Jeremy, I am so impressed with your knowledge of American history. Whenever I read something you’ve written, I am moved to follow up on a phrase or reference (Hegelian Dialectic and eugenics to mention just two). There’s really no “but” here. Well, there is a “but”, not one that negates or lessons how impressed I am; just one that may explain why I’m not entirely sold on the premise of your “Stop Fixing” post.
My reading preferences lean toward English mysteries (love Elizabeth George) and not political and economic history; and although I have a strong curiosity about our country’s past and the history of the world in general, it is more from an anthropologist’s perspective. Studying the machinations of any government is difficult for me. It’s not that it’s dry reading, although it can be, but that it’s usually written from a political perspective or point of view.
I’ve explained in my bio that I consider myself a sort of “every woman” or a rather average U.S. baby boomer. I try to keep up with current political events and watch several news channels and listen to both right- and left-biased commentators. Although I could make the time, I don’t have the passion to obtain the knowledge that you’ve acquired about the history of our government. Therefore I can’t sass you back in any point-by-point way, or challenge many of your historical overviews. Ergo my response to your post may seem extraneous. But bear with me; I think you’ll find a relevant thread or two.
I don’t pretend to have any answers to the present “state of our union.” I am more confused now than I have ever been about what is effective or non-effective, true or false, self-serving or for the greater good, as pertains to our government, economy, and place in the world. I sometimes with I had the blind innocence of my patriotic child-self who watched her WW11 veteran dad march in the 4th of July parade in her small home-town of Michigan in the mid-50’s. Or even of the 1960’s teenager who argued with her dad over whether we should be entangled in the Vietnam War. And, who still thought she lived in the greatest country in the world, but one that could make mistakes through its flawed (human) leaders.
I believe we are in circumstances in the United States in the year 2012, where it’s impossible to go back to a place in time, or to a specific set of practices to use as a template for what we need to do today to get us out of the mess we’re in. We are in dire need of intelligent, innovative, freethinking visionaries who can’t be bought and sold; who can create a new paradigm for governing a country of nearly 313 million people; a country with a national debt of over 15 trillion dollars; a country that has the most heavily armed civilian population in the world; a country with the highest documented incarceration rate in the world, and a significant amount due to the “war on drugs”; a country where health care costs more than anywhere else; a country where many of its citizens want to preserve the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, fifty percent divorce rate notwithstanding, by denying the rights of others.
Greed and religion – the sources I attribute to the mess we’re in.
First greed. I was raised in an era when credit cards didn’t exist – at least among our neighbors, friends, and family. We charged groceries at our neighborhood market, but the bill was paid when dad brought home his check. When my kids’ dad and I were raising our own family, we didn’t have credit cards. We bought what we could afford, or “laid away” items and paid a little at a time until we could take the stuff home. We did have a mortgage, and I believe we had a car payment at one time. Don’t misunderstand me; I’m not taking any high moral ground, just stating how it was. After my divorce, I applied for a credit card and was issued one with a $1,000 limit. I haven’t been without at least one in my purse since then. And, those cards got the better of me on more than one occasion. I always managed to make the payments, but the more I owed on the cards, the more they owned me. And the credit card companies, so supportive, just kept increasing those credit lines.
I, along with millions of others, have justified buying on credit. We want our kids to have a good Christmas and the name brand (insert product here) they beg for. We work hard and deserve that new 55” TV. It’s an investment, on sale, last chance, one of a kind, latest technology. We can’t afford not to buy it!
Not only did the credit card companies offer us thousands of dollars to spend on whatever that 55” TV was hawking, the banks and mortgage lenders told us we could manage the payments (no money down, first-time homebuyer, balloon payment) on that McMansion with a view. The little voice inside may have thought, “wow, they must know something I don’t because I didn’t think I could afford this property”, but jump in we did (it’s an investment, our jobs are secure, real estate prices won’t go down, we can bike to work, it has stainless steel appliances!
Did regulation, de-regulation, legislation, government and corporate manipulation play into the situations described above? Certainly. Our greed displayed in the “give it to me now” attitude can be multiplied many times over and reflected in the actions of corporations, banks, lobbyists, political parties, etc. But I am saying that each of us should ask ourselves if we’ve been affected by the greed epidemic that has swept through this country.
Religion. I attended twelve years of Catholic school. Let me share a memory. We’re in a high school gymnasium. I’m leading the bleacher crowd in a rousing cheer. I’m wearing a skort so as not to show a glimpse of undies, and a dark green sweater with ‘The Crusaders’ written across my chest. A tall, skinny boy-man steps up to the free throw line. He bounces the ball a few times, makes the sign of the cross, and shoots. He misses. God favored the Protestants over the Catholics that time.
While most people would agree that it’s unlikely a supreme being would take time to influence a basketball game, many continue to believe that He can be persuaded to intervene in our daily goings-on through prayer. And that He rewards or punishes certain societies, countries, religions, sexual orientation, beliefs, non-beliefs, diets, behaviors, maybe even flora and fauna, based on a set of rules, principles, commandments, holy books, and rituals.
Although the First Amendment of the Constitution prohibits the government from enacting a law that supports any one religion, certainly Christianity has been in favor in the U.S. and used as a positive personal feature by candidates competing for political positions. When was the last time you heard of someone legitimately running for office in this country who is Muslim or Atheist? There are legislators who hold prayer meetings in government offices, who draft legislation based on the precepts of their particular religion, and who deny rights to U.S. citizens based on their religious beliefs. Many legislators believe God favors this country over others, and along the same vein, believe we should support certain countries because they are special to God. In my opinion, these are dangerous and misguided suppositions and actions.
Jeremy, you are probably thinking I digressed in a major way, but while traveling the dusty side roads of my mind, I think I’ve wound my way back to responding to your post.
You believe government interference has wreaked havoc on our economy. And, the way back to a strong economy is less government and more free enterprise. I’m saying that we need a different type of overhaul.
First, we need to take personal responsibility for some of our economic woes. A gas wasn’t released into the country that forced us, zombie-like, to jeopardize our own economic stability, and in part, our national economic stability. Millions of people filed bankruptcy, and/or lost their homes, not because of government regulations or banking practices, but because they over extended themselves. Don’t think I’m leaving big business and banks off the hook. The CEOs and officers of these companies have made billions of dollars over the past few years at the expense of shareholders and customers and we should create a new word for this type of greed.
Second, we have to truly start acting like a country that favors no religion. Stop rewarding political candidates who wear their religious affiliation on their sleeve. It’s no guarantee of character or the ability to lead. Those in office should make decisions and draft legislation based on facts and science, not on mythology or religious bias.
I don’t believe my country is the greatest country in the world. I don’t even believe in the concept of “greatest country” any longer. As you pointed out in a post a while back, there are many definitions of freedom – just as there are many definitions of greatness. In this year of 2012, we look down at our world through photos from space, and we know we live on an incredibly small planet in a vast universe. We’re in this together. I think it’s time we give up the “Let go and let God” concept, and replace it with “Hang in there and help one another.”