversely affected the economy. For instance, the deregulation of the banking industry has twice caused severe problems where the lenders were allowed to make loans which were not prudent which ultimately led to the closing of banks and savings and loans. The first such instance occurred during the Reagan administration. Now the second Bush administration has seen a similar occurence. Both situations were caused by the infusion of capital into an industry which was experiencing less regulation than before. No one was watching the banks and savings and loans closely and the banks and savings and loans suffered as a result. I suppose that if we all placed our money in our mattresses we wouldn't have the problem.

The second large governmental occurence which adversely affected our economy was the bipartisan effort to pass NAFTA, which occurred during the Clinton administration. The ultimate result of that legislation becomes crystal clear when you drive through the Piedmont region of the Southeast. Every little town in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Alabama, which depended on textiles in the past for its economy and well-being, is now suffering. It is really sad to drive through such small towns in this region and see what has happened. Unfortunately, as the economy has suffered, the industry which replaced it has also suffered. The end result is a spike in unemployment in the area.

It has worried me for some time when I realized that so much of our manufacturing ability was being outsourced and removed to other countries. We have done the same with agriculture. You go to the grocery and most of our produce comes from Central and South America. The only produce item we seem to lead in production is corn. We should have plenty of corn for cheap feed and consumption. But more and more of that seems to go to bio-fuel and corn sweeteners. The end result is higher prices for the corn and a continuance of the use of corn sweeteners in processed foods in this country. The cost of beef and pork goes up and we, as a country, continue to get fatter and fatter.

When the dollar dropped in value, other countries jumped in and started taking up the economic slack. In some sense, this was good, because it infused a lot of foreign money into our economy which had allowed it to thrive in earlier years. But the problem has continued as the global economy has slipped. Suddenly, there is not so much foreign money to invest and keep us afloat. In addition, the quality of products which were flooded into our Wal-Marts and grocery stores, seemed to be cheaper, in the main. Suddenly, we started having problems with recalls on goods from China. Everything that used to be manufactured in the USA was now made in Asia.

We live in a global economy and nothing will change this in the future, short of other countries refusing to supply us with the things we buy. In that regard, gas prices have recently decreased to the point where OPEC is meeting soon to decide whether it is in their best interest to reduce production so that the price will climb again. Cindy and I bought gas in Slidell, Louisiana for $2.49 on Sunday. You can buy gas in Barnesville for $2.39. The present price of gas is slipping down toward $2.00 a gallon, as the per barrel price of oil slips to $70 a barrel. How long will this go on until the countries which don't like us, like Iran, Venezuela, Russia and others decide to limit the price so they can continue to make a living off of our inability to provide for ourselves?

Before the American voters retired him in November, 1979, President Carter deliverd a speech in which he mourned the spiritual and moral malaise in the country at the time. He predicted that the country would soon go on a self-centered sprint where greed and the desire to accumulate personal wealth would overwhelm the ethical nature and spirit of cooperation of our country. That prediction came true in a big way. The end result was the lack of energy self-reliance and the closing of numerous savings and loans and lenders. Don't forget the recent actions of the company which got the congressional bailout and then turned around and held a corporate retreat in a spa in California. Is there any better example of the spiritual and moral malaise of this country?

In 1994, Congress mandated that the FED needed to more closely regulate Wall Street. That was a predominately Republican congress, working with a Democratic President. In light of the joyride the economy was riding at the time, the chairman of the FED refused to do so. The short term result was a continuance of the joy ride. The long term result was the inability to manage the ride. Now we are suffering and the Congress continues to pay out of our treasury for the negative results, with money they are printing, but not earning.

Add to this the money, lives and resources we are expending in the Middle East to manage the affairs of countries and fight terrorism. We spend billions of dollars on propping up governments, providing services, providing security, and the terrorists seem to just exit to another country. We don't even get a price break on fuel oil from the countries we serve. What is the end result of all this expenditure and who pays the bill?

The end result of all this is that we are back in that malaise that President Carter referred to in 1979. The government is running on higher and higher deficits and the ability of average citizens of these United States to manage their own personal economies is weaker and weaker. It would be nice if we could point to one party or the other,like some Republicans have attempted to do with pointing fingers at Senator Obama and Congressman Frank and ACORN, and say that they are to blame. The truth of the matter is that we are all to blame.

President Truman had a sign on his desk which said, "The Buck Stops Here." Before he became President on Roosevelt's death, President Truman was an inexperienced politician from Missouri, who had ties to corrupt politicians in Missouri. He had little to support his position as the highest elected official in the United States. But he understood the job he had before him and he took responsibility for his own actions. He also seemed to understood his limitations. Perhaps the best we can hope for is a President and other elected representatives who do the best they can and understand their own limitations.

There have been many great moments in politics in the history of our country. The first great moment came when Thomas Jefferson wrote that "all men are created equal." The second great moment came when George Washington refused to be appointed King of his new country. The third great moment came when the new United States agreed to be bound by the constitution they created. All the problems and weaknesses present in this country over the centuries were resolved when its citizens acknowledged, through struggle, strife and compromise, that we all have a part in this enterprise and that we are all bound by the laws of this nation.

Its not a Republican thing or a Democratic thing; its an American thing. We all need to put shoulder to plow and push.